Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Alchemist

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

41 reviews

james1star's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I’m gonna do a short review for a relatively short book. So here goes…

The writing style in Coelho’s The Alchemist is very good and descriptive yet also doesn’t give too much detail if that makes sense?? I did enjoy this book I guess but it’s certainly not one of my favourites. Despite being short I did feel it quite repetitive and certainly some parts could be removed (not the best for a book of under 180 pages) but it didn’t really take that much from it. The storyline is okay, we follow a Shepard boy called Santiago from Spain who has a passion for travelling, he has a recurring dream of treasures found near Egypt’s pyramids, consults a gypsy, meets with a king who encourages him to make the journey so he does so going through Tangier and across the Sahara meeting with many people including an Alchemist - I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to spoil anything. The main theme is to follow your destiny because if you don’t listen to it, your heart, the world, omens, ‘god’ and other spiritual ideals you may lose the opportunity to realise / materialise your destiny. Which is pleasant and uplifting but I’m just a bit ehh on the whole topic. If religious and spiritual content is what you like then you’d properly enjoy it more than I did. Also the ending, albeit a twist and impactful to some, kinda irked me. Also how animals are referenced and treated I didn’t jam with.

In short: I enjoyed the writing and some messages but was just a bit ehh for me - solid 3 stars.

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tea_rea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I wish I enjoyed this more. It didn’t resonate with me as much as it does with others but it may be due to my lack of religious beliefs and struggle with the writing style. The writing style is beautiful, but just not really my style personally. I thought the length was perfect!

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