Every Bitter Thing is Sweet Book Review

Recently Bethany House Publishers sent me the book Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty to review.  This book is about Sara Hagerty’s journey to find God in all circumstances of life, with an emphasis on “barrenness”. 

The inside of the dust jacket give an explanation of this book that led me to think it was going to provide some sort of profound insight into Sara’s life that I might take away to use in mine.  Two of the paragraphs read:

“Whatever lost expectations you are facing – in family, career, singleness, or marriage – Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet will bring you closer to a God who longs for you to know Him more.”

“Going beyond the narrative to offer timeless insight, Hagerty brings you back to hope, back to healing, back to a place that God is holding for you alone – a place where the unseen is more real than what the eye can perceive.  A place where every bitter thing is sweet.”

I was hopeful for that insight or revelation she would share from her own life that would help me in mine.  And while I hate to say it, I was disappointed.  I tried.  I really did.  But this book was easy to put down, and while I tried to find hope and joy in the words, they came across as more pedantic than relatable. 

I did read it completely.  I was hoping that somehow what I desired would be revealed at the end. There was a happy ending in the author’s fertility, so it has that going for it.  The author was truthful in her struggles, and in the fact that she turned to God for help amidst them.  It was nice to have a list of scripture “for your continued pursuit” as she penned.

But overall, the book’s overtone felt rather disconnected and her descriptions rather vague.  I found myself drudgingly finishing it.  While it turned out not to be my style of preferred reading, that sort of style may be appealing to others.  I much prefer a book that gives me interesting stories I can feel a part of, and situations from which I can learn, shared in a different format. 

This book gets a “thumbs down” from me.