Review: The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Title: The Last Song
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Release date: 2009

Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Veronica 'Ronnie' Miller's life was turned upside down when her parents divorced and her father moved to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains alienated from her parents, particularly her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she and her brother spent the summer with him. Resentful and rebellious, Ronnie rejects her father's attempts to reach out to her and threatens to return to New York before the summer's end. But soon Ronnie meets Will, the last person she'd thought she'd ever be attracted to, and finds herself falling for him, opening herself up to the greatest happiness - and pain - that she has ever known. In the tradition of his beloved novel 'A Walk to Remember', Nicholas Sparks brings us a deeply moving story of a young girl's first encounter with heartbreak - and love.

My Thoughts: I went into The Last Song expecting it to be a light read, something more entertaining than deep. And it was entertaining, but there was so much more to it than that. The book was also very touching, very deep and a great coming of age story.

Ronnie Miller is horrified and angry to find that her mother has decided that she and her younger brother, Jonah, will be spending the summer with their father in Wrightsville Beach. Ronnie hasn't spoken to her father for the past three years since he left her mother, and, after her arrival spends as much time as possible away from the house, trying to stay away from her father and his incessant piano playing. Because of this she meets the interesting but dark Blaze, the dangerous Marcus and Will, someone she never thought she could fall in love with, but does. As the story moves along Ronnie becomes a much more likeable character (I found her a little childish at first) and you can see her growing and accepting her father.

I found it interesting that, even though Ronnie is the main character, the chapters changed from her point of view to that of her father and Will. I find in some books this is hard to follow, especially if there are too many people included, but The Last Song was very easy to follow, as each character stood on their own, with their own distinct personalities.

Like all of Nicholas Sparks' other books this also has a twist at the end, which results in some very sad and touching moments. A piece of advice, make sure that you have some tissues with you while you read the last few chapters of the book!

I definitely recommend this book, although I'm sure girls will get more pleasure out of it than the guys. It's a wonderful coming of age story, and includes topics like family, illness and love.
Rating: 4/5