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bootsmom3's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content
alwaysreading2's review
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and War
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Miscarriage
beanjoles's review against another edition
3.5
I'm not a royalist and didn't grow up in the UK or a Commonwealth country, so I have had minimal exposure to information about Britain's royal family beyond what's managed to reach me online. (And occasionally on the shelf at the grocery store checkout.) I also am not a big reader of memoirs. As such, I'm definitely not in the target audience for this book, but the hype got to me and thus I read it anyway.
Firstly, I will say that I learned a lot reading this book... but not necessarily about the things I was hoping to hear about. I wanted to see at least something of Harry's opinion on the monarchy and its impact on the world, and his place as a direct beneficiary of British colonialism. I wanted him to have something more articulate and insightful to share about the racist under- and over-tones of the way the press, his family, and his country have treated Meghan. Instead, I learned a lot about how Harry truly only felt at home when he was participating in the war in Afghanistan (?!), or hanging out in Botswana on safari. Oh, and I learned a lot about his penis, too.
Secondly, it was very clear that Harry wrote and released this book so that he could, for the first time in his life, profit from his story on his own terms. After all the press has put him and Meghan through, it feels very warranted. It also resulted in a memoir that felt like a slog to read, at times, because its main theme was the evils of the tabloids—and boy, is he heavy-handed in telling us this.
Thirdly, I just did not enjoy the writing. I'm not sure if this was primarily ghostwritten or if Harry did the bulk of the penning, but it would have benefitted from tighter editing and fewer phrases like "frothy cataract of dextrose." Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I listened to the audiobook, though?
And finally: this memoir made me realize how very ordinary Harry is, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I think Harry's the type of guy who would have done well if he'd just been allowed to be an ordinary bloke from town. He'd watch football, run around with the lads, do other British stuff, and I think he would have been just fine with a simpler life. Happier, probably. It is unfortunate that this isn't a life he's been able to choose for himself. I think if he had been, he'd have been able to shine.
Verdict: Not quite the tell-all it's billed as, but still a unique view into a notoriously tight-lipped, closed-ranks family that's one of the most closely analyzed in the world.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Animal death
emfass's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
irenemarie's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism
Minor: Animal death
kathrynok's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, and Colonisation
leahkarge's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism
laura_clarinets's review against another edition
3.5
Like all memoirs, this story is deeply one-sided, and I think a lot of the criticism around this book so far has been misplaced in that it's asking for a more nuanced, more all-sides view of events. But that's not what a memoir is? This is Harry's point of view on Harry's life. It should be biased and largely one-sided, and it is.
I think Harry does a lot of admirable self-reflection here and was especially pleased that he didn't leave out his more....controversial...moments. But at the same time, I think this book shows that there is still room for more growth. Especially in a book that is taking such a hard line criticizing press on racism and misogony, it seems like more care could've been taken around language towards those same and other similar issues. In particular, I bumped on:
- The ableist language around wounded veterans and Invictus (ex. "confined" to a wheelchair)
- The misogynistic language around women in the press or even tangentially related to the press, especially the way the women were described in the Vegas anecdote
- The consistent, repeated use of "Africa" to describe or explain a specific place, feeling, or topic. Africa is the second-largest continent in both land and population, filled with hugely diverse cultures, peoples, and biomes. It is not a substitute word for Botswana or any other place, just like you don't say "Europe" when you mean "London," and furthermore it has been exhaustively documented and discussed the harm that painting with such a broad brush has done throughout history and continues to do. The argument with Will about who got to "have Africa" just felt gross. If you're talking about animal conservation, just say that. It felt like such an oversight to use language like this in a book where the damages of racism and racist language are such a central theme.
In addition to the language, the other thing keeping this from four starts for me was the pacing. I understand the reasons behind telling the story in such quick anecdotes, but especially in audiobook form the constant new chapters just wasn't for me. Additionally the pacing overall felt a little off to my tastes -- anecdotes in the first third often felt exhaustively detailed and disruptive to the overall flow, while the latter third or so of the book just raced through, leaving out lots of things and dropping quick comments that felt like they deserved more attention. I felt like part three gave me whip lash!
Overall, I'm glad to have listened to it, and I'm glad that Harry put his story out in the world. Most of all, I'm glad that he seems to be finding his own peace with his family like he's wanted to for so long.
Graphic: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and Colonisation
magicalghoul's review against another edition
3.75
In that regard, I'd recommend this book.
The prose is just beautiful at points but I wasn't expecting less from a ghostwriter that won a Pulitzer, from what I read. The literary references sprinkled through are wonderful, and the turn of phrases work so well with the most whimsical and stream of thought-ish passages of the book.
Personally the military section was something of a slow read and I dragged my feet through it (I'm antimilitary) but I recognize how much the experiences and the people met there contributed to his understanding of trauma. I did appreciate the passages describing his work with veterans, though.
In conclusion, you won't find much here if all you're looking for is an outright denouncement of the British monarchy or an acknowledgement of his privilege, but it's a good read on the topic of grief, trauma and breaking toxic cycles.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
jessdrafahl's review
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Miscarriage and Grief