Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton

39 reviews

r_j_setser's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

In Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) recounts his acting career up to the point of this publication and gives special attention to his time at Hogwarts (filming the Harry Potter movies). Any fans of the Harry Potter series should consider this memoir a "must read" as it is both full of behind-the-scenes and nostalgic memories of the movies.

Tom's memoir is everything I hoped it would be. I laughed so much at his forward and no-nonsense way of telling stories. Listening to the audiobook (which he narrates himself) felt like listening to theatrical takes from the set of the Harry Potter movies. Many of his stories had me laughing out loud and I loved this rare glimpse into the life of a child actor. He was very good about explaining things that aren't common knowledge, so I feel that I learned a lot about the acting industry by reading this book, as well.

After the first half of the book, which is where spends his time describing his Harry Potter experience, the book takes a more personal turn and focuses on his life after the films and his journey through rehab and finding himself again. While there are a few chapters that made me incredibly sad and worried for him, I feel that with the conclusion of this book, he's doing much better now.

I will caution readers who haven't finished the Harry Potter series that there are many spoilers to the series mentioned throughout this book! Tom Felton assumes that his readers have watched all the movies and talks about the endings often, so don't read this if you're trying to avoid spoilers!

Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook so much and recommend it to anyone who loves Harry Potter or even just if you'd like to read about the behind-the-scenes of filmmaking! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Cursing, and Alcoholism

Minor: Bullying

Content warnings listed below:

Moderate themes of alcoholism and drug use. Nondescriptive bullying and common injuries. Commonplace cursing.

reading_on_the_moon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Bullying, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Death

bookswithlauren's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical content, Mental illness, Cursing, and Bullying

litliz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Bullying, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Addiction

Minor: Grief and Death

tguccione's review

hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Bullying, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

saurahsaurus's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

3.5

Really fun read! Cool BTS details about acting, (including but not limited to Harry Potter).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Stalking, Bullying, and Forced institutionalization

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Minor: Cursing and Drug use

theintrovertsbooks's review

funny inspiring medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Mental illness, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Blood, Grief, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization

hilaryreads89's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

🪴 Hilarious, Contemplative, Tell-All 🪴

FORMAT: Audio - Read by the Author

“It's easy to bask in the sun, not so easy to enjoy the rain. But one can't exist without the other. The weather always changes. Feelings of sadness and happiness deserve equal mental screen time.”

🪴 Tom Felton shares his journey with the world from his Harry Potter audition and his rise to fame to how he exists in a world post Harry Potter.

This story was so reflective on Tom’s world. He shared his outlook on the world and all the lessons he learned along the way. He had some dark moments throughout his life and he did not hold back. He placed so much joy and hilarious moments that had me laughing out loud!

❤️ So much to love about this book. I fell in love with Tom Felton after reading this book and have a new appreciation for his journey. He also had so much kindness to say about his fellow actors that warmed his heart.

📖 This was a balance of Tom’s journey through life and some well-written thoughts on the world with some juicy and laughable Harry Potter insider stories. Very well done Tom!

If you are a lover of the Harry Potter movies, this one is really for you. If you didn’t enjoy them…maybe don’t pick this one up!

“We live in a world where we seem increasingly in need of ways to unify ourselves, ways to build bridges and feel as one. It strikes me that very few things have achieved these aims as successfully as the brilliant world of Harry Potter.”

There are some trigger warnings surrounding this book, so be kind to yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism and Mental illness

bakergirlsbooks1999's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders