The Last Song Review

Have you ever been angry with one of your parents? Have you ever been so upset with them that you never wanted to speak to them again? For Ronnie, this resentment was so strong that she didn't speak to her dad three years after he left their family in New York to become a traveling concert pianist. So when her dad suddenly decides that he wants Ronnie and her younger brother Jonah to spend the summer with him in North Carolina, one can only imagine the bitterness she felt towards her dad. She didn't understand why he wanted them there, but she definitely would rather be back in New York. When she and Jonah arrive at their dad's house, Ronnie leaves to go walking. The people she encounters on that long walk will make Ronnie's summer bearable. They will help to give her a great summer filled with happiness and a dreadful summer with plenty to remember. Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song took me on an emotional thrill ride through feelings of anger to happiness to extreme sadness.

The style that Nicholas Sparks wrote in was different from many of the other books I've read. He describes characters, scenery, sound, and many other elements of the story with vivid descriptive words that make the reader feel as if they're really in the story. He describes better than any male author I've read. But his descriptions aren't the most interesting thing about this story. Even more appalling is that each chapter of the story is told by a different character. As you progress from one chapter to the next, the story is told by a different point of view. This clever tool of writing helps the reader understand the events of the story by knowing how every character feels about a certain situation.

The characters of Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song are very real, imaginable people that someone might see on the street. He describes their appearance and feelings so well that it seems as if you are knowing a real live person. The emotions shown by the characters are very common, believable feelings that make the characters seem even more real to the reader. The fact that Ronnie is a teenage girl angry with her father and falling in love makes it easy for me to relate to her.

The theme of The Last Song is forgiveness, but taking a stand is also incorporated into the story. Blaze, Ronnie's new friend in North Carolina, is controlled by her boyfriend, Marcus. She worships Marcus and does everything he tells her to. Whether its giving him her food while she goes hungry or asking her to spend the last of her money on him, Marcus asks Blaze to do some pretty sacrificial things. After Blaze gets jealous of Ronnie because Marcus is interested in her, she makes it appear that Ronnie was shoplifting so she would get into trouble with the police. But Blaze learned that Ronnie was a sweet, kind-hearted person that cared more about her that Marcus ever would, so Blaze stood up to Marcus by turning him in for a past crime.

Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song is an excellent book that i recommend to anyone who enjoys a touching, inspirational story of family, love, and forgiveness.

2 books--390 pages