Agung Reviews “The Last Song” by Nicholas Sparks
Synopsis
Life seems complicated for Ronnie Miller, a 17 years old teenage girl who has trouble with family and love. This is not only about her life, but she is also a trouble-maker. In the summer, her mother, Kim, decides to send Ronnie and her ten-year-old little brother, Jonah, to spend the holiday in Wrightsville Beach, NC, at her father's house. Yes, she has divorced parents. Jonah is excited to spend his holiday with his father, Steve. Meanwhile, Ronnie is thinking about why her parents hate her by sending her there.
Arriving in at Steve's house, Ronnie immediately runs on the beach festive to watch volleyball. Suddenly, she meets a handsome young boy, Will Blakelee. Will has an interest in Ronnie, and he decides to gets Ronnie's love. Not a long time, they spend time together, and they love each other. However, Will's parents do not like Ronnie's personality and background. Other problems also appear in their relationship.
Ronnie hates being in the house with her father. She has some conflicts with Steve. While she also has conflicts with her friends until she almost being jailed.
Along time, Ronnie finds out that Steve has cancer. After releasing the sea turtle together, suddenly, her father falls and puts him into an unstable condition. In the end, her father passes away. Ronnie keeps playing her father's favorite piano instrument.
The writer, Nicholas Sparks, tries to mix a story about love and family. Actually. Those things are based on love and relationship. One is a relationship with a lover, and another one is the relationship between parents and children. There is no one to be judged in the story. Every character has their own mistakes. They have their own experiences of living their life. They also have their way of solving problems. Parents have a problem with love; Ronnie and Will also have a problem with love. It is a different love story. It is not from one perspective. We can see love from an adult's perspective and a teenager's perspective.
In the beginning, the story gives a complicating vibe to the reader. It is because the story started immediately with the current situation without knowing the background of the problem why Ronnie gets into trouble, why her parents get divorced, and why every part is just so short, and it seems unclear. Well, this is my point of view.
In the middle, the writer tries to destroy the angry vibes by giving so much love scenes. Ronnie is spending time together with Will. Meanwhile, it is still inserted with other problems such as fire, friend betray, and Will's parents. Other than that, Ronnie makes her father as a mood-breaker.
At the end of the story, Ronnie regrets that she hates her father. Previously, she blames all the bad things that happen to her is because of her father. There is no reason why she does that. She actually loves her father, but she cannot say that. It is based on the laugh that she gets when she is talking with her father since she knows that her father had cancer. She starts to realize that what she does is wrong. After understanding, she starts to play the piano again as the representative of her love for her dad. Everything seems late; her father suddenly dies. She cannot make things up better, but she will at least play the piano to feel her dad's presence.
The end of the story is a combination of a sad and happy ending. This is maybe what today's' people really like to read since people seem bored with a happy ending. It has a plot twist too. The moody atmosphere is mixed with the appearance of love from Will. This is hard to explain because it is about what I feel.
The most important value in the story is we cannot back to the past to change about what we have done, good or bad. It is about regret. It is about how we build the relationship between everyone around us, including friends. Ronnie has a problem with friend things, she is sensitive, but she is kind. While if someone says this novel is for teenagers. No, that is wrong. Parents can also read this novel. Parents may take moral value about how they educate their kids.
Another value is honesty. In the story, Will tries to hide what happens with the church to Ronnie. When Ronnie finds out, she gets angry.
In conclusion, this novel is suitable for teenagers and adults. Even though this novel is a decade-year-old, but this is still good. The most interesting is the writer combines many stories to become one whole novel about love. I love it!