Disappointing

I took this book out from the library because people told me that this is a must read. Why? I did not read his other works but I am sure it is not as good. It starts out with Jeremy Marsh who works for Scientific American. His job is to debunk supernatural myths. A woman named Doris wrote from her hometown, Boone Creek, North Carolina about mysterious lights in Ceder Creek Cemetery. Jeremy goes to this quaint little town and appears to stick out like a sore thumb. Doris owns the restaurant Herbs a very popular hangout for the locals. Jeremy quite the celebrity.

However, Sparks is taking it to the extreme by depicting how pure and wonderful this remote town is and how NYC is evil. Yes, NYC can be rough at times but all of Boone Creek is wonderful? C'mon! It takes a while in fact almost to the middle of the book when the love interest Lexie Darnell, Doris' granddaughter, takes notice of Jeremy. She is the town librarian and apparently, most men in the town have the hots for her. She is independent, bright, and very coy. It turns out that she lived in NYC for a while. Does this mean when a woman is independent that they come from a crowded city?

I had to stop reading because I expected a romance. There was no momentum. I wanted more than details. I wanted action! Why should it take half the book until Lexie is even polite to Jeremy? The characters interactions were never flushed out. How could we relate to the book, if it does not seem realistic to us? I do not like the broad strokes that divide Boone Creek and NYC. There is both good and bad in small town life and big city living. Oh well.

I gave it 3 stars because it was a good attempt at a love story. I thought that it would be like a Danielle Steel or Nora Roberts novel.

Couldn't put this book down

Ok I have only read one other book by Sparks and that was "The Notebook" (which I very much enjoyed). So I picked up this book, True Believer the other day I admit because I love lighthouses and this one had it prominantly on the cover.

So this afternoon (er... yesterday afternoon) I started reading it... and kept going.. I couldn't stop. I read the entire book in one sitting! I don't usually do that but I was like, oh who cares if I have work tomorrow.. I have to see how this turns out!

I don't want to say much about the book spoiler-wise. I am surprised at some of the responses on here. I mean everyone has their opinions on things, but I came here thinking I would read some reviews after I finished it and see what others thought.

Anyways... for what it's worth, since I can only speak for myself.. I REALLY enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. I didn't think the romance in it was unbelievable like some people, and I thought the characters were fabulous, and had many laugh-out-loud moments while reading it. Lots of witty and playful banter.. I was just drawn in.

Ok off to sleep now as like I said, read it one sitting on a work night... cannot give a higher endorsement then that.

Not my favorite, but read it for the beautiful writing...

I thought True Believer was a okay story, but the writing was just simply beautiful. True Believer is about Jermery Marsh, a investigative reporter from NYC who writes for the Scientific American and he get's a letter from this woman named Doris in North Carolina telling him about these mysterious lights in this old cementary, so he investigatives and he meets Lexie; the local librarian who has been burned in the past by a stranger who came up from Chicago and left, so when she first meets Jermery, she is cautious that he is only going to be here a week and he is going to leave, that is it. So as Jermery investigates though the rare-books he finds at the library, he gets to meet the people of Boone Creek; the town it takes place in. He is then given the key to the city and it is a local celebrity in the town. Eventually as he gets to know Lexie, he is slowly falling in love with her, but she is keeping her distance and sometimes cold in the relationship. So one day while at the library, Lexie is not there, and since he knows her a little more and where she goes, he finds her on an island where a lighthouse is; this is where Lexie's parents got married, but where killed in a car accident when Lexie was two, so she lived with her grandmother Doris. Jermery goes to the island and meets her there, and there they finally make love. From there, Jermery finds out where the lights come from; it comes from the local paper mill and the train tracks that past by there. This makes Jermery mad because he feels that he was lied to by the town and by Lexie, so he storms out of the library like there was no tomorrow. Lexie and Jermery had their first fight inside the library and the news gets around town. But in truth, Lexie actually loves Jermery and he does not want him to go back to NYC, but she makes a stupid move by telling Jermery that she is going to marry the local sheriff Rodney, so Jermery goes back to NYC and does film the lights but decides to leave out the paper mill and the trains. Then in NYC, Doris comes to NYC to talk to Jermery and to tell him the truth; Lexie loves Jermery, and Jermery loves her back. So he goes back to Boone Creek and decides to be with Lexie after all.


The reason I gave this book four stars because I thought the writing was beautiful like Nicholas Sparks always does, but it lacked the emotion his other books have, and I thought Lexie was a cold and bitter person. If you are starting out with Nicholas Sparks, first read A Walk To Remember first, and work your way through his books, but read this later on.