Message in Bottle/ Unabridged

Rating:
Summary: Cliche and repetitious.
Review: I feel cheated -- I get so little time to read anything other than technical manauls and I spent my precious time reading Message in a Bottle. I cannot figure out what everybody is raving about. I found this book to be predictable, boring, and a real disappointment.

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Summary: I liked it, but maybe I'm just dreaming of Kevin Costner!
Review: Hated "The Notebook" and wanted my money back immediately. I understand why alot of the critics bashed Evans'writing style... too much sappy prose & lame dialogue.....but somehow, I made it through "MIAB" & still cried & still got the message that Evans tried to bring through in his latest attempt. Or maybe since I bought the book after I saw the trailer for the movie, I just kept picturing Kevin Costner in the lead role and simply fell in love with the idea of his character. He's still a looker, boy! So maybe this little inconsequential review amongst the other 200 or so has been influenced by a movie that hasn't even premiered yet on the big screen. I don't know? I did enjoy the plot line about lost love, love found, and love lost again. I sure hope the director didn't change the ending in the movie because the story has more power the way it was originally written. Tears are a good thing sometimes.....especially if it can make a "man" feel emotions he usually hides deep down inside. On that note, I guess I'll just say that I applaud Evans latest work & hope his writing style improves with time.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read in a while.
Review: Nicholas Sparks does an excellent job writing about the triumph of love. This is a story about the strength and bond love can bring to a person's soul. I am not a huge fan of "romantic" novels, but this novel is more than just two people falling in love. This book leaves a glow and a ray of hope to anyone who needs a little "pick-me up."

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Summary: Love story to remember...
Review: the sophomore effort froom sparks is a definite improvement. sparks still is very sappy ans sweet, but the corniness has definitely taken a backseat.

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Summary: A sappy love story, but oh it was a good one!
Review: I bought this book because I love (1) Wilmington, NC and (2) Nicholas Sparks' writing. The Notebook was great, and Message In A Bottle is even better. This book grabbed me from the very start and I couldn't put it down. This was a good, decent, tender love story--no "trash" about it (which is a rarity these days) and it really hit home for this divorced mom. There is a lesson to be learned from this story: do not take for granted the rare treasure of true love. Hurry, Mr. Sparks, and write some more!

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!!!
Review: I am not into romance novels, but this one caught my eye. I saw the trailer this past Friday and had to read the book. The plot is very very original and the characters very well developed. Sparks knows how to humanize his work. Many can relate to the character's emotions and how they deal with moving on. Some parts of the book got a little dull. But overall, this is quite a tearjerker. I read it in one sitting and can't wait to reread and see the movie. I highly recommend this book to cynics and those who feel they can't love again.

Rating:
Summary: Love is Real and Sparks proves it!
Review: Theresa and Garrett are characters that are could be any of us. Their story will move anyone to tears but at the same time leave you with hope. Thank you Nicholas Sparks for reminding us not to give up on love.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh.
Review: Third rate late 70's TV miniseries were writen better than this 320 page cliche'. I consider myself somewhat of a romantic and sentimentalist, but I'll leave the doe-eyed sighing soppiness to somebody more gullible. --And when a dumb shmoe like me knows what the ending's going to be like after page 7, it's just another example of what a piece of maudlin mess this stuff is...

Rating:
Summary: how do writers this bad get to have bestsellers?
Review: I got this book because the romanticism appealed to me. However, the only reason I read the thing was because I can't drop a book unfinished. I had to find out what happened. While the plot was farfetched, I did enjoy it. What got to me was the terrible writing. This man took a really neat idea for a plot and completely screwed it up. I had absolutely no sense of who the characters really were, and no sense of why Garret had a relationship with either Catherine or Theresa. Yeah they were all nice people, but the quirkiness and closeness that brings people together was absolutely lacking here. I wish I could write novels so I could rewrite this the way it should be written.

Rating:
Summary: He's just writting movie scripts, not a novel.
Review: I do not enjoy reading books that were obviously written as a movie script. They tend to be over simplfied and lack any character depth. Mr. Sparks goes so out of the way to get those tear jerking moments. At times I found myself laughing because I knew just what he was going to write. If I was sixteen I would find his books dreamy, at fourty-four I find them contrived.