The Best of Me

by Nicholas Sparks

In this #1 New York Times bestselling novel of first love and second chances, former high school sweethearts confront the painful truths of their past to build a promising future -- together.

"Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She'd believed in it once, too, back when she was eighteen."

In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in their small town in North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back home for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew -- about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear -- was not as it seemed.
Forced to confront painful memories, the former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past?

• ISBN10: 1455504106
• ISBN13: 9781455504107
• Publish Date: 11 October 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Grand Central Publishing
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4.75 ★ Audiobook⎮ You know what's my favorite thing about Nicholas Sparks' books? How perfectly everything always comes together in the end. I'm never left with unanswered questions or a feeling of incompletion. The puzzle pieces he masterfully scatters along like breadcrumbs somehow all fall into place. Like the title, for instance. Hearing a title used in a book is always thrilling (for me, at least) and somewhere towards the end of this one, Sparks used "the best of me" in a line and I thought "Oh, that's where it came from". But it was used again in the epilogue under completely different circumstances and when the final piece clicked into place, it was like a punch to the gut. I really shouldn't have been surprised by Sparks' ability to cause me such heartache, because he's been doing it for well over a decade. Nicholas Sparks' writing became popular here in North Carolina before he was a big hit anywhere else. Everyone loves feeling like they are reading about their hometown. Granted, all of his writing has that "hometown feel", but it naturally means a little more to North Carolinians. I swear to you, I practically got goosebumps every time he mentioned Raleigh or Durham, or UNC and Duke, because those are things I hear every day. It makes his stories seem that much more real to me. Sparks is a master of creating fictional realities. He weaves just enough reality into his fiction to make you think that the story could actually be true. He develops his characters with such vivid description that they almost become tangible to the reader. Seriously, everyone else can just go home because I've never seen anyone do character development as well as he does. To make this point even further: I was watching cars go by on the road in front of my house yesterday and I actually found myself thinking "That looks like the kind of truck Dawson Cole would drive." Seriously. This story got into my head big time. While I was in the middle of it, I remember wondering why I had gone so long without reading a Nicholas Sparks book (it's been at least 7-8 years) and then the ending reminded me exactly why I stopped. It's because he steals your heart and then majorly abuses it. Nicholas Sparks is not a writer you should trust with your heart! All the defenses in the world cannot protect to you. I knew exactly what I was getting into and that did nothing to help me in the end. Starting a Sparks novel is like boarding a train you know is going to crash. But the train is just so pretty, you tell yourself it's going to be okay. I had plans to watch the movie adaptation after finishing this up (it's on Netflix), but those plans have definitely been canceled now. I need at least six months before I can even think of reliving this story. I needed almost 24 hours to even write this review. The only reason I am not giving this the full five stars is because I'm still bitter over the ending I didn't enjoy this story quite to the same degree that I enjoyed A Walk to Remember or The Notebook. And I'm still bitter over the ending. Yet, I'm still recommending it to you. Because I'm a martyr like that.

Narration review: In my opinion, a good narrator's job is to bring an author's writing to life. A great narrator allows the reader to become completely immersed in the author's creation. An excellent narrator does all of that and manages to enhance the written word. Sean Pratt is an excellent narrator. His narration allowed me to feel like I was living in Nicholas Sparks' world. When Pratt voiced Dawson Cole, I wasn't hearing him voice the character Dawson Cole, I was hearing Dawson Cole. I stated above that Sparks' writing was so vivid that it almost brought the characters to life. Almost. But it was Pratt's narration that did the rest. Sparks'writing + Pratt's narration= the perfect union. They complemented each other in a way that facilitated something truly beautiful. Pratt's unobtrusive narration style enabled Sparks' writing to shine. Not only did he adjust his tone and accent distinction according to character, but also to the writing style. The writing called for a third person narrator (omniscient), so Pratt adjusted his narration style accordingly. The third person narrator had no discernible accent, as opposed to the slight (in some cases not-so-slight) southern drawl of the characters. The writing style also involved numerous POV changes, all of which Pratt handled with eloquence. The amount of POV changes would have surely bothered me with any other narrator, but Pratt's incredible handle on each of the characters' distinctly unique voices and personalities saw me through it. I am certain that this story wouldn't have had nearly the same effect on me without him. ♣︎

➜ This audiobook was graciously gifted to me by its narrator, Sean Pratt, in exchange for a review containing my honest thoughts and opinions. Thanks, Sean!

