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A review by pagesfromhome
Spare by Prince Harry
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I’m skipping a star rating on this one because it feels odd to put a star rating to someone’s life experience, but my full thoughts are below!
In Spare, Prince Harry takes the reader through a look at his life, essentially from his mother’s death to his exit from public royal life. The book is situated in three parts, seemingly representing his three great loves: his mother, his military career, and his wife. The moments within the parts are broken into vignettes that are often short remembrances, but sometimes are longer explorations or reflections on a particular moment.
All in all, if you like Prince Harry, you’re going to read this. If you don’t, you won’t. But regardless of your opinion on him as a person, this is a really interesting look at what an individual can experience when their emotions are constantly up for discussion in regards to their work. Harry has clearly experienced some very real trauma in the face of a public life and he has been going through the needed work to get through it. The writing is very stream of conscious and honest which is appreciated in a memoir and kudos to his ghostwriter who deftly created a voice that felt authentic and genuine, but still well-thought.
I’ve been following Prince Harry’s story for a while, but it was really refreshing to hear the stories from his point of view, even if I felt like I already knew them. I always believe that people should have the write to tell their own story and I truly commend Harry for having the strength to attach his name to it, rather than relying on unnamed sources as royalty often relies on. On a more personal subjective read, I really loved the moments where he described the start of his relationship with Meghan Markle - it felt like reading a fairy tale of two soulmates meeting each other and that’s just stunning.
In Spare, Prince Harry takes the reader through a look at his life, essentially from his mother’s death to his exit from public royal life. The book is situated in three parts, seemingly representing his three great loves: his mother, his military career, and his wife. The moments within the parts are broken into vignettes that are often short remembrances, but sometimes are longer explorations or reflections on a particular moment.
All in all, if you like Prince Harry, you’re going to read this. If you don’t, you won’t. But regardless of your opinion on him as a person, this is a really interesting look at what an individual can experience when their emotions are constantly up for discussion in regards to their work. Harry has clearly experienced some very real trauma in the face of a public life and he has been going through the needed work to get through it. The writing is very stream of conscious and honest which is appreciated in a memoir and kudos to his ghostwriter who deftly created a voice that felt authentic and genuine, but still well-thought.
I’ve been following Prince Harry’s story for a while, but it was really refreshing to hear the stories from his point of view, even if I felt like I already knew them. I always believe that people should have the write to tell their own story and I truly commend Harry for having the strength to attach his name to it, rather than relying on unnamed sources as royalty often relies on. On a more personal subjective read, I really loved the moments where he described the start of his relationship with Meghan Markle - it felt like reading a fairy tale of two soulmates meeting each other and that’s just stunning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Addiction