Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Spare by Prince Harry

100 reviews

emilylovesgoodbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Minor: Death, Suicide, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts

ehmannky's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

It's an incredibly readable, interesting and engaging memoir, if maybe a little too in-depth in some areas for my liking (good on his ghost writer for doing so well there). I think that this reveals a lot of the petty and retrograde ways that the monarchy works and it just doesn't make me feel like there's any real possibility it could be made to work in a modern era. I have a lot of thoughts after reading this but they basically boil down to:

1 - Being thrust to the level of fame that he has without someone's consent should be classified as a form of abuse, and good on Harry and Meghan for keeping their kids out of this horrible and toxic environment.
2 - it is amazing he is as normal and, like, socially conscious as he is considering he comes from the least normal and socially progressive environments. Like, he's still incredibly privileged and he's never going to, like, join the revolution, but damn at least he's tried to learn. I liked that he took ownership of the racist things he's done, and I think it shows a level of maturity to not just brush it off and blame how he was raised. I am still feeling real ambivalent about all of the war chapters.
3 - I think Meghan has earned the right to complain to the end of time I truly did not know the extent of the racism and hate spewed at her and I even had watched the documentary before this. Literally gasped in my car when he was reading off the headlines and stories about her. I cannot believe the royal family simply pretended they didn't have the money to help protect them. Like, good on Harry for shouting it from the rooftops. 
4 - It feels like he is so close to realizing that the institution of the monarch and The Firm is like inherently corrupt, but can't quite get himself to admit it (which, I get, it's his family). But his anger is mostly at the press, and he can't quite get himself to damn his family (though I will, they all suck).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexism, War, Miscarriage, Racism, and Colonisation

ellementary's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

I found this fascinating and terribly sad. Is the ending even that hopeful given all we know about where the story has gone from there? It is often said that public figures must endure the invasion of their privacy as a trade-off and while I believe everyone deserves their bit of privacy, I can understand some level of logic in this. In the case of Prince Harry, though, I really felt for him in this respect. He was born into this. He never chose it. And how much has he ever really profited from it? This is a man who has spent a great many years of his life dedicated to service and charity, not a performer or elected official who chose his field. If you are looking for juicy tidbits about his more recent and very publicized familial squabbles, you're likely to be disappointed. There isn't really anything that revelatory here and that period of his life is a rather small chunk of the book at the end. There are suggestions of jealousy, grudges, and family turmoil peppered in here and there but a lot of the book focuses on his life before meeting and marrying Meghan Markle. I thought he spoke honestly about his privilege while also acknowledging the difficulties that come from a public life inherited at birth. It was interesting to get an insider's peek into the mystery behind the monarchy, but all in all, this was just really a sad tale.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and War

Minor: Miscarriage and Suicidal thoughts

puglover's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Miscarriage, War, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Infidelity

kbairbooks's review

challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I did not grow up knowing anything about the Royals, and for many years of my teenage and young adult life did not understand the appeal of learning and speaking about these people. I remember times in my life seeing headlines and wondering, how could they possibly be true and how could they possibly talk about other human beings like that no matter what their status is. Over the past couple of years, more or less since Megan‘s entrance into the Royal family, I became more interested and learned more about the royal family and their dynamic and so forth. The amount of empathy and sorrow I feel for Harry and Meghan, and also the pride and joy of their strength of character, their strength of heart, and their love for each other is just beautiful to witness. And overall I appreciate the vulnerability and honesty of writing a book such as this which is so open and vulnerable. It takes a courageous person to be vulnerable and speak their truth regardless of others’ perceptions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, War, Abandonment, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Pregnancy, Racism, Car accident, and Racial slurs

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

ash_bees's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Racial slurs, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

alykate's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Bullying, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Drug use, Racism, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

mollie1h's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Racism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Animal death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I rarely read memoirs, so I don't know how to critique them.  Instead, I'll share a few thoughts.  I listened to this, which is the best approach to this work.  It would be best if you listened (at regular speed) to Harry speaking to understand how sincerely he feels about his story.  It's hard to know if all the conflicts in his life, especially with his father and brother, happened as he tells it.  Do two people ever tell the same story about a situation?  

This is a story of a boy without a stable home life whose mother dies tragically.  That trauma carries into war zones and his search for a relationship that can withstand the scrutiny of the press.  With the help of therapy, he's able to move forward.

Some of the best parts for me were learning about life in the palace, at Eton, and in the army.  It was also fascinating to learn how Prince Charles divided royal duties and access to money between the brothers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, War, Classism, Grief, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Cursing

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0

You know his life is fucked when he’d enter a war zone to escape the paps. Vive la république! 3🎳

NB This was actually quite boring as I’ve read 3 Royal bios & knew everything already. The Palace Papers is 100x better! Kate Middleton’s chapter is tantalising. However, this did make me want to go to Botswana. 

Other thoughts:

• I cannot believe I now know that Prince Harry is circumcised 
• Find it hilarious that according to Haz Charles is in his ‘Camilla era’ - Taylor take note! ✍️
• On a serious note his hatred of the media (especially Murdoch) is palpable - I wonder if he’ll pursue them in court
• On a personal note I don’t love that Harry is convinced we (US + allies) were the ‘good guys’ in Afghanistan - and his refusal to think critically about the wider implications and complexities of the war/occupation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Stalking, Violence, War, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, and Grief