Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Spare by Prince Harry

202 reviews

aloy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

3.5


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keirahelena_'s review

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emotional informative medium-paced

4.5


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nicolelefevre's review

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emotional funny informative medium-paced

3.75


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norwegianforestreader's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0


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metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0


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thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

I went the audio route with this one because that's what I usually do with memoirs—and while it was enjoyable to listen to a British accent for fifteen hours, Prince Harry isn't the most dynamic of readers. His voice was very soothing so I did find myself nodding of in spots and struggling to pay attention. What makes a good audiobook narrator is hard to describe but you definitely know it when you hear it...and it makes me appreciate the good narrators all the more!

That being said, there were a lot of interesting parts of this book. I really liked how the death of his mother stayed a consistent thread throughout the book; you can tell just how much her death affected him and how he is still dealing with the trauma from it. A lot of this book did make me sad, at how messed up this family is and how little support Harry felt growing up. Of course, everything in the last third of the book deals with his relationship with Meghan and the treatment they received. I am glad that they got out of a toxic family situation! Though the ending does make me sad too, and I hope they can reconcile one day.

If you have any interest in the royals, you'll love all the tea in this book! Just maybe be ready to skim some of the dry parts?

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sdupont's review against another edition

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Writing is very clunky, I just could not vibe with the writing style. I wanted to enjoy reading this book but unfortunately I just could not get into it. 

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ka_ke's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Yep, it’s a memoir. There isn’t much else to say, I probably would have enjoyed it more if had been an academic reflection on the affects of everything instead of one gigantic trauma dump. 

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oceanwriter's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

I read this more out of curiosity than genuine interest. I'm quite fond of Princess Diana and I mostly wanted to hear what Harry had to say about her.

Told in a linear timeline, Prince Harry discusses the brutal reality of what it means to be part of the royal family. My heart has always gone out to him and I certainly sympathize more now that I've read this. What was off-putting to me was the amount of personal family matters disclosed that really didn't need to be discussed. It's one thing to talk about your own life in a memoir, but it doesn't sit well for me when it turns on others, even when they have wronged you. 

Overall, the book was what I expected it to be: a media grab. There isn't a lot of depth to any of the stories aside from maybe what it was like to lose his mother in such a public and traumatic way. I found the writing melodramatic which didn't keep me super invested. I do understand that writing about difficult moments in one's life can be therapeutic, but that doesn't mean it needs to be published. So while I do feel sorry for some of the things he's had to go through, I also can't deny this story is getting so much attention simply due to his place in the Royal Family. 

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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After reading “The Palace Papers” and seeing so much about this viral book, i decided to give it a try. Wasn’t worth it. Prince Harry is not a very good writer, which makes what should be a very interesting memoir, well, boring. 

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