A review by maze_reads
In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta Ahmed

1.0

An interesting premise told by the most unfortunate author. Ahmed is short-sided and judgmental, making next to no effort to understand the culture around her. In her two years in Saudi Arabia she doesn't learn any arabic outside of common religious phrases. She is downright cruel in her judgements of women who don't think exactly like she does, making me wonder if the story she told was warped by her inability to consider other points of view. Given the location of the book, this pervasive attitude of hers is ironic and extremely frustrating.

The last 15% of the book is the most interesting, in my opinion, but you really have to struggle to get that far. At the end of the day it was difficult to read about her supposedly having 'breakthroughs' or learning to 'be a better Muslim' only for these lessons to be immediately forgotten and for her to leave Saudi Arabia the exact same person she entered it.