Books for Christian Girls: "Through Waters Deep" by Sarah Sundin

About this book:

“It is 1941 and America teeters on the brink of war. Handsome and outgoing naval officer Ensign Jim Avery escorts British convoys across the North Atlantic in a brand-new destroyer, the USS Atwood. On shore, Jim encounters Mary Stirling, a childhood friend who is now an astute and beautiful Boston Navy Yard secretary.

When evidence of sabotage on the Atwood is discovered, Jim and Mary must work together to uncover the culprit. A bewildering maze of suspects emerges, and Mary is dismayed to find that even someone close to her is under suspicion. With the increasing pressure, Jim and Mary find that many new challenges--and dangers--await them.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Waves of Freedom” series.

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, remembered, discussed, & talked about; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going; Hymns & Singing in a choir and a Christmas play; Talks about God, Jesus, & sin; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bible reading & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of Biblical principles; Mentions of churches, church going, services, Sunday school classes, choirs, hymns, sermons, & pastors; Mentions of Christmas plays & those in it; Mentions of Jews; Mentions of sin; A few mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of going to mass; A mention of being blessed.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘pansy’, two ‘stinking’s, and nine ‘stupid’s; Many mentions of curses & cussing (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm & eye rolling; Threats; Being shot at (up to semi-detailed); A torpedo, explosion, & flames (semi-detailed); Set during a war & all about mentions of it, Nazis, fighting, & deaths (semi-detailed); Many mentions of violence, fights, sabotaging, bombs, criminals/spies, & arrests; Mentions of torpedoes, an explosion, fires, gunfire, & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of screams, blood/bleeding, & accidents that resulted in a loss of a body part (semi-detailed); Mentions of thugs, being jumped/attacked, injuries, blood, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of past wars & fights; Mentions of jail, gasoline, & fires; Mentions of thieves & stealing; Mentions of someone addicted to pain medicine & addicts; Mentions of alcohol & drinking (Jim does drink rum at one point, but it’s for medical purposes); Mentions of tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, & smoking; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of bodies; A few mentions of threats; A couple mentions of (a rumor of) butchering babies; A couple mentions of dying from hypothermia; A couple mentions of thugs; A couple mentions of vomiting; A mention of hunting traps;

*Note: A mention of Girl Scouts.

Sexual Content- two blown kisses, two nose kisses, two forehead kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and two detailed kisses; Remembering a kiss (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss and touch someone & be kissed (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Nearness, & Heat (semi-detailed); Noticing (semi-detailed); Mentions of kisses, kissing, & seeing others kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends, girlfriends, & breakups; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of crushes; A few mentions of a guy who cheated on his girlfriend, got another girl pregnant, and married her; A few mentions of flirting; A few mentions of Jim saying his preferred girl are bubbly blondes; A couple mentions of (a rumor of) women being ravished; A couple mentions of red-blooded men responding to a kiss; A couple mentions of a jealous lover; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A few mentions of two-piece swimsuits & figures; A couple mentions of a girl wearing a skimpy swimsuit & doing provocative looks and poses; A mention of a girl looking like a pinup girl; A mention of girl being told not to wear a certain color because it excites men.

-Mary Stirling

-Jim Avery
P.O.V. switches between them

Set in 1941
375 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Hmmm.

…I start off too many reviews with “Hmmm”, don’t I?

Hmmm…

To be honest (as I always am in these reviews), I’m torn about my feelings on this one. Let’s do bullet points, since those help list things out well. :)

Positives:

- Mary! I adored her. I felt like I really related to Mary in many ways. Her personality just clicked with mine well. She’s also a big Nancy Drew fan, so that was cute.

- Okay, technically still about Mary, but I loved seeing her faith and what she struggles with. I do have to point out that I’d like her to teach all the other war-time heroines I’ve read about, about faith and trust when it comes to their man being sent away. This girl had it right. *claps*

- The mystery. I thought it was really interesting even though I definitely had a hard time following who was who, it kept me fascinated in the plot.

- Jim’s big family. Kind of silly, but I like it when authors add a good family dynamic and relationships to their stories.

Not-So-Positives:

(These points affect the rating, so they’re technically worth more than “one bullet point” each.)

- His feelings came way too quick for my tastes. He was a bit too physically interested (noticing her curves) in Mary after that. (He noticed her “shapely calves” while in church…while she’s wearing a choir robe. Lord help me.)

- About halfway, Mary started noticing his nearness and there were some awkward times for this reader.

- The kisses and the desires Jim had to kiss her.

- Some of the war fighting and accidents got a bit too much at times in the details.

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So, this was my second book by this author. Like that first one, while I liked the Spiritual Content, I was disappointed by other content. I think I might still finish both of the series I’ve started by her, but I have a feeling they all will be quite romancey which I find unfortunate.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!