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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I'll admit that I bought this due to the hype and fear of missing out. I need to work on that, clearly. But, I've also been watching the interview Harry did on ITV, and the Netflix documentary that Harry and Meghan did, and I've been trying to make my mind up about this couple, without the influence of the press coverage of them (which is insanely biased against them and racist as well). So, what better way to continue this journey than to read Harry's own words and get his point of view on the events of the past few years (and decades).
I'm not a Royalist, and I firmly believe that it's an institution that has had it's day and needs to be dismantled. There's an entire discussion around colonialism that is probably left to better writers than me, and I would encourage people to look on YouTube for video reviews, or here on Goodreads to check out reviews from BIPOC reviewers who have written about the racism and colonialism that Harry fails to address correctly in this book.
The book is split into three parts. The first part covers Harry's childhood, mostly focusing on the years after his mother died, and his time in boarding school. The second part covers Harry's time in the army, interspersed with public engagements and personal relationships. The third part covers the time from when Harry met Meghan up until the present day, and the book ends with the death of the Queen. The book does not seem to credit this person, but it seems that there is a ghost writer, credited by Harry in the acknowledgements but nowhere else. Harry himself admits that he is no great writer, and has no talent for remembering conversations and instead he retains places and settings.
The writing itself seemed fairly average. At times, such as in the first part of the book, it evoked a lot of emotion, but that is also due to Harry himself telling us about how his childhood years were after losing his mother, how he remembered little from before her death, how he felt lonely at times, and how he was hounded by the press even while at school. The writing does fall down somewhat in the second part of the book, and again this is partly due to the subject matter: it's all about military training and war, which is not something I typically reach out for in these types of books. The writing picks up slightly in the third part, but it wasn't really the writing that kept me reading - it was the content.
I liked that Harry countered some well-known press stories from his youth with what actually happened. This is Harry's rebuttal, almost. A response to the many years of press coverage where, due to the unwritten rules of the Royal Family, he was unable to stand up for himself. I completely understand why Harry felt compelled to write this book, as he has clearly been deeply affected by the press coverage over the years, by the lies and attacks and the slander, and especially in recent years after he met Meghan and the press was so awful to her. However, I should counter this by saying that at times the level of detail revealed did make me a bit uncomfortable. Did I need to know so much about Harry's 'todger' being frostbitten after he went to the North Pole shortly before William and Kate's wedding? No. Did I feel uncomfortable by some of the conversations he shared about what he and his family discussed? Yes, a little. I understand why some were included, but not others.
I liked the insight into Harry's life and the reasons why he chose to do what he did, and I do sympathise with Harry and Meghan and what they went through. Any racism is awful, and there's no doubt that the press coverage of Meghan was racist (for example, Meghan being criticised for things that Kate did with no criticism). However, this is where the things I liked about the book end, and we come to some of the things I didn't like.
Harry's privilege is clear to see, but I'm not quite sure Harry recognises the sheer level of privilege he has. He talks about paparazzi being wealthy with numerous houses and such, but fails to recognise his own wealth and that of his family, some of which is down to colonialism and exploitation of poorer countries. Harry also fails to do any deep introspection about the effects his family (and ancestors) have had on the countries he visits, and still insists on referring to his own racist remarks and actions as down to unconscious bias rather than racism. He makes a point of describing the story where he referred to a friend of his using the 'p' slur, and how afterwards he apologised to this friend who said that he knew Harry wasn't racist. He also blames the Nazi uniform incident on William and Kate, who apparently encouraged him to wear that outfit to a fancy dress party. Instead of taking ownership of his actions, he seeks to shift the blame and try to prove that he isn't and wasn't racist. I would have liked to see him criticise the Royal family instead of saying that he supported it still, denounce his family instead of wishing for a reconciliation. Instead, Harry blames the press for ruining his family relationships, instead of the people in his family for being so stand-offish, or for feeding stories to the press in the first place.