[tweetybugshouse]

I won this book in a good reads giveaway.

As always Sparks draws you in and keeps you reading. The ending was not what I expected and I was saying what Fred savage does in princess bride your telling it wrong. A good quick read and one I highly recommendm

[Leah]

Nicholas Sparks is an author everybody has heard of – how can you have not heard of Nicholas Sparks? He’s written 16 novels of all shapes and sizes but what mostly boil down to being epic love stories and most of his novels have either a) already been made into films or b) are currently in production to be a film. I mean, he must be the most prolific book-to-movie author out there. Every book he writes seems to be snapped up to be made into a movie and the turnaround is quite something. I have some of Nicholas’s books on my shelf but only had my first taste of his work when I read Safe Haven earlier this year. I loved it, and I wondered why I hadn’t tried Nicholas sooner. So I was thrilled to get a copy of his new novel The Best of Me and settled down to read it ASAP.

The Best of Me is a very different read to Safe Haven; something tells me that’s true of all of Nicholas’s novels. Despite all having a central theme of love, all of his book plots seem to be wildly different. It’s impressive, actually, because most authors stick to a general formula for their books, but Nicholas doesn’t and his plots range far and wide. The synopsis for The Best of Me doesn’t give much away, as you can see above but it does rather sum the book up nicely as both Dawson and Amanda find themselves back in Oriental, their home town, after Tuck, a man they both knew well dies. Dawson and Amanda had been teenage sweethearts, torn apart because their lives were so far apart from each other and when they see each other again, it begs the question of just how deep their love really ran for each other way back when…

The Best of Me is only 292 pages long, which surprised me. That’s not particularly long, and I was surprised to see how small it was when I got it. However, there’s a lot packed into the novel and it’s a really good read. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Safe Haven, but it was a solid 4 star read for me. I’m a total sucker for love that’s star-crossed, for love that attracts opposition, so I was sucked in by Dawson and Amanda’s love and by the way they didn’t let their contrasting backgrounds come between them during that summer they spent together. I liked how the intervening years didn’t change their feelings for each other, too, once they both came back to Oriental. I thought the entire novel was just so magical as Dawson and Amanda are reunited and they reconnect over the death of their friend.

I thought the interconnecting stories were also interesting – Dawson’s cousins, Abee and Ted who were unhappy their cousin was back at Oriental, wanting to get back at him; Amanda’s family, including her alcoholic husband Frank; the Bonner family, who are connected to Dawson; and the life story of the dead man, Tuck and his wife Clara. I found the way all the stories connected and were told were excellent and it really heightened my reading of the novel. I knew what was happening/going to happen with certain characters and it was interesting to watch it all play out while the characters were waiting to do what they were going to do. It was a very interesting novel, and I was particularly fascinated by Tuck’s story. I loved how he had a hand in the novel despite the fact he died before we got to really know him.

The ending was a massive shock for me. As the book neared its end, I pretty much knew I wasn’t going to get an ending that was going to please me. Despite the fact I knew how it was going to end pretty much as soon as I got to about 20 pages out, I truly wanted to stop reading so I didn’t have to read it. It was a very bittersweet read and Nicholas Sparks knows how to keep you turning the pages – even when you don’t really want to. The Best of Me was a very readable read, and one I liked reading. I liked the whole love on from the opposite side of the tracks, the tragedy of it all, and I couldn’t help wondering just how different Dawson and Amanda’s lives would have been had they stayed together as teenagers. (It certainly would have been a very different book…) I’d definitely recommend the book, I enjoyed reading it and I can definitely see this one becoming a movie, too. I can’t wait to go back and read Sparks’ backlog of books he’s definitely an author I enjoy reading and The Best of Me was hugely enjoyable.