Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Der Alchimist

(contains spoilers) right off the bat, the islamophobia, xenophobia, and the blatantly racist stereotypes of romani people were very unnecessary. for the rest of the book, i can understand why people like it so much but it feels like it’s trying too hard to be profound. it is interesting to see what lessons santiago learns abt the universe throughout the story, but when it’s in practically every line it loses its impact.

also the ending when he finally reaches the great pyramids felt so rushed!! he’s spent years trying to get to this point just for it to be described in less than 7 pages out of the whole book.

and his “relationship” with fatima could’ve either been expanded on a lot more or just left out entirely, there was just no depth. like y’all have known each other for two seconds what are we doing here. i really wanted to like this book more.

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phvntomstvrs's review against another edition

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reflective slow-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? Yes

2.5

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maceye23's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? No

3.0

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lycheeteareads's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Part of 'BTS' member rec list.

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itsessbee's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

While not the most marvelously written work I’ve read, this is one that will be revisited time and again on my shelf. It reads like the parable it is.

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hefftbundle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A nice read with some nice sound bites. Didn’t realize it was a spiritual book, but that’s on me. I do love me some talk about signs and omens. I DON’T love me some cultural/religious slurs, though. Made for a really odd read.

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mad_mads's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

Reading this book felt like riding on a lazy river; it just floats you along and leaves you feeling relaxed and refreshed at the end.

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maresuju's review against another edition

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Pretty early in the book, the MC has an interaction with a woman who might be Romani (he says that she reminds him of stories of Romani people). This section is filled with racial slurs and harmful stereotypes. The MC is immediately afraid of this woman and accuses her of tricking/cheating him, with no real explanation to the reader. His internal dialogue is pretty gross during this part, too, as he clearly doesn’t think this woman has any knowledge or understanding of the world. This might be a way for him to learn about his own prejudices, I don’t know. But there was nothing in the section indicating that, and what’s portrayed is a harmful and dangerous view of Romani people. This immediately made the book a DNF for me.

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