Anyone who would have read this book would definitely rate it as a Love story but to me what aspect that was more appealing was the relationship of Father-Son that has been projected in the book.
Besides 'Dear John', I have also read 'A walk to remember' of Nicholas Sparks and anyone with a decent enough sense of observationwould note the basic two similarities in his books - The father & son relationship: which is always portrayed as faulty initially and then through a series of steps of getting to know each other a little bit better, which of course is always a silent affair but with immense efforts mustered in, leaves the reader in tears simply just to watch the whole journey of reaching simplicity from the complexities. The second thing would be his respect for women that is evident from his choice of characters. The lady characters in both these books are as compliant and as virtuous as they possibly can be imagined which at times seems less genuine to be true, but nevertheless expresses the view of the author of women in general which is definitely flattering to know :)
The Love story in the book is pretty much predictable but the journey of experiencing it is definitely what one should go through by reading it because well to be honest most of our classic epical Love stories are the ones which can be predicted from the cover to the end like, on top of my mind - Eric Segal's A love story.
But its definitely not the only thing this book is all about. From the start its very prominent that the author wishes the readers to connect to 'John Tyree' (the main character) and the relationship with his father. John's father as even as he remembered him from his childhood has been an enthusiast for Coin collecting which he in-fact inherited from his father. But John is different, he is not that interested in Coins as his father, and it simulates all kind of resentful feelings in him when he becomes a teenager, like Why does his father has nothing to talk about but coins? or maybe he just feels distinct by not sharing the same passion as his father. What he fails to notice is that his father has 'Asperger's', which has been the reason through out of his behavior, his strict time-table, his lack of social desire, and the limited-topic conversations that they shared.
Its definitely a stirring sentimental story, one which definitely deserves tears at certain moments in the story. Other than that its also a matured love story facing the complications of long-distance relationship as John is a soldier in the 'infantry' of the army. It becomes monumental from mundane, when John getsenlisted for the 'war' after the 9/11 event. The author leaves the details of the war to a minimum, exempting the book from becoming a war-novel to a normal love story with a background of war to reason for the various situations that arise in the story, which is a bit unsettling and unauthentic. 
But its definitely worth a read, mostly for the first part and it implies a lot more in the simplicity with which it has been written.
