True Forgiveness

I'm reading The Shack right now and was searching the internet for some other opinions about the book - from a Christian perspective. One of the main themes of the book is forgiveness. I won't tell you about the book, but it's pretty good. You have to keep an open mind, but if you can do that, then you can get a lot out of the book. Anyway, one Chrisitan book reviewer made a comment about forgiveness that I'm not sure I agree with. He says that in order to have true forgiveness the person in the wrong must (1) ask for forgiveness and (2) repent and be sorry for their actions (because that is the way it is modeled in the Bible with sinners repenting & turning from their sin & asking for forgiveness.) I kinda think that my action of forgiving someone doesn't rely on their actions at all. I am responsible for how I react whether or not they react/behave the way that they should. What do you think?