Reviews with content warning for Grief - Spare

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

kylasmv15's review

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emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

I'm fascinated by the royals in the same way I'm fascinated by cults. As an American, it's just a wild and supremely fucked up institution. So I was interested to hear what Harry had to say in this memoir. Unfortunately, I fear he has said too much.

And not too much about the monarchy or whatever. But perhaps too much about the war. And his frostbitten penis.

I suppose I can sympathize with having a hard time editing out bits of your life when composing a memoir, especially when that life has been lived so publicly and with such scrutiny over events that were inaccurately reported. And when you've endured so much trauma. But this book was entirely too long and often felt disjointed. I often tuned out during the middle section of the book where he goes on for eons about how much he loved the war.

Which is a shame because he has some very poignant and important things to say about how we treat those in the public eye. You just have to endure many stories about flying helicopters and camping in Botswana that you might not be interested in and paragraphs of the former Prince of Wales reminding you of all the "great work" he's done.

At the end of the day, if you're at all intrigued by the inner workings of the British monarchy and Harry specifically, Spare is probably worth a read. Just be aware that it definitely needed a more discerning editor.

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katelynnelawson's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

While Harry might tell some “TMI” stories, you can’t help but feel he has to or someone else will. Great insight and deeply emotional. If you’ve had to experience distancing yourself from family you love but have difficulty with, it’s especially poignant.

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

5.0

I am the same age as Prince Harry and always felt a affinity for him. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the royal family, but Harry’s memoir discusses the absurdity of everything the press have ever said about the royal family. This book was also Harry’s chance to tell his side of the story about how his family has treated him and Megan.

This is a very heavy book and I cried many times listening to his recount of very painful topics: his mother’s death, 9/11, self medicating with drugs and alcohol, going to war, racism against his wife and children, threats against their lives, the loss of an unborn child, the toxicity of his family, the death of the Queen, and the paparazzi who refuse(d) to let them live their lives.

This was a highly enjoyable and deeply moving memoir, even for an anti-monarchist living in the colonized commonwealth.

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cnoguera's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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lisasilv's review

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emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

An interesting look into Royal life, although I am sure the truth lies somewhere between what this book says, and with what actually happened. I like that the chapters were short, and that it moved quickly. I listened to the audio book version, and you could hear the emotion from the prince as he read it.

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thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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quasinaut's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

3.75

It's tricky to separate my thoughts about the book from my thoughts about Harry and Meghan and the larger story surrounding them. The book was fine; there were through lines that we kept returning to at key points, and I suspect a lot of credit can go to the ghost writer for bringing cohesion to the book.

Overall, I found Harry to be not particularly sympathetic, mostly when he would acknowledge mistakes he's made, but without apologizing. That said, he showed the depth of his struggles from being born into the royal family and the loss of privacy, warmth, and freedom that comes with that.

On the other side of things, I'm incredibly sympathetic to Harry and Meghan as a unit. I think it's remarkable that Harry found someone who seems so extraordinarily well-matched for him.

Also, I listened to the audiobook, and it was quite entertaining hearing Harry approximate an American accent when the occasion arose. Amazing.

I wouldn't say I got much out of reading Spare, though I'm not surprised by that as I'm only rather casually interested in the royal family, but honestly I hope it was therapeutic for Harry to write.

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