LOVE this book. I listened to the audio version during my commute and found myself lingering in the car after getting home just so I could hear more! Paulo always does a fantastic job of weaving stories that integrate faith, spirituality (in all its forms), love, and meaning-finding. His words make me think more about finding my own purpose in life and the inter-connectedness of all life. As a Christian who believes people can come to God in any number of ways, his way of weaving together various faiths and beliefs-and respecting each of them-speaks to me deeply. All of that aside, Brida herself is a believeable and relatable character with issues both modern and magical. If you like getting a little existential with your fiction, I would definitely recommend this book!

I didn't like this as much as the other books I've read by him.

Four stars only because his writing is on the simplistic side of the spectrum, and I personally do prefer some more depth, contextualization, exploration of nuance and details, writings with atmospheres so well fleshed out that you can smell it in your head. But I figure that Paulo Coelho has been able to become such a worldwide bestselling beloved author because his books are highly accessible. And that's a good thing. If all good books had to exclusively be à la Tolstoy then we probably wouldn't have as many readers walking around.

It's just that once I read war and peace and every single other book that I considered giving five stars just unavoidably makes me go "...but it's not war and peace". And then they end up in the four, four and a half star shelf.

This isn't even a critique to Paulo Coelho's writing, this is just his style and it serves its purpose and it does what it needs to do, and I thoroughly appreciate and value it for what it is. I do want to read many more of his books and I certainly will do so throughout the course of my life.

Anyways, if I ever were to meet him on the street, my first impulse would probably just be to give him a big fat hug. Consensually.

Simply perfect. Coelho never fails to deliver.

Lukukokemus jäi tosi laimeaksi kaikin puolin. En ymmärrä ollenkaan kaikkia kehuja, mutta ehkä
genre on vaan minulle täydellisen väärä.

Younger, idealistic me would have loved this book. Current, cynical me does not. It's a preachy spiritual quest combining wiccan ideals, Celtic spirits, and Christianity as if there is no big clash there. Nothing here is realistic because it's all an avenue for the author to spout his spiritual wellness and enlightenment concepts. People don't talk or behave naturally, but rather just in a way to express the author's views, so if you're in search of an actual plot, stay away.

And of course there's Soul Mates (author's capitalization, not mine), a concept which is pretty offensive to anyone on the LGBTQ spectrum the way the author describes it. If I remember correctly, even Plato (whose philosophies on love I'm assuming the author is drawing from) admitted that soulmates could be two people of the same sex.

I've read a number of Coelho's books, though I was a bit leery of picking up this one. I tend to stay any from anything relating to the occult, though I've learned plenty about it over the years. I figured I would give this book a shot since I know the author and enjoyed some of his books. This story is about an Irish girl who becomes interested in learning about witchcraft. It's a basic enough premise. I only read it because I wanted to see what Coelho was going to say about spirituality and love. I was left feeling a bit confused. He speaks about these two approaches to witchcraft, the Traditions of the Sun/Moon, but never quite explains what those are or why being a witch is Brida's "gift." Whatever one has imagined a witch would do, Brida, the main character, does throughout this book. Nothing is concrete, though, and the use of Christianity and the bible in these traditions only confused me more. The teachings she was receiving from Wicca, a teacher of the Tradition of the Moon, have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. Coelho tried to tie these elements together in ways that were completely disjointed and ultimately uninspiring. If his point was that there are many ways to reach the same God, he was quite heavy-handed in that delivery. There were one two many stories here. In her spiritual journey, I would expect Brida to focus more on herself and her connection with God; however, she was simply obsessed with finding her soul mate. She lacked a depth for me that I feel Coelho tried to create elsewhere, failing in the process.

This being my first Paulo Coelho book, i loved it totally. It was difficult to keep the book down. It answered some of questions about life and made me keep a positive outlook towards life and the questions that remain unanswered. A must-read! :)