Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Spare by Prince Harry

38 reviews

ash_bees's review

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informative slow-paced

3.0

Living life under a microscope has it's consequences.  A young prince loses his mother at a tender age and is haunted--literally and figuratively--by the cause of her death.

Other reviewers commented that this reads as if written by multiple authors, I'd suggest at least three.  The writing could have benefitted from a really heavy editor, and would have been more effective if it was cut down to half or a third.  But that seems to be par for the course for books I've read from people with celebrity status.

The takeaways from this are two-fold:  (1) the importance of speaking up to right wrongs, especially when you're an ally and not the target; and (2) knowing that speaking up may not change the offender's future actions but can gain you more allies or let other similarly situated people know they're not alone.

Lots of trigger warnings for this book.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's spilling the tea, but it does cover lots of death, feelings of abandonment and betrayal, and stalking.

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optimisticcautiously's review

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challenging sad tense slow-paced

1.0

This book made me hate Harry. He describes hurting people in such callous terms (not just his bragging about killing Taliban - and, no matter what he claims, he was bragging- but also incidents like the fireworks in the hole, THAT NO ONE SEEMS TO TALK ABOUT).

Also, his descriptions of his “service” are such a joke. He has no clue what it is like to serve. He missed the entire point of hostile environment training. He describes the favouritism he received without realizing that’s what he is describing.

Plus his lack of insight that the criticism reported is based on his behaviour. Plus his freaking Oedipal Complex. Plus his todger stories. And…

He thinks no one was protecting him, but this book shows the Palace was protecting him from being revealed to the public for the ass he is. Don’t believe me? Read it in his own words.

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ladynavalon's review

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slow-paced

1.0

This book should have being a (bunch of) therepy sesión(s). The more these characters (M&H) expose themselves, the less cresibility they gain. Because, when you have such a public live, what's the point of liying over and over? 
Dear reader, don't lose your time on this!

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deidrelj's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

I didn’t love the super short chapters. It made the storytelling very choppy.

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yarnarh's review

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reflective medium-paced

0.5

Privilege White boy born as a prince complaining about his life and being way to invested in going to war and killing people.

Felt sad for him that paparazzi were harassing him but my god is he delusional and out of touch.

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genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

I found this book to be extremely interesting, even as someone who hasn’t paid much prior attention to the royal family. It provided a lot of insight and was full of emotional moments and funny stories alike. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for an intriguing memoir.

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becky_hubbard's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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bookcasey's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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idesofjaim's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book has been the talk of the town obviously, and I had to patiently wait for the audiobook to become available with the significant interest.

To those who have watched the interviews/specials, consider this an incredibly extended behind the scenes in three parts. The first is Harry’s childhood & growing up after his mother’s death, the second is adulthood & the army, and the third is where Meghan enters & they leave the UK. The second part does drag on, but it is informative in its own way. Not unlike many other young men, Harry enters the army to essentially make something of himself, and as a desperate measure to escape the paps to whom he has been sacrificed for the gain of others.

Those looking for a greater critique of “the Institution” will be sorely disappointed; while there are things Harry calls into question as problematic, it’s still his family, and he still holds love for them. Perhaps the separation with time will lead to more breakthroughs, but defending your biracial wife seemed like a pretty great place to start. Especially when your family otherwise couldn’t be arsed.

I was surprised the book ends at the death of QEII when it hasn’t even been 6 months yet (this shows how much I know about publishing and all that). It was a cute tribute, and to know he still had her love has to feel wonderful. To have the matriarch make you feel like more than just a spare is something to be cherished.

And to hear him gush about Meghan? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t envious.

In sum, I knew I always picked the right brother. I also know I made the right decision listening to this in audiobook form, since he narrates. It was funny to catch his laughs at moments, and (though also a little cringey) to hear him sing. His voice is also very calming, so putting this on before bed was the perfect wind-down.

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abigailrn1's review

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emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

Hard to rate 

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