The Choice

by Nicholas Sparks

book data

10,962 ratings, 3.85 average rating, 1,832 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		30%
4		34%
3		25%
2		7%
1		1%

edit

published

August 19th 2008 by Warner Books (first published September 24th 2007)

details

Paperback, 304 pages

isbn

0446698334 (isbn13: 9780446698337)

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 …more

find at: Amazon • Swap (3) • WorldCat • more options…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: The Title Game	8236	8110	2 hours, 16 min ago
The Next Best Boo...: * Your Latest Splurge	8329	10990	4 hours, 59 min ago
Romance Readers R...: March - Pick It For Me! Challenge	375	243	6 hours, 1 min ago

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists. Add this book to your favorite list »

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 15,656)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

Jan 05, 2008

Elise rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Nicholas Sparks fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

5 comments

Jul 17, 2008

Laura Cashavelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Mr. Sparks, All my life I believed in order for a wonderful marriage all you needed was true love. And now, knowing that for a relationship to work it needs much more then love, reading your books is honestly quite pathetic and sad. All your books are the same, have you ever thought about writing a book that doesn't involve two people falling in love over the course of twenty-four hours?

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

5 comments

Oct 20, 2008

Annie rated it:

(review of isbn 0751540579)

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Nicholas Sparks Fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This man has the uncanny ability to shatter my heart into a million pieces and put it back together again with the precision of a surgeon. Why is it that life seems so much sweeter after tragedy? Maybe gratitude isn't a natural state - it's just something we come to through experience.

I just finished Nicholas's new book The Choice which tells the love story of Gabby and Travis. Even though Sparks devoted most of the novel to the cute yet predictable narrative of their history togeth...more This man has the uncanny ability to shatter my heart into a million pieces and put it back together again with the precision of a surgeon. Why is it that life seems so much sweeter after tragedy? Maybe gratitude isn't a natural state - it's just something we come to through experience.

I just finished Nicholas's new book The Choice which tells the love story of Gabby and Travis. Even though Sparks devoted most of the novel to the cute yet predictable narrative of their history together, he made one smart move at the start: a captivating prologue. Oftentimes I believe the prologue is a sign of weak writing. A good author shouldn't need one to draw you into the story - if they do then they're beginning the story at the wrong place. However, this book really needed that. It lent a depth to the first half of the novel which would have been absent otherwise and encouraged readers to keep going even though it seemed a little too fluffy at times.

The other interesting topic he raises is cheating. I have to say this made me a little uncomfortable and did make me a little ticked off. I mean, just because the characters are meant for each other does not justify dishonesty and deception. The other thing is that I am SURE I read in an interview that Nicholas Sparks said he'd NEVER write about adultery. You see, he is openly Christian and doesn't believe in writing about things against his own moral code. If I can find the quote where he says that, I'll post it here. It was a case of 'just when you thought the story was a bit dull the character does something morally repugnant'. That was actually enough to keep me interested. I wanted to see why Sparks made that particular literary decision.

Sparks had some ground to make up after this incident though because as the reader, I thought there was no reason for it. Not having Gabby confront her boyfriend made her seem a little weak. That's when you jump to the next part of the story and where Sparks really shines...the tragedy! God I love it. The thrilling part of reading his work is that you never know if you'll get a happy ending. Right up until the second-last page of The Choice I wasn't sure which it would be. And I cried like a baby the whole time. This wouldn't be Sparks' best work but he's one of those authors you usually can't go wrong with. Well, except maybe for True Believer and Dear John. They seemed a little like mid-career slump novels to me.

He is such a quick-read and the world seems such a richer place when you're finished. People argue that the kind of drama he writes about isn't realistic. I beg to differ. You only have to read an interview with him to know that most of his stories are inspired by real life. Guess what folks, life is tragic. It's the meaning that we gain from tragedy and the love that touches us that makes it all worthwhile.

Aah Nicholas, a man after my own heart. I'll forgive you the cheating but only cause it was such a satisfying ending. (less)

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

Oct 19, 2007

Julianne rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in October, 2007

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

3 comments

Oct 18, 2007

Bethany Andrews rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

bookshelves: fiction

Read in October, 2007

For all you Nicholas Sparks fans out there, rest assured, he's done it again. He's written another ridiculously perfect, impossible not to cry over, romance. I'm usually not a fan of this type of work, but as I've said before, there's something about a Nicholas Sparks book I can't resist. It's like my guilty pleasure or something.

