Review: Chivalry by Zach Hunter (audiobook)

When I first agreed to review Chivalry: The Quest for a Personal Code of Honor in an Unjust World by Zach Hunter, I was skeptical but intrigued by the title. My recent experiences with the term “chivalry” have all involved discussions of male-female relationships and I was hopeful from the title that this would take a broader view of the term. Fortunately, it did.

In the book, the author speaks to millennials, a generation that, as a whole, cares about justice for the oppressed. He encourages millennials to apply that same justice closer to home – in their relationships with family and friends. He does this using personal anecdotes, stories, and scripture.

If you’ve read my other reviews, you know that I generally love audiobooks read by the author. This audiobook is no different; in fact, given the tone of the book, it’s hard to comprehend having it read by anyone else. Hunter’s narration is superb and conversational, greatly enhancing the book.

I’m going to give Hunter the benefit of the doubt and assume that I am not a member of the book’s target audience. Were I Zach’s own age or younger (gosh, that statement makes me feel old!), it’s possible that this book would have incited me to something greater and provided helpful insight (notice the homophone?). Unfortunately, all I can say for certain is that it didn’t hit the mark for me. It felt like many of the stories were left unfinished while he jumped to the moral and by the end of the book, I was ready for it to be over. It just didn’t move me.

That said, I think that teens and young adults might benefit from this audiobook and I encourage them to give it a try.