Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Spare by Prince Harry

44 reviews

mcarabooboo's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Violence, Alcohol, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Vomit, Suicide, Racism, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Death, Car accident, Animal death, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, and Miscarriage

kassidypf13's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, War, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

beaubaggins's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Stalking, War, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Hate crime, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Mental illness, Death, Addiction, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dmswack3's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

I usually avoid memoirs and biographies due to their voyeuristic feel, but something about 2023 has made me want to listen to a few, and Spare was undoubtedly one of them. 

I highly enjoyed the narration Prince Harry gave, and the story itself was fun to listen to. His ghost writers was phenomenal in my opinion. I'm very glad I listened to it instead of reading it, however, because I think I would have found myself bored by some of the longer chapters had it not been read to me. 

Something else for readers to be weary of besides long chapters and perhaps boring text, should you choose to read this rather than listen- this story bares all... Like ALL. You will hear a LOT about the Prince's... Todger, as he calls it. Like a LOT. Where it's been, who's seen it, how it's been injured so uh. Fair warning there. 

Beyond the todger, this book really doesn't pull punches. I saw shocked at points, angered at others, cried at some. But I also felt myself thinking: is it all true? God I hope not. It's that bad. 

Give it a listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide, Car accident, Infertility, Child death, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcohol, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Hate crime, Addiction, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment

vistacanas's review

informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

“When is someone in this family going to break free and live?”

My interest in the royals doesn’t run deep. I read a lot of historical fiction about Britain so I have a decent grasp of royal history, I thought Diana was an amazing human and was horrifically mistreated by the family (and the paparazzi, of course), and I’ve watched every season of The Crown. That’s pretty much it. But, it’s enough for me to know that if I was forced to pick a team, I’d definitely be on Team Harry (which, by the way, would be Team Diana-Harry were she still alive). 

Harry took a lot of flack in my online book groups when the book was released…and, now that I’ve finished it, my suspicions are confirmed. Harry isn’t a stellar writer, so he doesn’t always convey his totally justifiable feelings in the most ideal possible way. I believe those who viciously criticized him lack empathy, a basic grasp of psychology, and are very likely the ones who keep the paparazzi in business by reading and believing their trash. 

Speaking from firsthand experience, I can confirm 100% that money and privilege do not excuse ANY human being from the emotional repercussions of a lack of love and abuse. Love is in very short supply in the royal family…that’s clear in every single thing I’ve ever read or watched about them, not just from Harry’s story. Appearances, power, pettiness, and manipulation totally trump love and that creates pain for those who value love more. The paparazzi is beyond abusive and unbelievably racist. What they do is not a price anyone should EVER have to pay. I feel deeply for Harry and Meghan and am SO glad that they were brave enough to break free and live. 

Despite there being a lot more pages of the book dedicated to Harry’s military experiences than I expected, I totally enjoyed spending the last few days with him. If we’re in a relationship, whether we’re male or female, may we all be so lucky to have a partner that is willing to do whatever it takes to protect us. Harry is a good man. I hope that he is able to build a better and safer life for his family…and I hope karma works it’s magic on a few  particular members of his family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Racism, War, Alcohol, Grief, Abandonment, Racial slurs, Bullying, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Classism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Murder, and Miscarriage

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

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