Two By Two

By Nicholas Sparks

This was the 11th work of Nicholas that I have read. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most heartening stories of Sparks’ collection, but the usual trend Nicholas has of his amazing writing was amiss in this one.

This story is more of a father-daughter duo than a usual love story.

Sparks hasn’t forgotten to mention the small problems that a single parent faces while raising a child alone, keeping in mind, that for a father, it is even more difficult.

Throughout the story :

• You would expect, there would be a massive fight between the couple for their daughter,  London, for her custody but then I would say, it goes around pretty much positive, given none of the parents are ruthless to not understand the severity of the situation.
• Sparks has tried to be careful while portraying Russell’s wife – Vivian’s character, throughout the story, especially at the end.
• The story slowly switches from the plot of father-daughter and divorce events, to Russell’s sister Marge’s story. One may lose track for a bit there.

I think the conclusion of the whole story was not quite justified. The ending should have been more focused on what the whole story was about. The climax is very simple, contradictory to the whole story where there were many problems, during which the readers would wonder, what would happen next.

It is quite a predictable story.

I have read around 12 of his books (including this) and almost every story has the same factors in it. Love, loss, hardships, and death of course. It is worth mentioning that the plot of this one was different.