annemariewellswriter's review against another edition
3.0
This story didn't captivate and hold my attention as much as other Coelho novels. If you asked me what it was about, I wouldn't even really be able to tell you. I wasn't a fan of the "male wisdom" "female transformation" "soul mates" theme.
borna761's review against another edition
2.0
A girl in search of her path in life, a man in search of his soul mate, a confused but supportive boyfriend, and a witch. The start of a bad joke? No, just the main protagonists in Paulo Coelho's book.
The scene is Dublin, Ireland, and Brida is a young girl who realizes that she has been a witch in her previous lives. Somewhere along the way there is the struggle to find your soul mate. To help her along the way are two teachers following different paths - the Tradition of the Sun and the Moon. It is a confusing read, with a lot of seemingly random things happening and Brida just following different suggestions by her teachers. Does she know what she wants to do? Not really, but somehow you get the feeling that she is at least moving forward in her quest.
In the end, it turns out that the teacher is the one who learns something new, Brida finds her way forward, and everyone ends up quite happy. There are some nice quotes and moments, but in the end, I wouldn't recommend this one. Read other books by Paulo Coelho instead.
The scene is Dublin, Ireland, and Brida is a young girl who realizes that she has been a witch in her previous lives. Somewhere along the way there is the struggle to find your soul mate. To help her along the way are two teachers following different paths - the Tradition of the Sun and the Moon. It is a confusing read, with a lot of seemingly random things happening and Brida just following different suggestions by her teachers. Does she know what she wants to do? Not really, but somehow you get the feeling that she is at least moving forward in her quest.
In the end, it turns out that the teacher is the one who learns something new, Brida finds her way forward, and everyone ends up quite happy. There are some nice quotes and moments, but in the end, I wouldn't recommend this one. Read other books by Paulo Coelho instead.
tamara_mousa's review against another edition
5.0
You can find a summary about it in my blog- https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
rewacado's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
orionoconnell's review against another edition
1.0
This was a case of 'I wanted so badly to like this but I didn't'.
I don't know if it was a case of reader error where I just wasn't in a place within my own life to connect with the book, or if it was the book that just felt tangled up. I absolutely adored Coelho's 'The Alchemist' and went into this thinking 'Irish witches with Coelho's life lessons, I'm in for a treat!'
What I got just felt...confusing and disjointed? The main character felt one dimensional to me. The contrasts between magick / witchcraft and Christianity felt... off to me in a way I can't describe?
I've always been interested in magick, but have never pursued it, and call myself 'spiritual' in a sense that I kind of just vibe with a whole lot of different feelings. I did grow up in a Christian household, and while I don't practice those beliefs myself - there was so much entanglement between different religious beliefs that it just...for some reason made me feel uneasy spiritually? Given, I have NO IDEA of the accuracy portrayed in this book so I could be 110% wrong, this is wholly a personal vibe, again, coming from someone who doesn't subscribe to religion or at least singularly one religion.
The parables were a little harder to follow in this one than in 'The Alchemist'. There was a lot of what read to me as black and white thinking particularly in femininity and masculinity, and the matters of love and this too just left me feeling a little off. And I wonder if I just...missed the point and if there's something deeper in this book that I should have picked up on, or if it was just disconnected and confusing and didn't really tell a story?
The characters were flat, the sexualization made little sense to me, the parables made little sense to me, the journey felt underwhelming to me, and the explanations didn't impress.
I wholly respect other people's viewpoints and am very open to being educated on religious and spiritual topics I know nothing about. I also know that a very dear friend of mine adores this book. Maybe one day I'll give it another go. But this wasn't the read for me: the believer of all things love, goodness, and magick.
I don't know if it was a case of reader error where I just wasn't in a place within my own life to connect with the book, or if it was the book that just felt tangled up. I absolutely adored Coelho's 'The Alchemist' and went into this thinking 'Irish witches with Coelho's life lessons, I'm in for a treat!'
What I got just felt...confusing and disjointed? The main character felt one dimensional to me. The contrasts between magick / witchcraft and Christianity felt... off to me in a way I can't describe?
I've always been interested in magick, but have never pursued it, and call myself 'spiritual' in a sense that I kind of just vibe with a whole lot of different feelings. I did grow up in a Christian household, and while I don't practice those beliefs myself - there was so much entanglement between different religious beliefs that it just...for some reason made me feel uneasy spiritually? Given, I have NO IDEA of the accuracy portrayed in this book so I could be 110% wrong, this is wholly a personal vibe, again, coming from someone who doesn't subscribe to religion or at least singularly one religion.
The parables were a little harder to follow in this one than in 'The Alchemist'. There was a lot of what read to me as black and white thinking particularly in femininity and masculinity, and the matters of love and this too just left me feeling a little off. And I wonder if I just...missed the point and if there's something deeper in this book that I should have picked up on, or if it was just disconnected and confusing and didn't really tell a story?
The characters were flat, the sexualization made little sense to me, the parables made little sense to me, the journey felt underwhelming to me, and the explanations didn't impress.
I wholly respect other people's viewpoints and am very open to being educated on religious and spiritual topics I know nothing about. I also know that a very dear friend of mine adores this book. Maybe one day I'll give it another go. But this wasn't the read for me: the believer of all things love, goodness, and magick.
ayeshalovesfable's review against another edition
4.0
Brida actually captivated me through its very cute and small size
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
2.0
This book was weird and new-agey. I don't think I got whatever I was supposed to get. Maybe I don't "get" Paulo Coelho.
noura_rizk's review against another edition
3.0
love is liberty.
I know the end was somehow expected, but still I hoped for something else.
"The whole of man’s life on the face of Earth can be summed up by that search for his Soul Mate. He may pretend to be running after wisdom, money, or power, but none of that matters. Whatever he achieves will be incomplete if he fails to find his Soul Mate."
while I was reading Brida I started asking questions like What if there's no such thing called soul mate. What if you've already met your soul mate and you didn't recognize each other. What if your soul mate is someone's else soul mate?, and do you really wanna believe in soul mates and waste your whole life searching for "the one"?
And What if you found your soul mate would you be able to leave him/her just because you don't wanna posses or control the other person, can't we just find a way to be together without controlling each other!
Well the Magus answered all these questions for me, and I didn't like the answers very much :\
rating 3.5
I know the end was somehow expected, but still I hoped for something else.
"The whole of man’s life on the face of Earth can be summed up by that search for his Soul Mate. He may pretend to be running after wisdom, money, or power, but none of that matters. Whatever he achieves will be incomplete if he fails to find his Soul Mate."
while I was reading Brida I started asking questions like What if there's no such thing called soul mate. What if you've already met your soul mate and you didn't recognize each other. What if your soul mate is someone's else soul mate?, and do you really wanna believe in soul mates and waste your whole life searching for "the one"?
And What if you found your soul mate would you be able to leave him/her just because you don't wanna posses or control the other person, can't we just find a way to be together without controlling each other!
Well the Magus answered all these questions for me, and I didn't like the answers very much :\
rating 3.5