Scan barcode
A review by aprivett1994
With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin
3.0
I hate giving a Sarah Sundin only three stars. I liked a lot of this book and truly felt that the plot was great (seriously!! super good!!) However, I hated some of the themes of it. Most specifically, I hated Mellie’s self-esteem struggles that mostly focused on her outward appearance and lack of friendships.
As a therapist myself, I totally understand that people have deep rooted insecurities that cause them to view themselves negatively (Mellie’s experience with racism in both the Philippines and USA, for instance). However, I wish that the author had more so showed that Mellie found her value and worth in God and in her own qualities (like she encouraged Tom to do) rather than her relationship with Tom. Mellie is one of few POC characters I’ve encountered in historical Christian fiction (shoutout to Sarah Sundin for being one of the only authors I’ve ever been able to find who features POC main characters - open to recs if you know of more because I’ve tried). So, maybe going more into how she reconciled her ethnicity with how God made her without flaw, values her, loves her, and cares for her would’ve made me like the ending more? Maybe this is being too nit picky, but it’s how I feel.
Anyways - good book and I’ll definitely read the rest of the series. I just wish it was a bit different!
As a therapist myself, I totally understand that people have deep rooted insecurities that cause them to view themselves negatively (Mellie’s experience with racism in both the Philippines and USA, for instance). However, I wish that the author had more so showed that Mellie found her value and worth in God and in her own qualities (like she encouraged Tom to do) rather than her relationship with Tom. Mellie is one of few POC characters I’ve encountered in historical Christian fiction (shoutout to Sarah Sundin for being one of the only authors I’ve ever been able to find who features POC main characters - open to recs if you know of more because I’ve tried). So, maybe going more into how she reconciled her ethnicity with how God made her without flaw, values her, loves her, and cares for her would’ve made me like the ending more? Maybe this is being too nit picky, but it’s how I feel.
Anyways - good book and I’ll definitely read the rest of the series. I just wish it was a bit different!