This one is about Travis, a small town vet, who has everything he could ever want out of life. He's got excellent friends, a cool dog, his own house and...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

Sep 26, 2008

Lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in September, 2008

The Choice has assured I will never read another Nicholas Sparks book. I found this novel to be a long-winded, tedious waste of time. And I got really irritated with his lack of research. If you are going to write about a dog whelping – get your facts right. If you are going to write about comatose people – get your facts right. Oh yeah, and if your leading lady is an accomplished P.A. , you might want to try giving her a brain. And I’m sorry, but I see nothing redeeming about def...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

add a comment

Mar 16, 2009

Vivian rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in July, 2009

recommended to Vivian by: mom

This has been my favorite book and my plan is to read every Nicholas Sparks book. I read this book last summer and this book is also about love and promises. I learned not all promises should be kept (even though they should). This married couple has been together quite some time and they had there good and bad times. In the time of there marriage a promise came up- If anything ever happened to Gabby and needed be put on life support, then her husband Travis, would only let her be connected for ...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

1 comment

Nov 26, 2007

Becky rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

bookshelves: adult, romance

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: fans of Nicholas Sparks, readers who like sentimental love stories

When a new Nicholas Sparks novel comes out, you know what you're in for - a southern romance between a romantic, lovable, handsome man and an intelligent, independent, naturally beautiful woman. It will be a fast read that makes you long for the simple, small town life. I'm not a big fan of romances, but Sparks books are simply good stories and always enjoyable reads. Also, one never knows whether the ending will be a certifiable tear-jerker or joyful happiness. "The Choice" is abo...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

Apr 25, 2008

Nikki De Los Santos rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in January, 2008

Pulled at my heart strings and ended up crying for about 5 mintues at the end. His writting has a way of getting in your head and you can imagine yourself in the situation. What would you do......

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

Jan 16, 2009

Kit rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

bookshelves: romance

Read in April, 2009

recommends it for: any silly romantic lover

This book is very interesting. Like most of Nicholas Sparks romance books you fall in love with the characters and what the best to happen for them, but in a small way some thing goes wrong, but it always ends up leaving you all warm inside.
I find this one different because even though the back cover describes the book to be about Travis, most of the story line is about Gabby's side of view in there whole time of getting to know each other.
The first part of the story starts out in ...more This book is very interesting. Like most of Nicholas Sparks romance books you fall in love with the characters and what the best to happen for them, but in a small way some thing goes wrong, but it always ends up leaving you all warm inside.
I find this one different because even though the back cover describes the book to be about Travis, most of the story line is about Gabby's side of view in there whole time of getting to know each other.
The first part of the story starts out in Feb 2007, and Travis is going to the hospital where is wife worked to see her. Unsure of the choice he was going to make. It dates back to when they first met and how they came about to fall in love. Gabby moved in next door to Travis. She has a purebred collie who is pregnant and believes Travis' dog is responsible. As she goes over to his house to tell him to take responsiblitiy everthing thing goes wrong. She ends up leaving like a stupid person and finds out that Travis is the vet. Evenutally they spend a weekend together while Gabby's boyfriend is out of town, as friendly neighbors with all of Travis' married friends. By the third day they know they are in love and she decides to be with Travis.

In the second part of the story, Travis is sitting at the hospital going over his memories of the past and how they get married and have two girls. Some of the fights they have, and why things started to go wrong. Travis and Gabby were in a horrible car accident and she went into a coma. As Travis sits at the hospital he is trying to make "the choice" that will change his life. Gabby made Travis sign a living will, where if she was ever in a coma; after three months if she didn't wake up, he promises to let her die. She made him do it because of some one she met a hospital who the husband went insane because the wife was put in a nursing home and after six years was still in a coma. The kids went off the deep end too, and Gabby didn't want that to happen to her family. After three months Travis makes his decision . . . I can't spoil the ending for you all, you'll just have to read it.
I will say during the second part have some tissues handy it was a tear jerker. It does end well as all his books do, I closed the book feeling satisfied. (less)

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

3 comments

Nov 21, 2008

Becky rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in November, 2008

I have to be in a certain type of mood to read a Sparks book. A friend told me this was a good, but I get irritated with Sparks tendency to kill off his protagonists by the end.

