With Every Letter Review

Today I’m going to review With Every Letter by: Sarah Sundin.

In the height of WWII, two people find refuge and friendship in anonymous letter writing. Lt. Mellie Blake doesn’t fit in because of her heritage. Being half Filipino and half American, she grew up with the cruelty of children making fun of her odd looks. She hasn’t ever had a friend. Lt. Tom MacGilliver can’t escape the legacy of his murderous father. His whole life goal is to show people he isn’t his father. These two lonely souls will find comfort in each other’s letters and also be forced to grow due to the circumstances around them.

This book was so sweet. I really got completely absorbed in it. I love the backdrop of WWII and the flight nursing program that Millie was involved in. Sarah Sundin really knows how to transport you back in time. I found myself so wrapped up in the war effort through the characters eyes and I couldn’t put this book down.

I am so impressed by how much the characters grow in this book. They naturally come out of their shells and learn how to live without the oppressive weights that had been hanging over them. Mellie and Tom are a great pairing. I loved their love for the Lord and how they had so much in common even though they were so different.

I really loved the various themes in this book. They really made you think. One was about gossip, which a few characters struggled with. Originally, I was kind of bothered by how gossiping was represented because it made me realize how easy it is to gossip. I fall into more than I would like to admit.

The other big theme was presented through Mellie and had to do with mercy. I never thought of mercy quite like Mellie did. She wanted to be merciful in all that she did and sometimes she confused mercy for something else. I just think this is a really interesting thing that Sarah Sundin chose to explore in this book. It definitely made me stop to think.

This book was an amazing read and I couldn’t help but escape into if for a while. I thought it was a wise choice that Mellie and Tom did all their growing without the other’s presence. They definitely helped one another through their letters, but they didn’t change because of the other. This isn’t normally the typical thing in a romance novel and I found it really refreshing.

My only slight complaint is that I wished we could have seen a bit more of the letters between Mellie and Tom because I felt like they feel in love a bit too quickly. Then I realized there were a whole lot of letters we didn’t see that it made more sense for them to be in love. I totally understand that Sarah Sundin avoided this to stop some repetition that would probably occur and it helped keep the story moving, but I almost missed it.

Overall, this book was excellent. It’s a very sweet read.