Great Expectations

I actually enjoyed reading this book; in the beginning I thought I was going to hate it. This story deals with so many topics – love, finding someone, losing someone, arrogance & cruelty, depression – all emotions that could pertain to our lives. If a book is relatable to the reader, it makes it all more interesting. Pip (the main character) is a young orphan who had to live with his sister and her husband. His sister had a very hard hand, seemed to show no emotion other than anger and commands. Pip would always go to Joe for comfort. Pip’s “journey” all started off with an encounter with a convict in the cemetery. Later he is introduced to a family of higher social class who end up having a negative influence on Pip – gives him arrogance, teaches him to look down on people – losing sight of the people who truly cared about him. Also with these visits he falls in love with the daughter at this house – Estella, who treats Pip cruelly. Pip rises and falls throughout the book, it was interesting to see how he had realizations as to how he changed - it showed character development. Overall this was a really good book, it was neat to see the different connections in the book.

Book Review for "The Choice"

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks was a great, light read. At first I wasn’t too fond of it but as I got into it I grew to like it more and more, and by the end I loved it. Gabby moves to Beaufort to be closer to her boyfriend, so their love can progress, with the wish that every girl has – to get married. Gabby’s discovers her next door neighbor is easy on the eyes; he seems to have a great carefree personality, and loves to have a great time. A nice portion of the book was about them slowly growing closer to each other. Gabby would try to ignore the feelings toward Travis because she already had a boyfriend. Travis was true, loving, caring, fun, romantic – he didn’t hide his feelings towards her. Later in the book Gabby makes her decision, she makes a choice. Then we see their lives progress, and one day life flashed before their eyes. Travis and Gabby were in a car accident, leaving Gabby in a coma. Travis honored his word of marriage during this time, I grew a new respect for him. He visited her every day, bringing her flowers, pictures, books. He’d often read to her, tell her about his day. Tell her how the kids were doing. He’d help the nurses with her physical therapy so her body wouldn’t experience atrophy. He never left her – he tried everything he could. He never lost hope. The story really turned when Travis is forced to make a big decision. After 12 weeks of Gabby lying in the hospital, Travis now has to make the decision to let her go or move her to a nursing home for permanent care. What makes it so hard on Travis was not only did he love her, but was what Gabby had wanted. He had to decide whether or not to follow Gabby’s living will and remove her from her feeding tube or to keep love alive. The last chapter of the novel posed a great question, ““How far should you go in the name of love? ” The ending was very powerful, it really made me think “what would I do?” I really enjoyed reading this book. You can really relate this book to your life, which allows you to think about a deeper meaning. I recommend this book to anyone!

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Travis was forced to deal with a choice. They had so many great memories and adventures together. They lived a happy marriage. They had children together. Then, life flashes before their eyes when they are in a car accident. Travis walked away with only a broken arm; Gabby was stuck in a coma. This made me feel so sad, I felt so bad! Nicholas Sparks did great job writing with detail, and made it relatable to a real life situation that COULD happen to any of us. It really allows you to try to connect to the book. I stopped at this point and remembered reading about their younger years when they were first discovering their love for each other. Going on dates, talking about life – just every little thing that happened! And now, she was unable to function. I really admired Travis’s dedication and love to his wife. He visited her everyday, brought the kids by, talked to her, helped her, sent her flowers – he never left her behind. His love never ended.

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In this portion of the book, it really dealt with Gabby finding herself, and making HER OWN decisions. Gabby finds herself falling for her neighbor, but she wouldn’t let herself because she was dating Kevin. She moved down to North Carolina for him. She has been waiting for a marriage proposal. But the feelings for Travis couldn’t go away, they were real. While having both guys on her mind, she couldn’t help but think of her mother and her expectations. She basically had to choose between two worlds – the one her mother planned out and would have chosen - boring, wealthy husband. Or Gabby could make her own decision and choose the one with full of energy, excitement, wonder, and romance . Who is she going to choose??

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

I can already tell this book is going to be about love. The two main characters of this novel are Gabby and Travis. Travis seems to have what Gabby is missing – his life is filled with friends and family, and whatever he wants to do. However Gabby seems to have what Travis is missing – she’s in a long term relationship – she moved to Beaufort, North Carolina to be near her boyfriend. Regarding their relationship, I wonder what will happen as time goes on? Will they become a couple, will they become friends, etc. Gabby noticed him around the neighborhood and found him attractive but she told herself she already has a boyfriend. Their first interaction was somewhat unfortunate. Gabby believed his dog go her dog pregnant! This infuriated Gabby which led her to stomp across the yard, to take out all her anger (when later we find out that it wasn’t his dog, his dog had been spayed!) – this was their first real interaction in the book. Personally I believe that something will happen between Gabby and her boyfriend – and she will turn to Travis.