Trapped in a long car ride, I found myself with one piece of reading material to entertain myself: Nicholas Sparks’ “True Believer”. Even for a romance novel, this text is an absolute abomination of “literature”. Let’s start with the title. True Believer? Really? That’s the best we could come up with Nicholas? The title means absolutely nothing in the context of the plot. I think those words were uttered exactly one time by one of the characters in an effort to salvage the choice. Now to the plot. Firstly, the chronology of the story is hilariously unrealistic. It seemed like the characters were teleporting between locations the entire time, especially to and from the beach house towards the end of the book. Also, you really expect me to believe that Jeremy (corny name btw) just magically knew that Lexie (also corny ass name) would be sitting on the beach when he pulled up unannounced? Shit like this happened quite frequently in the book. The scene that really infuriated me was when the elderly grandmother of Lexie takes her FIRST EVER FLIGHTS from North Carolina to New York City and back just to tell Jeremy (dumbass name) to go back to NC and marry her granddaughter. WHAT?!? Who in their right mind does an up-and-back flight (after never flying in their whole life) just to say that and then leave?? That’s easily a 12+ hour travel day (the grandmother’s town is not near an airport whatsoever) costing at least $1000 if the flights were both booked that late. But again, the author brushes it off as if it was your casual Wednesday commute. Jeremy might have been able to afford his flight back to North Carolina but there’s no chance the grandmother has that kind of dough. At least offer to pay for her flights, Jeremy. Asshole. Moving on. I don’t usually read romance novels, but it was pretty clear that the plot was building up to a sex scene at the aforementioned beach house. I thought that might save the experience for some readers until the part came. Here’s the entire sex scene, directly quoted:

“They made love slowly.”

THANKS NICHOLAS! YOU’VE REALLY PAINTED A VIVID PICTURE IN MY HEAD. I feel awful for the single mothers that picked up this book expecting a steamy scene only to read that sentence. The funniest part of the book is that Lexie went completely mute afterwards, under the pretense that she was depressed knowing she wouldn’t be able to move to New York with Jeremy, but it implied that it was horrible sex. You aren’t fooling me, Nicholas.

I kept reading the book to at least see what the outcome of the “ghost story” subplot would be since Jeremy and Lexie’s relationship outcome was more predictable than a hot day in hell. Clearly Sparks didn’t give a fuck about that piece of the story, because it was hastily glazed over once Jeremy “figured out” where the lights were coming from, and the plot went back to Jeremy trying to chase Lexie around North Carolina. Whatever. I finished the book and spent the rest of the car ride trying to gain back the brain cells I lost reading “True Believer”.

Maybe I was a little harsh. 2 stars.

Now I can say that I've read a Nicholas Sparks book and a romance written by a man. Grandma made me do it

U početku je pomalo monotono, ali kasnije, iako predvidljivo, postaje bolje.

Jeremy is a journalist who only believes in what he sees. Through the mysterious lights in Boone Creek, he gets to know the beautiful Lexi and through her, he starts to believe in miracles after all.

This is a well-written, entertaining contemporary romance novel. It has small town charm, wit, humor, romance, wonderful characters, and a satisfying conclusion. I am looking forward to reading the next entry in this series with great anticipation. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, Mr. David Aaron Baker, does an outstanding job voicing the characters. I also own a paperback edition of this delightful novel.

The perfec beach read! Super cute story! I loved the connection I had to the characters and how easy it was to get invested into the story!

Nicholas Sparks always writes a feel-good book which is just what I wanted during this difficult time.

A very basic feel good book. Lacked an interesting plot. I felt I was listening to someone tell me a long winded story how they met their spouse! Haha! Definitely not one of Spark's bests. They probably won't make a movie any time soon!

**2,5 estrelas**

Creio que este livro terá sido o que menos gostei do Nicholas Sparks.
O resumo promete, mistério, fenómenos estranhos com uma pitada de sobrenatural (quiçá!?) mas quanto a mim foi explorado de forma insípida. A desilusão é ainda maior quando afinal a causa dos supostos fantasmas é do conhecimento de todos menos por parte de quem investiga. A previsibilidade quando confirmada de forma tão evidente torna-se no mínimo, aborrecido.
Em comparação com outros que li do mesmo autor, este ficará certamente aquém.

Mr. Sparks has got the spark for romantic genre. He has yet again proved to me with this book that his way of writing a book is very fascinating.
I love the way he has moulded a regular common story to a beautiful love story.
Petty things matter in life. Love is all about adjusting and understanding the other person ! And the most important key is it has to be both ways.

I love Nicholas’s books. True believer clearly states that if you believe in ur love ! It will come back to u :)

I had purchased the second book in this series without realizing there was a first book. So I listened to this one on audible. The narrator was awful and the music in the background was annoying. I never give up on a book so I persevered. It was just an ok story . Not much to keep my interest really . Too predictable! Let’s hope the second one improves.

Superba carte! Autorul si-a arătat inca o data, asta daca mai era nevoie, maiestria!