The Best of Me
by Nicholas Sparks
THE BEST OF ME is the heart-rending story of two small-town former high school sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks. Now middle-aged, they’ve taken wildly divergent paths, but neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever altered their world. When they are both called back to their hometown for the funeral of the mentor who once gave them shelter, they will be forced to confront the choices each has made, and ask whether love can truly rewrite the past. ~ Goodreads
ISBN: 0446547654 (ISBN13: 9780446547659)
Primary Language: English
Original Title: The Best of Me
Before I start my review, I would like to quote Nicholas Sparks, the author, first, when asked why he always kills a main character in his novels:
“Every genre has a purpose. The thriller is meant to thrill, a horror novel is supposed to scare you, a romance novel is a romantic fantasy.” He adds, “The purpose of that genre (romance) is to move the reader through all the emotions of life; that’s what I’m supposed to do [as a writer of romance novels]. If I eliminate one of the major emotions of life, you’ll close [the book] because it doesn’t feel real to you.” Nicholas goes on to say, “All love stories, by definition, have to end in tragedy.”
Well, Mr. Sparks, you did a very good job of moving me in all your novels even if I sometimes don’t like how it ends. lol. 
As soon as I got my hands on my copy of The Best of Me, I started reading it. Browsing at first but had to go back and read page after page properly when I realize this book surely deserves my full attention. Yep, you guessed it right, I was reading a rather “dragging” book that required all my willpower and love for all things books not to throw it out the window! I guess that’s one hazard of being a book reviewer – you will eventually get frustrating ones even if the author is popular and well-known.
Anyway, back to The Best of Me, I must admit, this is clearly not Mr. Sparks’ best novel as that belongs to The Notebook, no less. I will also say that I felt it didn’t quite hit its mark properly, like there was something lacking, like the story is almost there. The Best of Me almost made me cry. Almost.
However I am still giving it a 5 because definitely The Best of Me is worth your time reading. Why? Because it is the kind of story that sticks hours after you’re done reading it. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.
So the story started with Dawson Cole, the main character in this novel, seeing a mystery man who he later thought to be always saving his life from potentially fatal incidents. He thought this man was his friend Tuck who died at around the same time he started seeing the mystery man. The same Tuck who was the reason why he came back home after so many years, only to be reunited with Amanda – his first love.
The situation was made complicated by Amanda’s being married and with three kids. Add to that Dawson’s family situation as he is not in good terms with his family – at all. Dawson was practically gambling his life by being in town but he stayed just to be able to fulfill Tuck’s wishes, and be with Amanda. Then there’s the accident – the one that changed Dawson’s life forever – that still haunted Dawson until the very end.
I hated the ending. I just think that death in this novel is not justifiable but reading the interview (quoted above) I realized that a story doesn’t have to be written the way I like it but how it was able to move the reader. It moved me so the novel did what it’s supposed to do.
Like I said, I enjoyed the novel; I couldn’t put it down and it almost made me cry so definitely a 5!
Cheers!
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