Take a photo of a barcode or cover
alisastefania 's review for:
Hippie
by Paulo Coelho
"Then seek the Truth. Seek always to be on its side, even when it brings you pain. There are times when the Truth goes quiet for long stretches, or when it doesn’t tell you what you want to hear."
Much like the character who goes on a journey hoping to find something different, you pick up this book hoping it's something different, not another John Green-esque love story. And just like the character who ends up returning home you inevitably want to return to the first half of the book, the part that was ACTUALLY any good.
Maybe reading an autobiographical book written from the third-person POV should be a red flag. I admit, I am a sucker for the whole "let's leave everything behind and travel because we're rich like that" storyline and the whole angry-girl falls for guy-who-seems-boring-but-is-actually-suuuuper-wise clichè, but the only way I can describe Karla is by using the term manic pixie dream girl. That's just what she is. Her only personality trait is hating mainstream touristic attractions and thinking she can't ever love anybody, which fair enough, she's a moody teenage girl, but why she is so annoying with her superiority complex disguised as exuding mystery I can not tell.
I'd say Paulo was a decent guy, if this whole book didn't feel like an ego-boost. "Look!! I made this super hot girl (which I mention like 20 times) fall for me! And then I left her! Ha! Cuz I'm enlightened like that!". Oh Paulo, you little narcissist.
Still, this book was an easy and enjoyable read for the better half of it. I actually hoped I'd get to read about Nepal, but guess I just settled for Istanbul. Would I recommend others read it? Go ahead. Especially if you're into YA and spirituality this will be just the thing for you. The "vibe" of it was very fitting, if nothing else, characters who suffer from special snowflake syndrome, a journey that you don't get to see completed, at least the atmosphere and world-building were on point. And who knows, maybe Coelho really is an excellent writer, but this was certainly not his magnum opus.
Much like the character who goes on a journey hoping to find something different, you pick up this book hoping it's something different, not another John Green-esque love story. And just like the character who ends up returning home you inevitably want to return to the first half of the book, the part that was ACTUALLY any good.
Maybe reading an autobiographical book written from the third-person POV should be a red flag. I admit, I am a sucker for the whole "let's leave everything behind and travel because we're rich like that" storyline and the whole angry-girl falls for guy-who-seems-boring-but-is-actually-suuuuper-wise clichè, but the only way I can describe Karla is by using the term manic pixie dream girl. That's just what she is. Her only personality trait is hating mainstream touristic attractions and thinking she can't ever love anybody, which fair enough, she's a moody teenage girl, but why she is so annoying with her superiority complex disguised as exuding mystery I can not tell.
I'd say Paulo was a decent guy, if this whole book didn't feel like an ego-boost. "Look!! I made this super hot girl (which I mention like 20 times) fall for me! And then I left her! Ha! Cuz I'm enlightened like that!". Oh Paulo, you little narcissist.
Still, this book was an easy and enjoyable read for the better half of it. I actually hoped I'd get to read about Nepal, but guess I just settled for Istanbul. Would I recommend others read it? Go ahead. Especially if you're into YA and spirituality this will be just the thing for you. The "vibe" of it was very fitting, if nothing else, characters who suffer from special snowflake syndrome, a journey that you don't get to see completed, at least the atmosphere and world-building were on point. And who knows, maybe Coelho really is an excellent writer, but this was certainly not his magnum opus.