Book Review: The Last Song

Are you curious to know how I spent my New Year's Eve even though we are already past Easter? Well, let me give you a hint. You know how you go on Youtube and you see the Get Ready With Me videos: New Year's Eve Edition or how you go on your Instagram and see #OOTN (Outfit of the Night)? That was nowhere close to my New Year's Eve. My OOTN? Pajamas. Where was I going? To bed. What was I going to do? Did you say party the night away? Wrong. Be a bookworm is more like it.

My Christmas holidays were also spent with this bad mammo jamma. It is worth mentioning though that was not the plan. I previously learnt that the writer, Nicholas Sparks, also had a hand in The Notebook, Dear John, The Lucky One, Nights in Rodanthe all which have been adapted into screenplays. I would like to think that I have grown as a reader and what better way to exploit that growth other than discovering what the hullabaloo was all about with Mr. Sparks, work.

Your probably thinking, you had all these options, why The Last Song. Uhm, hello? Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth need I say more other than I watched the movie a few years back and you now have a curious cat in your hands?

The down low: Ronnie is a rebellious New York teenager being forced to spend the summer before her 18th birthday in the South with her ailing pianist father. Whilst still on her rebellious streak she mingles with the wrong company as she evades all contact with her father. An embarrassing incident has her meeting Will whom to her comes off , as a spoilt preppy Southern boy at first, but that soon changes when a summer love begins to brew between them. Love is not all that is bubbling under this summer, so are secrets that will soon be unveiled.

A good love story always wins my attention, rarely does it steal my heart. The book was not as tear-jerking neither was it as heart wrenching as I expected.I happened to mention earlier that I had watched the movie. It wasn't anything to write home about. I couldn't figure it out, was it the actors, the script. It lacked a certain depth. Then it hit me, surely the movie didn't do the book justice. That was it, wasn't it? My quest to legitimize  the story did not end with meager thoughts, a conclusion was arrived at.

I have said it before and I will say it again; admitting my likes and dislikes is not my thing. The conclusion, the book was not bad neither was it good, it was rather okay, meh, maybe even bleugh. Definitely more meh than bleugh.

The good:
Ronnie was made to sound super real. New Yorker, former piano protege, a master mind at ignoring her parents at all costs, pretend club lover, Starbucks girl. So was her brother who was a typical ten year old. If there's one thing that significantly stood out in this book, the build of the characters.I also liked the spiritual aspect and the emotions brought on by Ronnie's Dad's situation.

The not so good:
Few parts of the book were thrilling. But it just didn't hit the mark on my thrill-o-meter that I am used to; dire devastation, exaggerated summer time happiness. Come to think of it, it may just be a matter of the extreme emotions I have become accustomed to, really.

All in all, it's not a read that is stationed up there in my books. It did fill a space regardless.

So if you are used to adventure, bumpy roads, speed bumps, full-on head-on collisions, road blocks, detours in your books, this just won't do it. It doesn't have that healthy dose. is more like it. But if your more of the smooth ride vibe, with minor hiccups on the side, type of guy or are just looking to pass the time with a relative book, look no further.

Have YOU read The Last Song? What did you think of it? Don't be afraid to comment, I would love to hear from you. Possibly even gain a different perspective.

Happy Reading Y'all!