Paulo Coelho

This is the story of Athena, or Sherine, to give her the name she was baptised with. The novel unravels her mysterious beginnings, via an orphanage in Romania, to a childhood in Beirut. When war breaks out, her adoptive family move with her to London, where a dramatic turn of events occurs.

The Witch of Portobello

I loved the exploration of self-discovery of Athéna’s perspective and the connection of dance to spontaneity, intuition, and a deeper, non-rational self-connection.

Jana Barkova

Like being approached by a random stranger high on ketamine, wearing a fake dollar store crystal necklace, rambling about how aromatherapy and wicca changed their life and how you can communicate to your higher self

A Novel

jennifer 

boring and confusing?? bc it was insanely abstract and had moving pieces that didn’t merge soooooo confusing

Traces the life of Athena, an abandoned daughter of a Transylvania gypsy, in a tale told from the viewpoints of such characters as her adoptive journalist mother, a teacher of calligraphy, and an actress.

edith w.

I got 150 pages in and I gave up. Alas, I just got bored. Coelho does not excite me at all. 

Unfortunately, this text had potential and I liked the idea of learning about someone's life through other people's stories about her. One of the main issues though - aside from Coelho's usual heavy-handed attempts at Very Deep Thoughts Indeed - was the constant feeling that all of these stories on Athena were very male-voiced, even when those stories were being told by women. I couldn't shake off the conviction that (1) all of the stories had a male-centric bias and (2) Athena's own voice and story was consequently silenced.

taryn a.

i say this as a woman hoping to come into my spirituality: this book about a woman and spirituality is terrible. the "lessons" of this book somehow managed to be trite and didactic all at once. nobody spoke or interacted like a real person (despite this taking on the format of assumedly verbatim oral transcription). there's a white woman with dreads on the cover. everything is awful. i'm so angry.

alali moe

I learned a lot by reading this book and I was really engaged in it, but for some reason, it was one of those stories that once you finished, you barely remembered anything of it. I don't think I would personally recommend it, but I did enjoy reading it.

Cams Campbell

This was incredible. It was bought for my wife by a good friend of ours about 12 years ago and sat on the book shelf for as long. 

The timing was good for me as the spiritual elements of the book tie in nicely with some of my philosophical meanderings right now. 


"I dance when ever I can, but music only exists because the pauses exist, and sentences only exist because the blank spaces exist. When I'm doing something, I feel complete, but no one can keep active twenty-four hours a day. As soon as I stop, I feel there's something lacking. You've often said to me that I'm a naturally restless person, but I didn't choose to be that way. I'd like to sit here quietly, watching television, but I can't. My brain won't stop. Sometimes I think I'm going mad. I need always to be dancing, writing, selling land, taking care of Viorel, or reading whatever I find to read. Do think that's normal?"

This is right in wheelhouse at the moment, as I fill my 'empty spaces' with being busy, although 'watching television' is being busy and fills my spaces pretty well, maybe too well.

Hazal Özlem

“Hayatta da böyleydi. Daha dayanıklı dalların tutuşması için önce ateşin yanması gerekir. Gücümüzü gösterebilmemiz için de önce zayıflığımızın kendini gösterebilmesi gerekir.” Coelho okumayı seviyorum, bazen metnin tamamı olmasa bile satır aralarında öyle konuşuyor ki, insan etkilenmeden devam edemiyor. 
“Birçoğumuz, hiçbir işimize yaramayan şeylerin peşine düşmek zorunda bırakıldığımız uzun bir yolculuktan dönüyoruz. Artık o peşinden koştuğumuz şeylerin düzmece olduğunu fark ediyoruz. Ama bu geri dönüş acısız olamaz, çünkü uzun bir zamandır uzaklardaydık, kendi ülkemizde yabancı gibi hissediyoruz kendimizi.“

Yasmine Abdou

This book served its purpose, it changed the way I think of love, passion, joy and sacrifice, as it says in the back cover. It really is an inspiring story, I found pieces of me and my beliefs in this book which gave me a warm sense of reassurance, that I'm not alone. I really love books that do that.

Maralde Meyer-Minnemann

Was macht eine Hexe heute aus? Für Paulo Coelho ist sie eine Grenzgängerin zwischen den Welten, mit seherischen und heilenden Fähigkeiten. Die Heldin seines neuen Romans ist eine junge Rumänin, die als Kind von libanesischen Christen adoptiert wurde. Jetzt wohnt sie in London und führt dort das Leben einer modernen, erfolgreichen jungen Frau. Durch das Tanzen entdeckt sie plötzlich übernatürliche Kräfte in sich, die sie zutiefst verstören. Und nicht nur sie. Unerschrocken folgt sie jedoch ihrer Bestimmung und lernt, ihr Potential zu nutzen.

Roman

Die Hexe von Portobello

Sara Bow

Also das ist echt ein Buch das wie ein Echo „nachhallt“ und das man erst einmal verarbeiten muss, nachdem man es gelesen hat. Absolutes 5-Sterne Buch. Coelho ist ein Meister

Janet Doré

There seems to be something guiding me to read Paulo Coelho's books at the exact right moment. First, it was The Alchemist...read on a plane shortly after I began to take charge of the direction of my life and was falling hard for the love of my life. Now, this one...just when I was suspecting that there might be a kernel of truth to certain people's suspicion that I am a (good) witch. 

This is the story of Athena...a woman who struggles to find the meaning and purpose of her life and overcome the vague sense of discontent always hovering over her. (Wow...can I relate.). It's written like a transcript from people she touched along the way allowing the reader (PC's student) to see how different people react to each other based on their very own outlook on life. 

While I didn't love this one quite as much as The Alchemist, there are parts that resonated deeply with me...and, will help guide me as I stay on my authentic path. And, now I know there is more than a "kernel of truth" to the whole witch thing.

The Witch of Portobello

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