Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Spare by Prince Harry

57 reviews

bookbird's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative fast-paced

3.25

Look, like everyone else, I read this predominantly for the tea ("It's all the drama, Mick!" etc etc). But this thing is devastating, and it's tragic Harry felt the need to write it all.

Fame is, often, just abuse in a glittery package. Hereditary fame even more so. Harry has survived an incredible amount.

He's also surprisingly naive, though. He talks about a trip to the North Pole like it was a lads weekend, and not something millions of people dream about doing. One line towards the end really rubbed me up the wrong way - he talks about security at his wedding being a necessity (valid), but cites one of the reasons for this as the press "stirring up racism and class resentment". I certainly don't mean to defend the abhorrent tabloid press here, because they absolutely contributed to (or even created) the racist vitriol aimed at Meghan, but class resentment? Really? In a country where 1 in 5 children live in poverty (even more are food insecure), but we still spend millions on a monarchy that are increasingly out of touch? I don't think that's resentment - I think that's justified anger.

Ultimately, it feels weird to rate this book, but I'm basing my rating purely on how much I actually enjoyed it. Much of it is incredibly interesting, much of it is baffling, but I'm ultimately glad I read it. 

Lastly - and I'm saying this as someone who was born here and has only ever lived here - the UK is truly bonkers. What a weird, fucked up country.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and War

orpiment's review against another edition

3.0

Took me 4 months to read - the military parts are such a slog and so boring. Only good part was from when Meghan was mentioned (got through that last section in a few days compared to months of military boredom). My commute is only 9 mins on the train which also explains why it took me so long to finish i guess. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Colonisation, Death of parent, War, Stalking, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

I am not a royals girlie so some of this was new and interesting to me and some of it was boring. I did think it was a very interesting look into the life of royals, as I didn't realize the disparity of Harry and William's lives. I also was shocked to see just how bad the paparazzi and tabloids were to Harry & Meghan.

I do truly feel for the couple, especially Meghan. The way the press attacked her is disgusting.

I learned entirely too much about Harry's penis.

The part about swallowing your own tongue will haunt me forever.

The conversations between Harry and his family give so much whiplash. They dismiss him or yell at him and then they reach out to him to see if he's okay. They get mad at him and then try to recover the relationship. It's confusing and I don't know how Harry could handle all of the back and forth.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Suicide

loloburns's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

This book almost broke me. Its not often it takes me 4 months to finish a book, especially one that I'm interested in, however this book was so narratively dense, with so many details and side tangents that I had to keep stopping to digest it.

As a tell all memoir, I didn't immensely enjoy it, instead, reading it with the mind that it was written by a person. Just a person. Its heartbreaking.

I have never cried as much reading a non fiction book as reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Classism, Drug use, Death of parent, Racism, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Death, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism

Minor: Vomit, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping

cde10's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: War and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Racism

metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide

elliew's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I'm not particularly interested in royalty, but this book surprised me. It was compelling, honest, and well-written. It does an excellent job at humanising the royal family while also being frank about the dysfunction and toxic behaviour. Harry is very self-aware and directs all shame and blame to the press, not to his family. 

The book tells of awful things the family has done to each other, but with awareness of how the members' own experience of dysfunction is the root of the behaviour. I appreciated Harry's candour about life as a royal without downplaying the privilege, it got me to viscerally understand the guided cage analogy. 

I came away feeling for everyone involved, and especially Harry and Meghan. They have been through so much and he deserved to tell his story in his own words. I highly recommend people read this if you are at all interested in the British royals. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Racism, Racial slurs, War, and Suicide

rainbowyeticorn's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I could really identify with the sibling aspects of this book. It really reminded me of the fraught interactions I've had with my own siblings, of my own feelings of wanting that bonded closeness but being rejected over and over again for whatever unknown reasons. I also really appreciated Prince Harry's honesty about his struggles with mental health, his inherent racism and the steps he took to address it, and examining the dehumanization of war. If I had one critique it was the Prince's streetstre aversion to using pharmaceuticals while also experimenting with street drugs. This narrative in no way helps fight the ableist stigma against taking prescribed medications for mental health support. Medications are researched and tested and they can improve and save lives. I just would have appreciated if Prince Harry had acknowledged that somewhere in his narrative, even if that is or isn't what eventually helped him. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, War, Death of parent, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Medical content, and Animal cruelty

iovreads's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

2.5

I thought this book was an interesting perspective on being royal and the abuse that Harry and Meghan faced at the hands of the press and the family. I also appreciated hearing more about Harry’s background in the military and life before meeting Meghan - it gave an interesting perspective on him and what is important to him. I did think that he should have taken more responsibility for some of his actions or lack thereof as a young adult, however, it was very clear that he had a lot of growing up to do and that Meghan had a hand in that.

I thought that the stark difference between the births of their son and their daughter (read: how Harry acted at the births) was indicative of the growing up that he did in between those times. I think that we like to think of these people as infallible but this book shows that he is not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

I found this book to be extremely interesting, even as someone who hasn’t paid much prior attention to the royal family. It provided a lot of insight and was full of emotional moments and funny stories alike. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for an intriguing memoir.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, War, Mental illness, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Blood, and Cursing

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Infidelity, Bullying, Classism, Gun violence, and Sexism

Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Homophobia, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry