“In our time together, you claimed a special place in my heart, one I’ll carry with me forever and that no one can replace.” John Tyree has never experienced true love before. Since John was a little kid he has been lonely and never been loved by anyone. When he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah Lynn Curtis, his life transforms in ways he has never imagined. The love between the two is so strong, that when it comes time for John to go back to war the two don’t know how to live without each other.
Dear John is a three part book that starts out with 23 year-old John Tyree, an army veteran who is on leave while staying with his father in his home town Wilmington, NC . This realistic fiction book is a real heart touching novel. John as a little kid struggled finding his balance between himself and his father, and as he grew older he became into a bad guy who couldn’t seem to stay out of trouble. John had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Now on leave from his Army tour in Germany, he enjoys the return to surfing along the beach. While surfing he retrieves a girl’s purse when It drops into the deep waters, and this moment changes his life forever. John and savannah quickly are no longer friends. John’s leave goes by fast as they get to know each other. Over the two weeks they spend together they both fall deeply in love, but now john has to return to war. Before John departs, he promises Savannah he'll marry her when he completes his deployment. But when 9/11 occurs John has to make the choice of both serving his country and enlisting back in the war, or go back to his one and only love.
The theme that Nicholas Sparks incorporates into the book Dear John is how love can transform us in ways we have never imagined. John Tyree experiences this when he falls in love with the girl of his dreams (Savannah). John has never experienced true love before, and this one has changed him for life. The love between the two is so strong that when it comes time for john to go back to the war the two don’t know how to live without each other.

I recommend this novel for teen’s, young adults and any reader who enjoys true love and romance. “Dear John” just the two words will make you breathless as you continue the journey of John and Savannahs true love. I feel it is a book of true life, love and wisdom and captures the experiences of what the reader might be able to relate to.