Overall, I would rate this as three stars, and part of that is only because so many people review-bombed this with one star reviews on Goodreads without even reading it (and to be fair, some did the same with five star reviews). It feels somehow wrong to 'rate' a memoir - it's someone's life after all. But I do tend to rate books I read mostly on enjoyment, and this was a fairly average read when it comes to enjoyment. I liked the first section and the third section, but the second was a slog to get through. The writing was average, and I don't feel I learned much from this that I didn't already know from the Netflix documentary and Harry's recent interview on ITV (I never watched the Oprah one). Would I recommend this? Only if you are actually interested in the Royal Family. Otherwise, you are unlikely to gain much from reading it.
Oh, and a side note: if Harry admits his own poor and spotty memory, how are we to believe any of the stories contained in this book? Might be one to take with a pinch of salt, so they say. Can we truly believe anything either side is saying in this war of words?
I'm not a Royalist, and I firmly believe that it's an institution that has had it's day and needs to be dismantled. There's an entire discussion around colonialism that is probably left to better writers than me, and I would encourage people to look on YouTube for video reviews, or here on Goodreads to check out reviews from BIPOC reviewers who have written about the racism and colonialism that Harry fails to address correctly in this book.
The book is split into three parts. The first part covers Harry's childhood, mostly focusing on the years after his mother died, and his time in boarding school. The second part covers Harry's time in the army, interspersed with public engagements and personal relationships. The third part covers the time from when Harry met Meghan up until the present day, and the book ends with the death of the Queen. The book does not seem to credit this person, but it seems that there is a ghost writer, credited by Harry in the acknowledgements but nowhere else. Harry himself admits that he is no great writer, and has no talent for remembering conversations and instead he retains places and settings.
The writing itself seemed fairly average. At times, such as in the first part of the book, it evoked a lot of emotion, but that is also due to Harry himself telling us about how his childhood years were after losing his mother, how he remembered little from before her death, how he felt lonely at times, and how he was hounded by the press even while at school. The writing does fall down somewhat in the second part of the book, and again this is partly due to the subject matter: it's all about military training and war, which is not something I typically reach out for in these types of books. The writing picks up slightly in the third part, but it wasn't really the writing that kept me reading - it was the content.
I liked that Harry countered some well-known press stories from his youth with what actually happened. This is Harry's rebuttal, almost. A response to the many years of press coverage where, due to the unwritten rules of the Royal Family, he was unable to stand up for himself. I completely understand why Harry felt compelled to write this book, as he has clearly been deeply affected by the press coverage over the years, by the lies and attacks and the slander, and especially in recent years after he met Meghan and the press was so awful to her. However, I should counter this by saying that at times the level of detail revealed did make me a bit uncomfortable. Did I need to know so much about Harry's 'todger' being frostbitten after he went to the North Pole shortly before William and Kate's wedding? No. Did I feel uncomfortable by some of the conversations he shared about what he and his family discussed? Yes, a little. I understand why some were included, but not others.
I liked the insight into Harry's life and the reasons why he chose to do what he did, and I do sympathise with Harry and Meghan and what they went through. Any racism is awful, and there's no doubt that the press coverage of Meghan was racist (for example, Meghan being criticised for things that Kate did with no criticism). However, this is where the things I liked about the book end, and we come to some of the things I didn't like.
Harry's privilege is clear to see, but I'm not quite sure Harry recognises the sheer level of privilege he has. He talks about paparazzi being wealthy with numerous houses and such, but fails to recognise his own wealth and that of his family, some of which is down to colonialism and exploitation of poorer countries. Harry also fails to do any deep introspection about the effects his family (and ancestors) have had on the countries he visits, and still insists on referring to his own racist remarks and actions as down to unconscious bias rather than racism. He makes a point of describing the story where he referred to a friend of his using the 'p' slur, and how afterwards he apologised to this friend who said that he knew Harry wasn't racist. He also blames the Nazi uniform incident on William and Kate, who apparently encouraged him to wear that outfit to a fancy dress party. Instead of taking ownership of his actions, he seeks to shift the blame and try to prove that he isn't and wasn't racist. I would have liked to see him criticise the Royal family instead of saying that he supported it still, denounce his family instead of wishing for a reconciliation. Instead, Harry blames the press for ruining his family relationships, instead of the people in his family for being so stand-offish, or for feeding stories to the press in the first place.
