Dear John - Nicholas Sparks Okay I only give this one 3 stars because although I did like the book, now having read it after I saw the movie I feel that the movie is alot better. At 1st I felt like the movie left more to be desired but I was wrong...

1. I felt that the chemistry between John and Savannah in the movie was alot more intense and believable than in the book.

2. Savannah in the book just came off as way too naive than she did in the movie, and more of a prude than she did in the movie. (although she still ticked me off in the movie as well as the book for the simple fact that she left John).

3. There was just way too much uninteresting conversations happening in this book from time to time. Kinda like someone who is just talking just to be talking but not really saying anything of interest. Keeping things on the surface when it should have been deeper.

4. I think the changes they made in the movie from the book worked alot better. (1)Like with Tim and Alan, in the movie Alan is his son in the book he's his brother, So that kinda made the situation seem a bit more believable as to why savannah felt she needed to be there for Tim and his son in a more urgent way. (2)Savannah obviously from her appearance to her personality. John pretty much stayed the same from book to movie and I was happy about that as well. (3)I love that they changed the time frame. In the book they meet in 2000, in the movie its 2001 so it just brings you closer to how quickly things had to change between John and Savannah. It wasn't dragged along. (4)Also the fact that Tim dies in the movie but in the book he doesn't. (not saying I wished for him to die, but that conclusion just worked better).

5. The one thing that I do love in the book more than the movie is I got a better understanding concerning the relationship between John and his father. Just the dynamic between them. But I do feel that when John was able to say goodbye to his father in the movie, it was much more heart felt than it was in the book.

Conclusion****
This one was just a hard one all around. Very bittersweet because I totally understand both sides and why John made the decision he made. And I understand how and why Savannah would have come to her decision. I would like to think that I would have chosen to stay with John if I were in this situation, but I don't know. But having said that, given the information from the book, she only had 9 more months before John would have been home for good. And the fact that the type of love that these 2 had for one another, the type of love that Mr Sparks wants us to believe they had, not saying it's easy, but I still don't see how she could have chosen Tim. I just don't. She could have been there for him no doubt about it. They've known each other forever, but she could have done this without being romantically involved with him which ultimately leads to her marrying him.

Given the choices they both made I totally see why they could not be together again. It's heartbreaking but I feel like if they were to get back together it would be this constant rift/disappointment between them. Somehow it would feel as though their love was stained, tainted I guess you could say. Their love as deep as it was for one another could no longer truly be all that it could have been had these events not taken place. So I feel the book as well as the movie got this point across very well and I totally understand why John made the decision he did and why he and Savannah did not end up together... Like I said it's heartbreaking but sometimes in life those are the breaks. Point is none of us gets a free pass from the consequences of our choices. No matter how big or small or well intended they may be.