Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Book Review: Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic

Before reading this book, I had only heard of Nick Vujicic.  I knew he was the guy with no arms and legs and now he was a Christian motivational speaker.  I had a mentor mention to me that she read Life Without Limits and that he was truly inspirational, but I had never read anything of his or seen any of his talks so I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book, Unstoppable:  The Incredible Power of Faith in Action.

This book is very upbeat and hopeful.  Vujicic has a very positive and uplifting tone.  The book is packed with stories of people he has come across battling various issues, physical, emotional, and spiritual, and talks about how they found hope in their situation.  Interspersed is some practical advice and biblical exposition.  I can see where for some readers this would be an amazing book.

For me, though, two things really took away from my experience with it.  First of all, as I read through from beginning to end, the book seemed a little all over the place.  The book title is a little vague, as are the chapter titles.  Those aren't necessarily bad things, but I think it kept the author from organizing the book the best way possible.  If you've read other reviews of mine, this is something that I see in a lot of books of this genre.  So many good stories, so much good advice, but little skill in organizing it.

The other thing that bothered me was, having been someone who has overcome major obstacles myself, the author's tone rang a little too "Pollyanna" for me.  Overcoming adversity, even with Jesus in your life, is a lot more like rubbing your face across rough cement than basking in golden sunshine.  I may be overstating his Pollyanna effect slightly, but it was enough to make me feel like he was trying to sell the reader on the idea that once you have Jesus, adversity is easy to rejoice in.  It's not.  I would have rather heard more about the internal struggles of people and their gains and losses in faith.  But there is definitely a market for this kind of inspirational book and I just happen to not be that market.

Overall, if you are looking for this sort of book, although it could be better organized, it will definitely deliver on the uplifting stories and encouraging words.  If you are looking for the nitty gritty of the journey, this isn't the book for you.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook Press in return for my honest review.


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