4 out of 4 stars
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A tiny package unwrapped is a moderately-paced Christian novel by Dave Barkey. This is a story of Johann, a man who carries in him a deep rooted resentment for Christianity or anything associated to it. This resentment took root when Johann, as a child, witnessed the killing of his own father by a man who had a cross necklace hanging from his neck. He finds love in Genevieve, a woman who, unlike Johann, is a catholic and believes in the power of God in her life. Though the two share completely different views on Christianity, they get married and relocate to the United States of America to start a new life as newlyweds. Barely settled in marriage, Genevieve finds it hard to unlock the hurt that Johann carries in his heart. This has caused him to be self centered leaving Genevieve a distraught mother to a son who Johann has refused to acknowledge as his own son because he was born at a time when Johann preferred pursuing a career over having children.
A tiny package unwrapped beautifully weaves in the themes of love, hurt, religion and music into a book that I could hardly put down. As I turned each page, I kept wondering how Genevieve would survive in a marriage where her husband no longer had love for her. Johann was a character I had mixed emotions for. In some instance, I found him to be a lovable character but in other instances, I hated him. Following Johann’s unfortunate murder of his father, I could understandably resonate with his feeling of anger but when he vents this anger on his own son and injures him, I felt he took it too far. That he frustrated his wife’s effort to help him move beyond this ugly past, added more to my dislike of him.
His son and his wife, however, were characters who displayed endurance in the midst of great adversity. Lee, though a child, displayed a level of maturity that is hard to find in a child of his age. Undeterred by his father’s coldness towards his love for playing the piano, he goes on pursue this passion. Lee could have justifiably hated his father for this and turn out to be like his father, but his mother’s constant intervention kept him from becoming like his father. Genevieve and lee were two characters that I loved throughout the book especially when they make the decision to become followers of Christ. These two display a mother and son relationship that kept me hopeful that the story would have a beautiful ending.
Lee’s love for playing the piano might as well have been the only reason that Dave Barkely uses the joyful Christmas season to develop the theme of music in latter chapters of the book. This Christmas timeline makes this book a good choice for a Christmas gift. The use of scripture at the end of each chapter provided me an opportunity for self evaluation especially because most of the scripture was quoted from the book of proverbs.
To anybody struggling with hurt or knows a person who is struggling, I would recommend reading this book. Without a doubt, this is a book that is suitable for any Christian seeking to learn about the love of Christ and the power it has to transform a person to who God intended that person to be. Good editing, proper sentence structure and grammar served to make my reading quite enjoyable without any interruptions. For this reason and all the above reasons, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars
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A Tiny Package Unwrapped
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