Overall, I would rate this as three stars, and part of that is only because so many people review-bombed this with one star reviews on Goodreads without even reading it (and to be fair, some did the same with five star reviews). It feels somehow wrong to 'rate' a memoir - it's someone's life after all. But I do tend to rate books I read mostly on enjoyment, and this was a fairly average read when it comes to enjoyment. I liked the first section and the third section, but the second was a slog to get through. The writing was average, and I don't feel I learned much from this that I didn't already know from the Netflix documentary and Harry's recent interview on ITV (I never watched the Oprah one). Would I recommend this? Only if you are actually interested in the Royal Family. Otherwise, you are unlikely to gain much from reading it.
Oh, and a side note: if Harry admits his own poor and spotty memory, how are we to believe any of the stories contained in this book? Might be one to take with a pinch of salt, so they say. Can we truly believe anything either side is saying in this war of words?
It's a bit trite. but of course it would be because it's a memoir of the whitest and most entitled family in history.
I am not a fan of the royal family, I am not a fan of the commonwealth and it's history. But after reading this book, I am a fan of Harry, and Megan.
He didn't choose his family or the privilege, he had no control over his life, what he could do, who he could hang out with or fall in love with. A man who's life was surrounded by loss and grief but in the most public way - desperately lonely, trying to find a purpose in life... apart from being his older brother's organ doner.
If you read through the entitlement, it's a great read. He seems at least self aware of his position and privilege.
This book is a story of finding yourself, working through trauma, of hope, and finding the courage to protect those you love, even if it means from your own family.
Well done Harry.
I am not a fan of the royal family, I am not a fan of the commonwealth and it's history. But after reading this book, I am a fan of Harry, and Megan.
He didn't choose his family or the privilege, he had no control over his life, what he could do, who he could hang out with or fall in love with. A man who's life was surrounded by loss and grief but in the most public way - desperately lonely, trying to find a purpose in life... apart from being his older brother's organ doner.
If you read through the entitlement, it's a great read. He seems at least self aware of his position and privilege.
This book is a story of finding yourself, working through trauma, of hope, and finding the courage to protect those you love, even if it means from your own family.
Well done Harry.
i don't like war movies, i guess i don't like war books either. this just wasn't what i was expecting.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.5/5
Okay...this was way too long (15.5 hours of audiobook!) and didn't have enough tea to sustain it. I don't know if I am already too aware of the royals from the media or watching the Crown or from all the media that spoiled the stuff in this book, but I feel like there wasn't anything new. However, there were some poignant parts—the ghost writer knows his shit and Harry reading it himself was powerful—that I did tear up at one point while getting my daily coffee. Underwhelmed, even though I don't even think I had the highest expectations.
Okay...this was way too long (15.5 hours of audiobook!) and didn't have enough tea to sustain it. I don't know if I am already too aware of the royals from the media or watching the Crown or from all the media that spoiled the stuff in this book, but I feel like there wasn't anything new. However, there were some poignant parts—the ghost writer knows his shit and Harry reading it himself was powerful—that I did tear up at one point while getting my daily coffee. Underwhelmed, even though I don't even think I had the highest expectations.
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
2 stars only because the writing is good. This book left me baffled. He wants privacy? By writing a tell all book? He wants to claim he’s a normal person shopping at TJ Maxx (I swear he says this) but then he talks about summering at Elton John’s France house for the summer. I am glad he got some therapy. I think the whole family needs some pretty deep therapy… but to me I just really struggled to have the sympathy for him that he was hoping to convey. Maybe I’m heartless?