The Choice is a great read (and thoughtful...who doesn't need to be reminded that we all need Living Wills.) I loved the Part One where Travis and Gabby "grow" in love. Part Two moves too quickly, but this might not be a bad thing. As a reader, I wanted more details, but admit this would have mud...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Feb 03, 2009

Lesli Spafford rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in January, 2009

This book wasn't one of my favorites, although it did have a happy ending which isn't that common with books written by Nicholas Sparks. I think the reason that I didn't love the book was because of the female character, Gabby. I thought she was rather dull and kind of bratty.
I was inspired by Travis Parker. I loved his zest for life, his commitment to family, friends and good health. He had a good head on his shoulders. He gave me a renewed appreciation for the simple things in life...espe...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Nov 30, 2008

Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

bookshelves: 2008-reads, library-book

Read in April, 2008

White perusing Barnes & Noble for birthday book ideas I saw The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. I’ve read a couple of Sparks’ books and really enjoyed them, so I thought I’d give this one a shot. I keeping with my mom’s you-can-get-it-from-the-library mentality, I looked it up and checked it out.

The Choice reminded me a bit too much of The Notebook, also by Nicholas Sparks. To the point where I felt that Gabby telling Travis that it isn’t as simple as just telling Kevin that she i...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Mar 12, 2010

Cathy rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Another great Read by Nicholas Sparks. I found this book really enjoyable. At some parts i found that it dragged on a little to much, but it was an easy read. The Book is full of True love, and heart-breaking tragedy that will have you reaching for that box of kleenex.

The Story is about Travis Parker, A Happily single man, who lives the ultimate single man's lifestyle. He has great Friends, A good job and everthing he needs to fill in his spare time. A parasail boat, A jet Ski, and ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Jan 16, 2010

Mabs rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

bookshelves: -09

Read in December, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

It was a nice reading, the guy´s got style and a few books to back him up, and it´s a love story so there´s not much way to go wrong, but here´s what I didn´t like about it:
#1 Gabby is a cute, shy, non-agressive young woman, you´ve got the whole "Let´s pluck up the courage to confront the lazy neighbour about his dog getting my dog pregnant" scene to back you up on that, and suddenly the next day, when they go out on his bike, she´s a sensuous, sassy, witty full-grown wom...more It was a nice reading, the guy´s got style and a few books to back him up, and it´s a love story so there´s not much way to go wrong, but here´s what I didn´t like about it:
#1 Gabby is a cute, shy, non-agressive young woman, you´ve got the whole "Let´s pluck up the courage to confront the lazy neighbour about his dog getting my dog pregnant" scene to back you up on that, and suddenly the next day, when they go out on his bike, she´s a sensuous, sassy, witty full-grown woman. What the hell happened there?
#2 You know how novel language - as well as movie language - sounds different than real life? Ironically more natural and frequently to the witty/Friends type? This guy´s dialogues are UBBERLY witty - so much it makes it too heavy, too perfectly choreographed. You can see that they´ve been rewritten several times by both author and editor, they´ve been gone over and over until they looked plastic. Mostly, it feels like the characters are just standing and shooting scripted lines, no real emotion, no real nothing.
#3 But let´s not get carried away, it´s still a touching love story. It begins by implying they were getting a divorce, and all the back and forth narration makes you think that the choice was Gabby´s: between safe boring Kevin and loving exhilirating Travis - and that apparently she chose wrong. He keeps on backing up leading you to believe a huge fight will happen and all will make sense (she was too guilty from the break up; she planned the whole wedding between shifts, maybe Travis wasn´t as involved as he should; maybe he got bored with her attempts to make the perfect home; maybe they couldn´t have kids and she couldn´t cope... so many possibilities). Only to then realise that she´s either dead or dying and all had been perfect. The problem is, the expectation created by the divorce idea kind of ruined all the happy perfect-life moments. Makes you doubt they could happen.
#4 Which then brings me to: what the hell was that ending? A happy ending? By Nicholas Sparks? Was he hammered? It was a very odd thing for him to do, especially considering Travis chose to ignore her wishes, but the speed of it all left my head buzzing. And the lack of loving moments between the two of them after the coma bothered me a bit. Again, the perfect-happy-family-ending felt plastic.
#5 I think he could have written another trip to the beach with the whole "family" to really show the happiness of the thing, because it kind of seemed like they were only friends with Stephanie after the accident (which I was betting would be a parasailing one, btw).

Things I really loved and made it worth it:
#1 Travis´ friends and pseudo family are truly great. Can´t tell anyone who wouldn´t love to be a part of the group.
#2 Stephanie is a fantastic character, the insights, the talking, the everything. Joined the Favourite Characters group.
#3 Travis himself is great. Even apart from his group. He leads a good lifestyle and tops it with great upbeat attitude (at least until he meets Gabby) - the sort of fella you would want to be around.

