Nights in Rodanthe: A Literary Leftover Book and Movie Review

A Nicholas Sparks classic that you may have missed is worth your time and heart to read. While not the typical book I review, a recent cozy mystery had scenes in Rodanthe and that sparked my curiosity for the book and movie that I never read.

Released in 2002, this heartfelt story of love, redemption, and grief is just as relevant today. If, like me, you have never read this book, let this be your push to pick it up. The book reads fast and draws you into the love story.

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

Literary Leftovers are book reviews and recommendations that do not contain recipes, but are books that I highly recommend.

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

book and movie review

Book Review Outline and Tone:

I enjoy love stories. Watching Say Yes to the Dress is a great way to relax and sometimes live vicariously. This romance had me intrigued from the start. I found the story compelling and I was impressed with how real the characters became so quickly. I just wasn’t sure if what I was reading was a great love story. I had faith in Nicholas Sparks that he would turn up the emotions and pull on my heartstrings, but I was almost to the end when the story knocked me over. Sparks has a way of taking love, all kinds of love, and ratcheting the feelings higher than you expected.

Movie Review:

One of my favorite things to do is read a book and then watch the movie. Sometimes the movie does a fantastic job of representing the tone, characters, themes, and plot of the book. In my experience the best movies based on books have the author as a contributing member and even better if the author writes the screenplay for the movie. One of the best examples of this is The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The movie, starring Winona Rider and Daniel Day Lewis is an excellent visual representation of the play. More recently I went to see The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a Hunger Games movie based on the novel of the same title by Suzanne Collins. Ms. Collins is given writers credit and this movie did not disappoint those of use who first read the book.

Now back to the movie Nights in Rodanthe. The acting was very good, the storyline was not close enough to the novel for me to strongly recommend the movie. When I finished the movie, I felt disappointed. However, if you enjoy reading a book and then watching its movie, far be it from me to discourage you in this case. You should still find the movie enjoyable if not close enough to the plot of the book.

The author:

Nicholas Sparks has had an outstanding career. Every book that he has published has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Several of his books have been adapted into movies. I remember sitting and crying as the credits rolled for The Notebook. Mr. Sparks has taken his success and passed it onto others. He created a foundation that provides both scholarships and educational programs for the underprivileged. If you donate $100 to his fund, he will send you a signed book.

He is active on social media sites like Facebook, X(Twitter) @NicholasSparks, Instagram, and even Pinterest where he pins some of his favorite quotes from his novels.

What is not to like?:

Do you love love? If you do, he is the author for you. Do you love when there is always a happily ever after? Then you may not enjoy all of his novels.

Book Club Recommendation: 4/5 Books 📚📚📚📚

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