Review of My Spouse, my friend

[Vanessa Alobo]

[Following is a volunteer review of "My Spouse, my friend" by Ingiete Oyama.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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The book offers helpful and practical tips for both Christian husbands and wives. After reading the book, you’ll feel like you’ve just gone through a crash course on how to have a godly marriage. Each chapter was detailed, with many Bible verses supporting the points. I also liked how each chapter had a Bible verse that anchored the chapter and introduced the theme.

My Spouse, My Friend features many interesting tips Christian couples will benefit from. However, some chapters were long. Several ideas kept repeating throughout the chapters. The chapters did come off as redundant. It came across as though the author was trying to fill the book. The repetitions were unnecessary. They did not add anything of substance to the book. It would have been better if the author worked on making the chapters more succinct.

A few tips were generic, while others felt uninspired. Having countless Bible verses redeemed these tips. Even though they were generic, their accompanying Bible verses made them helpful.

A highlight of the book was that it touched on current cultural issues. These cultural issues were a much-needed addition to the book—for instance, Ingiete highlights male-bashing” in the media and entertainment industries. Christians, specifically Christian marriages, are affected by these cultural issues. The book advises on how to navigate these issues in a godly way. Most books don’t deal with current cultural issues, so this inclusion made the book relevant.

I like that Ingiete Oyama gives real-life examples that many couples can relate to. The inclusion of these examples brought the book to life. It also brought home many of the points the author was trying to make, whether the examples were about submission or forgiveness. On page 48, there’s a sad example of a young lady’s dissatisfaction with her husband’s nonchalance. This example shows how alike we all are. Women all over the world share similar struggles in their marriages.

I give the book a rating of three out of five. This rating is due to some of the generic tips contained in the book and the unnecessary lengths of some chapters. The book can do with better editing. There are a lot of redundancies, punctuation, and spelling errors. At some points, the poor editing took away from the book.

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My Spouse, my friend
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