I only picked up this book from the library because they didn't have the specific books I was looking for in, so I walked through the aisles and randomly selected a few so the trip wasn't a waste. When I saw it on the shelf, I remembered that someone a while ago had recommended that I read it and "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks, and because books are almost always better than the movie versions, I decided to give it a shot.

I actually liked the movie when I saw it. I am a sappy girl like that sometimes. I don't read romance novels, and I don't watch chick flicks like they are going out of style, but Dirty Dancing will always be one of my favourite movies, because I grew up watching it over and over. So, sometimes I fall in love with a sappy story.

In some ways I prefer the movie to the book, which might be only because I had seen it before I read it. I struggled with whether to give it two or three stars, because I felt like it was more than just "ok", it was decent, but when I look back at other books I had given three stars to, I really did not feel like it was on par with them. I would have probably loved this had I read it when I was thirteen or fourteen. Maybe I have gotten more cynical over time, or maybe it's just that I would have related more at that age, I don't know, but as sweet as the storyline was, it just didn't pull on my heartstrings like it clearly was meant to. I know I teared up during the movie, but the book didn't do it for me for some reason. I don't think it was because I already knew what was going to happen - it would have been pretty obvious where it was heading had I not ever seen the movie, and I have re-read books before and still been as touched as the first time. I think it just fell slightly short in capturing the tender moments, and that is where the movie was able to pick it up and elaborate.

I wouldn't recommend it necessarily to anyone, but I also wouldn't suggest to someone that they shouldn't read it. I've definitely read worse.