February Book Review | A Walk to Remember

"Actions - not thoughts or intentions - were the way to judge others."

Hi Friends!

It's the beginning of a new month, which means it is time to review the book I have read last month. Since February was the month of love (Valentine's Day) I decided to revisit one of my favorite romance novels by Nicholas Sparks. 

A Walk to Remember is a book written by Nicholas Sparks, published by Warner Books on October 1999.

To summarize, here is a summary from Amazon (please note, this is not an affiliate link. I am in no way associated):

There was a time when the world was sweeter....when the women in Beaufort, North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats.... Every April, when the wind smells of both the sea and lilacs, Landon Carter remembers 1958, his last year at Beaufort High. Landon had dated a girl or two, and even once sworn that he'd been in love. Certainly the last person he thought he'd fall for was Jamie, the shy, almost ethereal daughter of the town's Baptist minister....Jamie, who was destined to show him the depths of the human heart-and the joy and pain of living. The inspiration for this novel came from Nicholas Sparks's sister: her life and her courage. From the internationally bestselling author Nicholas Sparks, comes his most moving story yet.

After reading this book, I remembered why this is one of my favorite romance novels. Not only is it well-written, but it definitely took me through an emotional rollercoaster. 

This was my first Nicholas Sparks book and he did a great job transitioning the story back in time. He also does a great job in describing the characters, settings, as well as illustrating emotions using vivid language. That said, when I completed the book, this made me want to visit North Coralina to view its beauty.

One thing I enjoyed about the story is seeing Landon's personal growth and development as well as his relationship with Jamie. From being a typical bad boy to someone who becomes compassionate, we can see how much Landon has matured because of his relationship with Jamie.

If there is one important lesson I have learned from the book, it is definitely don't judge others by how they look—give them a chance. At the beginning of the book, Landon and his friends would judge and form a perception of Jamie but as Landon got the chance to learn and understand who Jamie was as a person his perception about her starts to change. Another important message I have taken away from the story is the power of love and faith. This is illustrated between Landon and Jamie's relationship as it begins to blossom and their love instills personal growth as well as selflessness.

And lastly, having seen the film before, I thought it was pretty interesting that the roles were reversed in some of the scenes shown between the movie and the book. For example, Landon gets upset with Jamie in the book as she asks him to walk her home a couple of times and his friend catches him whereas in the movie the roles reversed where Jamie gets upset with Landon when he pretends to not be her friend at school.

Overall, I highly recommend this book as it is a beautiful love story that is inspiring and touching as we can learn a lot from Landon and Jamie's relationship.