The Esther Paradigm by Sarah Monzon Review

 

The Esther Paradigm is my first book by Sarah Monzon and I really enjoyed it.

In this story Hannah is returning to the Middle East where she grew up with her missionary parents. She had gone back to the United States for college, but is now returning to start a school with the Bedouin tribe she grew up in. Though her family had lived among these people, adopting their customs for all these years, things are not going too well currently. Their family is being accused of being responsible for the disease that is killing off the clan's sheep, which of course is their livelihood. 

Karim, who was one of Hannah's first friends is now the shiek and wants to protect her and her family. So, he asks Hannah to marry him. Unfortunately, what he had hoped would protect her and her family, doesn't quite go as he planned. 

 I enjoyed being able to get a glimpse into Muslim lives, and not just what we see with the extremists. Though sad that it is so hard for Muslims to be able to convert to Christianity. It made me ponder the question I've had, because of people saying Muslims don't worship the same God, which didn't make sense to me if they come from Abraham though Ishmael.

I appreciated getting to see more of the culture, and that Hannah's family were missionaries living among them, respecting their culture.

There was a bit of emotional roller coaster with some scenes where I was laughing and some intense scenes toward the end of the book. And then there was Hannah being so insecure at times but other times seeming so strong.

I also would have to say I cringed a bit, because of the fact that Hannah was entering a marriage and allowing herself to become unequally yoked. It didn't seem like she, as a Christian, should have agreed to that. To me, that wasn't quite the same as the story of Esther in the Bible where Esther had no choice in the matter. Plus Karim already knew she was a Christian, unlike the king not knowing that Esther was a Jew. Though there are some similarities. 

However, that said, I did enjoy the book, and the author drew me in and did a wonderful job bringing the story to life. I cared about the characters, though Hannah's insecurities annoyed me at times. There were some great secondary characters, including a villain I wasn't quite surprised to discover was the villain. 

Even though I read it because of a reading challenge, it has been on my TBR list for a while. I'm glad I had a chance to finally fit it into my reading schedule.