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bzliz's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I was looking for a relatively short audiobook to listen to in the car and saw this was available on Libby and decided to give it a shot. I have a lot of nostalgia for the HP series but choose not to interact with it these days as I have no interest in supporting JKR. I’d like to assure readers like myself that while Felton does mention her at times (unavoidable if you’re going to discuss the series she created), he does not directly praise her, though he also does not condemn her bigotry.
The stories of child actors are always interesting to me because it’s such a unique life experience. Tom’s tales from the set will be a delight to any HP fan. He does unfortunately compare his experience to that of the main trio several times which triggers a dual response in me- 1) your own experience isn’t negated because someone else faced more challenges in a similar situation and 2) who are you to comment of what these other people were going through?- and I can’t shake either one.
In later chapters post-Potter, he doesn’t always give context for when some events took place so you may need to cross reference Wikipedia or IMDB to get an idea of the time frame. He also tends to remind readers of who someone is in the context of his life, as if he’d been advised by an editor that readers will forget who someone is from one chapter to the next. Didn’t love that.
All in all, I enjoyed it but it’s not one I’ll ever revisit. Non- HP fans will likely not care much for this.
Content warnings:
Alcohol, alcoholism, addiction- Tom discusses his struggles with alcohol and his stint in a rehab facility.
Drug use- some mentions of marijuana use.
Mental illness- some feelings of helplessness and dissociation discussed. Tom advocates for more public discussion of mental illness and notes those feelings in himself, though he does not mention specific diagnoses for himself or anyone else.
The stories of child actors are always interesting to me because it’s such a unique life experience. Tom’s tales from the set will be a delight to any HP fan. He does unfortunately compare his experience to that of the main trio several times which triggers a dual response in me- 1) your own experience isn’t negated because someone else faced more challenges in a similar situation and 2) who are you to comment of what these other people were going through?- and I can’t shake either one.
In later chapters post-Potter, he doesn’t always give context for when some events took place so you may need to cross reference Wikipedia or IMDB to get an idea of the time frame. He also tends to remind readers of who someone is in the context of his life, as if he’d been advised by an editor that readers will forget who someone is from one chapter to the next. Didn’t love that.
All in all, I enjoyed it but it’s not one I’ll ever revisit. Non- HP fans will likely not care much for this.
Content warnings:
Alcohol, alcoholism, addiction- Tom discusses his struggles with alcohol and his stint in a rehab facility.
Drug use- some mentions of marijuana use.
Mental illness- some feelings of helplessness and dissociation discussed. Tom advocates for more public discussion of mental illness and notes those feelings in himself, though he does not mention specific diagnoses for himself or anyone else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
Moderate: Mental illness and Drug use
asurasantosha's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug use
jonilouise3's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, and Drug use
Minor: Mental illness and Injury/Injury detail
lapuce1006's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Blood
Minor: Vomit
lousallbookedup's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
I have always had a soft spot for Draco and now I have a soft spot for Tom as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. I cannot recommend the audiobook enough. He is the perfect narrator for his own story.
This books covers a lot of hard topics (TW), which Tom approaches with honesty and openness.
The themes in this book were a little darker than I was expecting. I wanted a little more from his stories. I can't exactly put my finger on it but it left me unfulfilled.
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. I cannot recommend the audiobook enough. He is the perfect narrator for his own story.
This books covers a lot of hard topics (TW), which Tom approaches with honesty and openness.
The themes in this book were a little darker than I was expecting. I wanted a little more from his stories. I can't exactly put my finger on it but it left me unfulfilled.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, and Alcoholism
jeffrey_taylor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
An unexpected and charming door into the mind of Draco Malfoy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse
whitebrooken's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use
anastasialovesbooks's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
It was interesting getting his perspective on gowing up in the spotlight. How different it is culture wise here in the US vs in the UK. It also made me think back to how he impacted my life growing up. He was the only star I remember being my age that I had a crush on that I also wanted to know about his life. I had other stars I liked but non were I was actually interested in their life.
I even remember liking the movies when they came out I like the 3 main actors especially Emma because I saw myself a lot like her and Hermione. For some reason out of all of them though I was drawn to Tom. His character of course was the first draw but the peeks into his life is what made me very interested. I remember watching his YouTube videos when he would be sitting playing his guitar and and singing. It's even the same now when I watch him on Instagram. I think he is the one famous person I will always follow and be interested in.
I recommend the audio book because he narrates it. (I never listen to audio books I try never works. But I gave it a shot for him and I loved it. I'm glad I did.)
I even remember liking the movies when they came out I like the 3 main actors especially Emma because I saw myself a lot like her and Hermione. For some reason out of all of them though I was drawn to Tom. His character of course was the first draw but the peeks into his life is what made me very interested. I remember watching his YouTube videos when he would be sitting playing his guitar and and singing. It's even the same now when I watch him on Instagram. I think he is the one famous person I will always follow and be interested in.
I recommend the audio book because he narrates it. (I never listen to audio books I try never works. But I gave it a shot for him and I loved it. I'm glad I did.)
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Drug use
speterson47's review
4.0
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed being able to hear Tom's story with his own voice. I appreciated the life lessons that he shared, and the insight into a franchise that had influence on my childhood. Would recommend to those interested in the life of actors that start at a young age and how that affects them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use
grace_lilly's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
I liked the short and heartfelt chapters but sometimes it did feel a bit choppy and I would have preferred a more chronological timeline. That being said, he final couple of chapters really made this book for me, they were emotional and real and I really enjoyed it and I felt a connection to the author in these moments.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Cursing, and Drug use