The Shack by William P. Young

The Shack

by William P. Young

After his daughter's murder, a grieving father confronts God with desperate questions -- and finds unexpected answers -- in this riveting and deeply moving #1 NYT bestseller.

When Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter Missy is abducted during a family vacation, he remains hopeful that she'll return home. But then, he discovers evidence that she may have been brutally murdered in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.

Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note that's supposedly from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment, he arrives on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.

Reviewed by Angie on

2 of 5 stars

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The only reason that I read The Shack was because a random stranger gave it to me. I know that he'll never know if I read it or not, but I would feel bad if I didn't. I was hoping that it would surprise me, since it's not something that I would have picked up on my own. Sadly, I found it completely ridiculous, boring, and at the end, predictable. Four years ago, Mack's youngest daughter was kidnapped. Her body was never recovered, so she was presumed dead. Now a strange note appears in his mail box asking Mack to meet "Papa" at the shack where his daughter was likely killed. Is it a cruel joke, or is God really wanting to meet him?

The Shack started off really boring and I simply could not connect to Mack. Once he's at the shack, I was hoping that things would pick up. Instead, it just gets super weird. The run down shack in the middle of winter is magically transformed into a cozy cottage in the middle of Spring. Then God appears as a big black woman named Elouisa. Jesus looks Arab but is Hebrew and is a big nosed Jewish man (all Mack's observations, not mine). And the holy spirit is a hyper active woman of Asian descent, maybe Chinese. Seriously?! What is even going on right now?!

The majority of The Shack is Mack sitting around with the multi-ethnic holy trinity and talking. There is so much talking. And every conversation is a lesson. I know this book is suppose to be deep and inspirational, but it is so boring and super pretentious. Of course we shouldn't judge others. Of course we should forgive. Of course we should develop positive relationships. None of this is new and Mack acts astonished by all of this wisdom! Also, none of the conversations felt realistic. Like, I couldn't imagine someone like Mack speaking the way he does. It all felt forced for the sake of the lessons.

I just rolled my eyes through all of The Shack. The premise is interesting, but the way it was presented was seriously ridiculous. The ending was also very predictable. There's only one piece of mystery in the story, so obviously that's what's going to be solved.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 July, 2017: Finished reading
  • 5 July, 2017: Reviewed