Joni & Ken By Ken & Joni Eareckson Tada Book Review

// J o n i   &   K e n  :  A n   U n t o l d  

L o v e   S t o r y //

 

B y   K e n   &   J o n i   E a r e c k s o n   T a d a

 

R e v i e w   B y   B e t h a n y

 

 Title: Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story
Author: Ken & Joni Eareckson Tada
Source: Review Book From BookSneeze
Number of Pages: 192
ISBN: 0310314690
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: 2013
My Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

Book Description :

 

"This is the true love story of Joni and her husband of 30 years, Ken Tada. A love story showing what it truly means for a man and a woman to live in love ... in sickness and in health. Even the honeymoon wasn't easy. Did Ken realize what he was getting into when he proposed to Joni, a quadriplegic woman? As their marriage years moved on, Ken became increasingly overwhelmed by the never-ceasing demands of caring for Joni, who begins to experience chronic, extreme, nightmarish pain. Ken sinks into depression, and the couple finds themselves on parallel tracks in life, married and living under the same roof but drifting apart emotionally. But as they fight for their marriage and find their way through the mazes of depression and pain, they wrap their two lives around their rock---Jesus. During Ken's denial of Joni's diagnosis, and Joni's thoughts of how wonderful a quick exit to heaven would be, they experience a personal visitation with the savior you will never forget."

// M y   R e v i e w //

I have known about Joni Eareckson Tada and her story of being paralyzed from the neck down ever since her diving accident in shallow water back when she was a teen-ager, and greatly admired her story and faith. But I have not been as familiar with her husband Ken's story, and didn't really know that much about him prior to reading Joni & Ken. So I really enjoyed getting to "meet" him through the book and was greatly inspired by the story told within the pages of this wonderful biography. This book is not very long, only a little under 200 pages - but don't let the small number of pages trick you into misinterpreting the large size of the inspiration found within it's pages which is far greater in size than it would appear. 

 

It is written from a third-person view so it reads as if you were looking into the scenes of the many stories told from Joni & Ken's married life. I really liked how this book was written from a very humble perspective which spares none of the less-that-glamorous details of what life it truly like being in a marriage when one of the partners is paralyzed and requires help to do mostly everything. I also loved the amount of stories and personal experiences that were shared in this book, which made me feel like I really got to know this couple and get an inside view of what their life's are like; and see how they deal with the challenges in their marriage.

 

There were one or two times I felt like the book was written mainly for married people since they often would give encouragement to people who are married to keep going even when it's tough, and there was a nice message from the authors at the end where they make a point to encourage married couples. But even though it was probably written mainly for married people, I benefited greatly from reading it even though I'm single. I felt like it gave me a real view of marriage and helps me to see first-hand what a true marriage that is centered on Christ - where Christ is the essence of the marriage - looks like through Joni and Ken's example. So whether you are single, engaged or married then I'm sure you will get something out of reading this book.

 

Overall I was very pleased with this book and would highly recommend it to ever Christian or to people who admire Joni's story! Know that when reading this book you will be encouraged to live a stronger more impactful life for Jesus Christ whether you are married or not!

 

n o t e :: I would like to sincerely thank Zondervan publishers and Book Sneeze for my free hardback copy of Joni & Ken to read and review. I was not paid to write this review, and all thoughts are honest and completely my own.