A Review: ‘The Longest Ride’.

The second book I finished this summer, “The Longest Ride” by Nicholas Sparks, sure was a goodie!

Unlike most Sparks books however, I didn’t immediately fall in love with this one — it took some time. “The Longest Ride” brings two love stories together in a unique way.

One story is that of Ira and Ruth, the other is that of Luke and Sophia. Ira and Ruth were married for many years, and when readers meet Ira, he is a widower, trying to survive a bad car accident in freezing temperatures.

Luke and Sophia are college-age, lovers who meet at a rodeo, where Luke is competing. They both come from hardships of their own sort — her from heartache, and him from loss.

The chapters switch between the stories of Luke, Sophia, and Ira, which is a style I always appreciate, as it gives a fresh perspective every couple of pages.

I enjoyed reading about Sophia and Luke (admittedly) much more than that of Ira, and I think that’s simply because of the age gap.

However, I knew the stories were going to cross paths at some point, and as the book continued on, I felt myself wondering just how these two couples would intertwine. The way they did was pretty unexpected (no spoilers here).

I will say, that since it took me a little while to really get into this book, I carried it with me everywhere, so that I could read it at any moment, even if it was just a few pages.

Once, I was reading it while standing in line to buy movie tickets, and an older woman tapped me on the shoulder.

“Is that ‘The Longest Ride?'” she asked.

I nodded.

“That’s the only book of his I couldn’t get into,” she said.

So, be warned. However, it’s not slow the entire read. It’s a different formula than most of his books (there’s actually a happy ending), but it’s still a great book, and definitely one I would recommend.

If you don’t get to read it this summer, at least check it out before the movie version hits theaters April 2015.