The Choice - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
#1 New York Times bestseller Nicholas Sparks turns his unrivaled talents to a new tale about love found and lost, and the choices we hope we'll never have to make.

Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life - boating, swimming , and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, THE CHOICE ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

Customer Reviews: Read 195 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

An Average Choice September 24, 2007
60 out of 69 found this review helpful

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
on 09/22/2007

In a small coastal town, Travis Parker has almost everything he could wish. He loves his job, he gets to hang with long-time friends, and he enjoys water sports, motorcycling, and travel. All in all, it's a good life.

Everything he knows is thrown off-kilter when he meets his new neighbor, Gabby Holland, who happens to be in a relationship with another man. For her part, Gabby is excited, scared, and confused by the things she feels around Travis. She's been dedicated to her golf-crazy boyfriend for a long while, but Travis makes her feel new things. At some point, she'll have to make a decision.

Famous for his take on the sensitive hero and tender love, Nicholas Sparks latest offering is THE CHOICE, in which unexpected feelings lead to unexpected things. As the fun-loving guy with a big heart, Travis is easy to like from the beginning. Gabby, on the other hand, is a very mixed bag.

On the surface, Gabby seems to be kind hearted, but she comes across as someone who is easily upset, has doormat tendencies, and can't quite control her emotions. Travis sees her as sweet and having a great sense of humor. Readers are likely to see her as lacking a sense of humor until later, and even then it's sketchy. Characters are supposed to grow throughout a story, and Gabby does, but her introduction makes it difficult to sympathize with her from the beginning, especially in regards to her relationship with family and, well, her steady boyfriend.

A tragedy in the last hundred pages of the novel almost redeems all that went before. It's hinted at in the prologue, but Sparks elects to play a trick on the read, leading them to expect something quite different from what actually happens. It'd difficult to explain without giving it away, other than to say that it straddles the fence of cheap versus clever.

THE CHOICE is an average read for an average day. Sparks fans are likely to feel a bit let down, but there are far worse things a person could read.

3-Books

5 out of 5 stars

A touching love story October 6, 2007
44 out of 53 found this review helpful

This is a book which could be spoiled for the reader if too many details of the plot are given. Suffice it to say that it is a beautiful love story with several emotional ups and downs. It also illustrates the importance of choices and the effect that our choices have on our life. Nicholas Sparks is one author who consistantly touches my emotions, and I was really weeping at the end of this one. Read and enjoy!

4 out of 5 stars

If you loved THE NOTEBOOK, you will love THE CHOICE! September 21, 2007
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

I love Nicholas Sparks' books. I am an avid reader and rarely am moved to tears by a male author, but find I am always reaching for the tissues when I read a N.S. book. I love the emotion, the "realness" of his characters. The plot centers around two people who meet and fall in love and the choices and promises they make to each other during their relationship. If you loved THE NOTEBOOK, and it's sequel, THE WEDDING, you will love THE CHOICE. I read this book in a day since it's a short book, but also because I was drawn into the story and couldn't put it down.

3 out of 5 stars

Another love story from Sparks, slow beginning, good end, great characters October 8, 2007
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

THE CHOICE by Nicholas Sparks is not a book I'd normally read. Not my favorite genre. My wife has read all of his books, and I've started reading them now too because they are easy to read and Sparks is a great writer. The summary on the inside cover tells you almost everything you need to know about the plot. Travis Parker is a 32-year old bachelor that loves having his married friends over for cookouts. Gabby is the new neighbor who is new to town, has few friends, and wonders when her boyfriend Kevin is going to ask her to marry him. Gabby at first doesn' t like Travis. He seems like an insensitive neighbor. From the plot summary, you know they are going to marry, so the first two thirds of the book covers a couple of days that Gabby and Travis spend together while Kevin is out of town. They go parasailing with Travis's friends. They ride motorcycles. And they fall in love. Sparks writes in a way that keeps you turning the pages, but the first part of the book seemed overly long because you know they are going to get together. There really isn't any conflict except Gabby's doubts about her relationship with Kevin. Even that isn't as strong as it could have been. The boyfriend doesn't really stand a chance when it comes to the true love Gabby and Travis discover. As usual, Sparks creates a girl in Gabby that is, while not perfect, a girl you could imagine falling in love with. Travis has similar qualites. He is adventerous, a gentleman, and although a bachelor, is great with kids and hopes to have them someday.

Part Two begins in the present, when Gabby and Travis have been married for ten years, and here, we find out what kind of "choice" Travis must face. Here, the plot thickens and the conflict increases. As with the two other Sparks books I've read, a lot of things have to be forced to happen for Sparks to come up with the kind of plot and conflict he wants. Still, the conflict Travis faces is real and sincere and there isn't really a right decision.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I wish that the first part, which lasts about two-thirds of the book, had told more of a story instead of detailing every last bit of interaction between Travis and Gabby over a two day period. Men, I'm sure your wives will love this book, and you might just enjoy it too if you are a sucker for a good love story.

1 out of 5 stars

The Choice October 11, 2007
8 out of 11 found this review helpful

Vapid, predictable and poorly written. So bad that I found myself skimming over the words in the hope of finding something worth reading. It was embarassing.

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