The clarity with which communication is portrayed in this book is profound. The reader is given not just a glimpse, but a long look into the mind, and heart, of each person speaking to allow a unique situation where you will not find yourself only relating to a single main character. The majority of the book focuses only on this couple & their guide, and you will see bits of yourself in each of them. As they struggle with having faith to begin the journey, along with the mental challenge to obey their guide's sometimes gruff commands, an emotional turn of events threatens to change the course and content of the plot entirely. A wise guide teaches them firmly and gets them safely past personal and physical obstacles, all the while instilling these principles one-by-one.
The story sucked me in and I thoroughly enjoy the author's style of writing, descriptive but not so wordy I felt like it drug on. The action came along in the right paces to allow us to really get to know the characters and see them in both their best and their worst moments. The real hero is God. Throughout the book, I felt like the 8 principles being presented were more or less like little mile-markers to keep the book moving along on track, and I didn't think I'd be likely to remember them, much less use them in my own life, but I loved that the entire message exudes the sovereignty and sufficiency of the Lord. By the end of the book, those principles have been developed and demonstrated, as though being refined by fire- they're rough paraphrases that put practical emphasis on having an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord and a faith that walks the walk and hasn't fallen into complacency or hypocrisy.
I would highly recommend this book to teens or adults, I would guess adults may gleam more from it because the experiences and circumstances will be more easily related to by someone with a little more life experience. It's crazy how parables can seem like such a simple, entertaining story with a nice lesson, but in the end they are a heart-lesson that will serve to encourage and instruct you for years to come. Jesus was wise to use parables and the author here has created one that I feel captures the essence of follow Christ in a uniquely authentic way.
In the interest of full disclosure: I received a copy of this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers for the purpose of reviewing. I was not obligated to give a positive review, the opinions are mine.