I found myself watching another of your movies last night, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. This one starred Miley Cyrus (was it the producers goal to find one of the most disliked characters by anyone over 18 and cast them in a movie?). Your book/movie "The Notebook" has forever made you the master of tear-jerker romance, and something that mindless adults would flock to even if the movies starred no names, so the casting choice in this one really baffled me. The idea of watching Cyrus parade around the screen acting like a sullen teenager was not appealing, but for some insane reason, I didn't turn it off.
There are several things that bother me about your more recent books. First of all, there are 50 states in our great country. I understand sticking with what you know, but for the love of god, if I have to read/see/hear another story about one of the Carolinas or Tennessee, I will shoot myself. Sappy, unrealistic romance novels can take place ANYWHERE. Here's a challenge: create something in rural Arkansas. OR North Dakota! If you can pull THAT off, I'll drop all my criticism of your books.
Secondly: yes, cancer touches all of our lives on a very deep and profound level. But you seem to enjoy killing characters off with this. I'd like to make it to the end of a movie (I've long given up trying to read your books. When I see your name under the "new releases" category, I sneer.) without trying to figure out what character is going to bite the bullet.
Thirdly: a new plot line. Something other than boy meets girl (girl meets boy), boy falls in love with girl (girl falls in love with boy), boy/girl is sullen and the relationship is troubled, boy/girl ends it, boy/girl realizes they were retarded-- obviously boy/girl was the one person on this planet that truly understood them-- tragic death (by cancer) of someone important in boy/girl's life, easy entrance for boy/girl to be reacquainted and they all live happily ever after. Gag me.In who's life does this actually happen?? I've heard people say they like your books because "they're soooo realistic!" Does this shit actually happen in NC/SC/TN? Just think of the story possibilities you could have if you moved the plot somewhere else. North Dakota sees long periods of bitter cold. Wouldn't it be fun to isolate your characters out in the middle of no where in the freezing night? Wouldn't it be fun to have frostbite set in? Amputation is a great subject! "I love you despite your missing toes!" Maybe not as fun as killing everyone with cancer.
There are groups out there that fault Disney for giving little girls everywhere false ideas of what love is. You're doing the same thing, but with young adults and misguided adults. Maybe you're capitalizing on what Disney started by making your heroines somewhat believable. But for the love of god, please stop.
Over the years there has only been two books of yours that I've enjoyed: The Rescue and the Guardian. But I have no hopes of these ever coming to the big screen because in The Rescue, Taylor's friend dies in a fire (not cancer!) and in the Guardian, the dog dies (from rat poisoning and a GSW, not cancer!) and who wants to see that?? It is a shame because The Guardian breaks from your typical typecast and is actually a fantastic novel.
Thanks for the chance to channel my biting sarcasm and cynicism =)
Sincerely,
Stephanie
(not a fan)
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