Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him...and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?
Warning: some spoilers in this review
I believe that New York Times best selling author Nicholas Sparks is one of the only men in the world who could make cheating in a relationship sound like a romantically fantastic idea. Unless, of course, the act of infidelity inevitably resulted in a nine month long coma.
From the very beginning, Sparks' latest novel, The Choice, seemed vaguely familiar and a couple of chapters in, I immediately felt as if I'd read it all before.
The new book follows a young man and woman living next door to each other in the only state Sparks' novels ever take place: North Carolina. Main character Travis Parker (not Barker) is similar to all other Sparks' protagonists simply by being perfect in every way. He's attractive and quick-witted, strong and great with kids, and is even wealthy enough at the age of thirty-two to have traveled the world, own two boats, his own house on the water, and a small-town veterinary business. He's dated many women in the past, but now he's realized that he wants what all of his other friends have: a wife.
That very night, his new neighbor, Gabby Holland, happens to burst through the bushes, ranting about his dog getting her dog pregnant and from that moment on, Travis's sights are set. I had some hope for the character of Gabby when he described her eyes as being "a little too wide set" and her nose as "just a bit too big," but as with all of Sparks' stories, the next hundred pages or so were spent with the thoughts of how beautiful or attractive each person realized the other was every time they merely glanced in their direction.
Despite being in a four year relationship that's about to turn into an engagement, Gabby spends ample time with Travis over the course of one weekend and true to Sparks' form, they're in love within seventy two hours. Predictable? I would say so, especially since that's the way his previous efforts Message in the Bottle and Nights in Rodanthe turned out, too.
Even though I'm not a fan of affairs, I found myself cheering for Travis and Gabby's relationship. He's (almost too) sweet and understanding, and she's suddenly realizing that she's not as happy as she thought she was with her boyfriend. So why shouldn't the two of them be together?
Eleven years later, Gabby's choice to stay with Travis, get married, and have kids comes back to haunt her when he crashes their car during a thunderstorm. He wakes up after the accident, but she doesn't stir for a couple of months. The days go by and Travis is now faced with his choice: does he honor the promise he made to her so many years ago and order the feeding tube to be removed or does he disregard their written agreement and keep the hope of love alive?
There is some slight suspense and a sarcastic undertone to The Choice, but aside from that, the book didn't grab or hold my attention for too long. It's not one of those books that you don't want to put down. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't horrible or boring. It was simply unoriginal. I understand that it's difficult to write something totally original today, but The Choice wasn't original in that someone else had already written it. It was unoriginal because Sparks, himself, has already conjured these same characters and plot lines.
Too many times, I picked up on things that happened almost the same way in his other books. The pigeon on the window sill in the hospital reminded me of the swan in The Wedding. Gabby ending up as more a damsel in distress than anything else (her life and her happiness was in his hands) made me flashback to A Walk to Remember and possibly even The Rescue. And leaving Travis alone to care for their children, heartbroken and afraid, was At First Sight-ish. The ending, though, was exactly what the rest of the story needed. If you haven't read anything else by Sparks, all of this won't bother you and I believe that you'll definitely enjoy it. If you have, you may just want to keep your reading shallow and not dive as deep as I did.
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