2 out of 4 stars
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Turning Your Scars into Stars, by Sue Hamby, details one woman’s journey from mourning to joy after discovering her only son has been murdered. His sudden death floods her with a sea of grief, and she has no idea how to navigate it. It isn’t until she looks towards our Heavenly Father that she begins to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Overcoming the death of a loved one is something that no one can do alone. God can bring joy to sorrow, happiness to depression, and hope to a broken soul. Through him, we have the power to turn our scars into stars.
Sue Hamby’s novel showed me that trials and tribulations occur to teach us perseverance, gratitude, and humility. They mold our character so that we are better equipped to serve God. I greatly enjoyed the metaphors Hamby uses to describe God’s power. For example, she compares our brokenness to a broken pottery vase. If there is a lighted candle inside the vase, it can only be seen after the vase is broken. She also states that bitterness grows like a weed and describes how God refines our faith like gold and silver. This imagery enhances the idea of having Godly character and shows how He enables us to live our lives through Him.
The prayers and scriptures located at the end of each chapter are a nice addition to the novel. The scriptures provide a way for readers to connect the concepts discussed in Hamby’s novel to actual bible verses. The end of each chapter also includes questions for personal growth. I feel that these are unnecessary because they ask the reader to think about what they have learned and how they can apply it to their own life. The reader should already think about this without being reminded by the same questions at the conclusion of every chapter.
I discovered many mistakes among the pages of this book. Oftentimes, there was a word missing in a sentence or the wrong tense was used, slowing down the pace of the novel. I also found the text to be quite repetitive. Some of the stories were told multiple times in order to make similar points. Near the end of the book, I felt as if part of one chapter was quoting a previous chapter word for word. This went on for several pages.
Overall, I would give Turning Your Scars into Stars 2 out of 4 stars. It is suited for anyone looking to strengthen their faith in God through their trials and tribulations.
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Turning Your Scars into Stars: A Journey from Mourning to Joy
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