"I´m a student. I´m thinking of making it my career" Stephanie

Overall, looking forward to reading more Nicholas Sparks. Probably won´t be as lucky as to find another non-killing one, though.

[http://mareindistress.blogspot.com/2009/12/choice-spoiler.html](less)

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Dec 18, 2009

Jana rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in December, 2009

I surely have a problem. I read another book from Sparks. He is trying to be Jodie Picoult, but he is not as good. His characters are shallow and stereotypical - his story is so so, it has potential, but he doesn't know how to describe it. But I have a problem, because after 50 pages I was already steaming from my nostrils and rolling my eyes, but I finished reading.

He is a Budweiser guy, she is shy and naive. He is uber sexy, she is not so. And he tells her he loves her after 2 day...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Aug 25, 2009

Kendall rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in August, 2009

We can nod at the obvious that The Choice is typical Nicholas Sparks; faithful readers are not likely to be disappointed. Unless, of course, they actually think about it too much.
To be fair, Sparks has declared his interest is writing best-sellers, not something else, and in today’s world that means formulaic and predictable. Again, the readers he wants to please are probably not going to be disappointed with The Choice.
At the level of lowest resolution, there isn’t much more to ...more We can nod at the obvious that The Choice is typical Nicholas Sparks; faithful readers are not likely to be disappointed. Unless, of course, they actually think about it too much.
To be fair, Sparks has declared his interest is writing best-sellers, not something else, and in today’s world that means formulaic and predictable. Again, the readers he wants to please are probably not going to be disappointed with The Choice.
At the level of lowest resolution, there isn’t much more to be said.
If we look a little closer, however, some cracks have begun to appear, almost as though he has tired of repeating the same formulae; or, having trouble in making new plots fit the very very profitable formula.
The Choice starts of with a typical boy-meets-girl set up; Gabby moves to a Florida to be close to her boyfriend Kevin. And (wouldn’t you know it), the oh-so-eligible Travis lives next door. You already see the choice, right? Well, wait till you get to Part II and that isn’t the choice at all. Not that it isn’t a choice, but it’s not the one in the book.
As I’ve tried to be follow Nicholas Sparks, after all he was, at my last checking, the third best-selling author in the world, the formula is pretty clear: (1) a timely subject--livings wills, (2) a maudlin writing style--what writers call ‘voice’, (3) a male character outwardly very masculine, but who wants a relationship like women wish they did, (4) Quick bonding, one principles conflicted about it. but permanent once achieved --contretemps keep the plot moving, not seven-year itches. (5) an uncomplicated plot that can be told simply and gushingly. This keeps the book relatively short, readable in two or three sittings. (5) No nastiness like cursing (you won’t be embarrassed to recommend it to your friends, and sex is just explicit enough that we know what’s happening (though Sparks does subscribe to the modern myth that chastity is not preferable to promiscuity).
The crack in this edifice is that the choice of The Choice doesn’t come until Part II. It is as though Sparks changed his mind about the book after Part 1, which was a fairly humdrum romance with little action and almost no plot. It appears Sparks realized he would have to do something to pull it out, and didn’t want to go back and rewrite the whole damn thing.
Still, Sparks’ readers will be happy. So will his publisher.(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Aug 09, 2009

Brandy rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in August, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

May 10, 2009

Jason_W. rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

bookshelves: 7th-grade-ir-book--rick-

The book the Choice is about a lady named Gabby who moves next door to Travis a guy who has three friends since kindergarden. All of them married Travis believes that if he too gets married then he will have his schedule provoked so he acts "neighborly" to Gabby. Helping her give birth to the puppies,(As a vet) inviting her to parties with his friends and his sister. Soon he becomes connected to Gabby and then they face troubles of all the personal problems as they find out more about ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Apr 26, 2009

Sheri rated it:

(review of isbn 0446579920)

Read in April, 2009

Well, what a monumental waste of time and money!! It was insipid and anyone could have written it without being a bestselling author. The worst thing is that I paid full price for it at the airport and didn't even like it well enough to pass it on to anyone else to read. Why inflict more pain? I don't know that I'll ever read another one of his books again and if I do, rest assured, I'll get it at the library. The funny thing is that my other choice was a Grisham novel (another author who writ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment