My review of Unspeakable Journey by Rinda Hahn

About the book:

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the grocery store, but it turned into an Unspeakable Journey.

On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Isabella is abducted in the parking lot of her local grocery store. Hasam, a sinister human trafficker, arranges for her to marry his longtime friend and Saudi Arabian prince, Latif.

Latif has everything—political prowess, success, and wealth—until he meets Isabella. She is beautiful, alluring, and all that he has dreamed of in a wife, and Isabella's defiant refusal makes her even more desirable.

Far from home, in a land where women are oppressed, Isabella struggles with the loss of her husband and two daughters, imprisonment, and isolation. Will God rescue her from this nightmare? Will she give in to hopeless despair?


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book quickly. While the dialog was a bit stilted at times and the writing a bit weak, the story itself was powerful. I could not stop reading this book. Even though the premise seemed a bit unbelievable at first, I found myself wanting this woman to somehow prosper despite her circumstances. I loved that the author didn't spare her any pain. That's good story-telling. The author ran the heroine Isabella through every internal and external conflict imaginable, and I really cared about her. In fact, I cared about all of the characters...including the Saudi prince.

This story took me on an incredible ride that made me really think about how I would cope if I were in a similar situation. The spiritual impact of this story is it's strongest feature. I also loved the frankness the author often expressed in her plot. I was immersed in the culture in Saudi Arabia and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. My throat tightened on more than one occasion as I grieved with Isabella. The only distraction was the dialog. Isabella rarely used contractions in her speech so it felt stilted.

Nevertheless, this book was compelling enough to recommend. It makes you think about how Christ can shine in our lives in the darkest of places if we give our lives fully to Him. We can still grieve our losses, but ultimately our lives need to be surrendered to God's plan for our lives. So many lives were touched because of Isabella's pain. That element of the story made this novel rank higher than most. The spiritual takeaway readers will glean from this book is priceless.

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