You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
bookcasey's review against another edition
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage
miggyfool's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
katharina90's review against another edition
2.5
The memoir is at its strongest whenever Harry provides glimpses into his emotional/mental state and his attempts at growth and healing.
Although he doesn't dive deep, you get a good sense of the family dysfunction and Harry's toxic relationship with his father and brother. Even at surface level a lot of it is heartbreaking and I often found it pretty triggering of my own trauma.
As one would expect, there's very little criticism of British colonialism and racism and the monarchy's role in all of it. In fact, Harry decidedly refuses to take a stand and instead goes on and on about his love for Africa in a very white savior-y manner. There's also no critical analysis of the wars he willingly participated in, and no real acknowledgement of the huge amounts of privilege Harry has access to.
Yes, I get it. He's heavily indoctrinated and has a lot to unpack.
But also, the train is moving and Harry is late to the station.
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Ableism and Cultural appropriation
malloryrae's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use and Colonisation
rhinaissance's review against another edition
3.5
My thoughts:
- too long. Could have been 25% shorter, and my recommended edits are removing the numerous mentions of his penis.
- Harry is an angry, angry boy. I say "boy" because I got a large, encompassing whiff of emotional immaturity throughout his life stories. And don't get me wrong, he has every right to be angry. He made it clear.
- I was not interested in hearing about Afghanistan whatsoever. When he went back I groaned audibly and maybe even skipped a chapter. It felt that it went on for ions.
- my respect for Meghan increased despite me already being a fan. She is a patient woman having to support Harry in figuring out how to be a functioning adult with boundaries.
- the monarchy is fucked, and he is still indoctrinated despite his not believing so.
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, War, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Antisemitism, and Colonisation
Minor: Islamophobia
lethaltea's review against another edition
To start off - the first third of this book was pretty awful. The first part covers the portion of Harry's life pre-military and after the passing of his mother. It is clear that Harry has been suffering from CPTSD and in this section of the book he is very angry - at his brother, his father, the press, the palace - at pretty much everyone. This does come of as really whinny and complaining - which is hard to take from his place of privilege. This portion was definitely a slog to listen through, it was frustrating to listen to Harry vilify the one other person who understands how he is feeling - his brother William.
The second and third parts of the book concern is military service, his marriage to Meghan, and the subsequent implosion of their lives. In these sections, it is a lot easier to be sympathetic to Harry but he still somehow blames the rest of the royal family for all his problems. Don't get me wrong - the treatment of his wife in the media was absolutely disgusting and the royal family didn't do anything to help. But the sequence of events here is really confusing, it is hard to tell when they made the decision to leave England and the circumstances surrounding it.
My main takeaways/thoughts are this:
- For a large portion of the book Harry is a bit of dick towards his brother for not speaking out and supporting him and this really rubbed me the wrong way. William is the only person who actually understands the grief Harry is trying to process - he went through it too. He is also the future king and like it or not, he is held to different expectations than Harry so I can understand why he cannot and will not speak out - he doesn't have that sort of freedom.
- Harry reiterates several times that "privacy" is his primary goal - but in order to achieve this, he strips the rest of his family of their privacy. I understand this desire, but at what cost? If he really values these things, doesn't he value everybody else's privacy?
- At several points the writing is rather immature - Harry gives nicknames to senior security staff and oftentimes comes off like a petulant child tattle-tailing. The writing is ripe with jealousy and revenge at William and the whole concept of being the "spare" gets exhausted within the first 5 minutes of Harry trying to be the victim. I am sorry but I cannot sympathize with a man who has grown up in so much privilege and wealth that it never occurs to him that dressing up as n*zi might be a bad idea.
Overall, I am not really a royal family supporter or opposer - the Queen was mostly a patriotic symbol in Canada and I really like Kate Middleton's wedding dress. This book doesn't really change my opinion either way - of course the RF controls the media, they survive on public opinion. Unfortunately, this book feels like Harry just airing dirty laundry to garner public sympathy and I didn't really resonate with that message.
Graphic: Drug use, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism and Death of parent
the_true_monroe's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Slavery, Excrement, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism
iinasomnia's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
notsailingalone's review against another edition
4.0
It's one man's side of a very sad story where he has layers of untreated trauma due to the death of his mum, his best friend, and 2 tours on the front-line in Afghanistan.
There are times when he has a lot of insight into his privilege. He suffers in spite of that. There are a few frustrating moments where he doesn't quite examine that privilege enough or dismisses it. There's a lot of woo that sometimes comes across as indulgent rich people stuff. However, he does begin the conversation about colonialism that no other royal has ever dared examine publicly.
There's also some very lovely descriptive writing about nature that is very enjoyable to read if you like that sort of thing.
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War