Official Review: The Reluctant Alchemist by Cathryn Jones

[Yoli García]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Reluctant Alchemist" by Cathryn Jones.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Morgan Gardiner is a 45-year-old world-trailing wife and mother of two kids. Ben, her husband, is a lawyer and a womanizer who lets her know that his company took away their ex-pat package. Since they will have less money, she needs to find a smaller place for the family. Amid this marriage debacle, Morgan starts having supernatural experiences. The clothes in her closet burn without explanation. While out with her friends, she has a possible telepathic encounter with a divorced man named Jeff. Also, she has a vision of Jeff's daughter in a car accident. What will happen to Morgan's marriage? Who is Jeff? Why does she have supernatural experiences? Follow Morgan on her spiritual journey to discover her identity.

The Reluctant Alchemist is a fiction novel based on Cathryn Jones' life. Jones is the author, and she is a therapist, coach, and meditation guide specialized in trauma. I chose to read and review this book because my mother raised me with metaphysical beliefs; therefore, I am interested in subjects like reincarnation and divination. During her spiritual journey, Morgan has to come to terms with her powers, which is a theme that did not disappoint me.

My favorite parts of the story were when Morgan discovered her past lives. I thought that the method she used to find out more about her past identities was pretty cool. I will not disclose it to avoid spoilers. However, I can say that my favorite past life of hers was when she was Cassandra, who was powerful and had a relationship with an Egyptian queen. Also, I enjoyed that the identities of Morgan's past lives involved strong women.

Despite liking the novel's themes and strong female characters, I did not connect with the book, even though I tried. Honestly, too much was happening at the same time in Morgan's life for my taste. First, the storyline about her marriage's problems took me away from her spiritual journey. Second, Jeff seemed like a primary character but went missing in most of the book's second half. Third, the storyline about Luke and Daisy came out of nowhere and detracted me from all of the other things that were going on in Morgan's life. Overall, I think the author could have concentrated on one or two of these storylines to weave better the story's threads.

I rate The Reluctant Alchemist by Cathryn Jones 2 out of 4 stars because I liked the story's main themes and the strong female characters. I deducted two stars because I found eight grammatical errors in the book, the novel lacked focus, and I did not connect with the story. Even though this book was not what I expected, other readers might like it. I recommend it to those who enjoy supernatural and metaphysical themes, strong female characters, and stories in which too many things happen simultaneously.

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The Reluctant Alchemist
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[Novela book]

I really like a well verse fantasy fiction. Morgan seems to be a promising character with a lot to showcase in the book. Definitely try to read this. Thanks for an amazing review.

[marta baglioni]

It's a pity that there are so many flaws. The premises looked interesting.

[Urvashi Tripathi]

I believe in reincarnation and when I was very young I use meditate, so that I may remember what I was in my past life's. Sadly, I didn't get to know anything but the good part is I'm still into an meditation. The story seems interesting but as you said story lacked focus, I'm confuse if I'm gonna enjoy it or not. But I'll try to pick this book soon. Thank you for your honest review.

[The frant1c reader]

There seems to be a lot of distractions in the book, probably the reason that makes it difficult for the readers to connect to the book . Sadly, due to the drawbacks mentioned I don't think it would be a good fit for me. Thank you for the review!

[sunny4life]

The first part of the review got me quite interested in the book but upon the mention of the book's shortcomings I now have a few reservations. However, I'm also a firm believer of the metaphysical and would still like to give this a read.

[Chukwuebuka Ifedigbo]

Morgan sounds like a versatile player, and she makes me want to read this book. Great review.