A review by ddurling
My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

2.0

I enjoyed getting to know Mary Sutter in the beginning of the book. I felt like you really got to know Mary in the beginning and could sense or feel her passion. Then as the book went on, it seemed like the author lost touch with that. You ended up trying to guess how Mary felt about the two doctors in her life and which one she ultimately liked. I would have liked her to actually express more feelings about working during the war. In the end, I kind of didn't care which man she picked. It seemed like Mary was telling the story in the beginning and then it turned into a distant third person account.

The parts about Lincoln, his cabinet, and the war strategy were thrown in haphazardly with no real connection to the over arching story of Mary. I think there could have been better ways to weave in the facts about the war. I was slightly interested in getting to know Abe Lincoln, but maybe not in the same book as Mary. I think if you add characters in a book there should be a reason and better connection to the main character.

I know I like a book when I feel sad it's over because I won't be interacting with the characters anymore. I just didn't feel that big of a connection to Mary, even though she stands for everything I believe strongly in.