The Last Song - A Review

Hatchette Book Group sent me a copy of this book to review.

The Description from the back cover: Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.


What I thought: I wanted to love this book.  I expected to love this book.  But instead, I just liked it... I think.  The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks was poignant to be sure.  A lovely little love story with some heartbreaking situations along the way.  But, to me, it wasn't compelling.  The characters weren't compelling or all that interesting (with the exception of maybe the father).  There were parts of the story that didn't make sense to me, though I won't spoil the plot by telling you what those were.  I didn't like it as much as The Notebook (which could very well be one of my favorite stories ever), but perhaps that has more to do with how I could identify with the characters of that story more than a teen romance?  Or maybe my expectations were too high going into this one?  I dunno.


Anyways, a decent read (if you're looking for a typical Nicholas Sparks read) and I'm sure I'll watch the movie (that came out March 31) eventually, but I won't be rushing out immediately to the theatres for this one or going out of my way to read this book again either.