Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Beyond the Wand: Growing Up a Wizard

Tom Felton’s autobiography Beyond the Wand is lighthearted, warm, inspiring, and at times sad. I felt an enormous amount of affection towards Tom as he reflected on his life and career. Definitely would recommend!

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mybluebookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

4.5

As a longtime fan of the Harry Potter series and Tom Felton himself, I knew I had to read Beyond the Wand. I've watched the movies and read the books over and over and it was lovely hearing about them from Tom's point of view.

Most of the book was a delightful set of recollections of Tom's childhood, both on and off the HP film set. My favorite anecdotes were about Alan Rickman and about his strange, awkward hug with Voldemort. I specifically remember cackling about that scene with my brother when the film came out and I was delighted to hear more about how it came about. I really enjoyed Tom's introspection about his own past and his character analysis of Draco Malfoy. (He should really consider writing some Dramione fanfiction.) Towards the end of the book he also delved into his struggles with mental health. I admire his frankness in writing about those times of his life and while he's certainly not the first person or celebrity to discuss those topics, I think his openness and level of introspection is unique. Stories like Tom's, which dispel the myths and prejudices about mental health struggles, are always valuable.

Tom is a gifted storyteller and performer, and I really enjoyed listening to this book. He writes and speaks without pretense and with a charming, self-deprecating manner. I loved hearing his own reactions to his anecdotes and I found myself smiling or chuckling along with him many times. I definitely recommend listening to this book rather than reading it, if only for his imitations of all the other actors - especially Alan Rickman - and Tom's scrawny 12-year-old self.

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bzliz's review against another edition

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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.

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jonilouise3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.75

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lapuce1006's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

3.5

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monica_85's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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anastasialovesbooks's review against another edition

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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.)

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