You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
A review by themermaddie
Spare by Prince Harry
4.0
i'm honestly considering bumping this up to 4.5 stars.
this is... a shockingly good memoir. long, yes, but also exceedingly thoughtful, grounded, and earnest. all the memes about this book have been funny, and they were what piqued my curiosity in the first place, but those few snippets you see floating around grossly misrepresent the real contents of the book.
as an official record of what happened to who at what time? factually questionable. but as a memoir and a first time tell-all from someone previously forbidden to make his own public statements? fantastic. harry talks about mental health, his military experience, his mother's death, and his personal relationships, and it was honestly very well written and moved me more than i expected, considering my general apathy for the movements of the royal family. listen, i get it: this is harry's story so of course his take on the continued existence of the monarchy is going to be a bit rose-tinted, but the romance of the monarchy is overshadowed by the relationships harry has with his family, and specifically his brother. the way his family is portrayed in this book is actually shockingly tame compared to what people have said, and the overall tone is just bittersweet, not vilifying anyone.
i don't actually want to comment on the politics of the book; it's kind of all been said before. so much of harry's story is heavily shadowed by his relationship with the press living under public scrutiny, worsening once the vitriol and outright racism of the press got to meghan. in light of learning about harry's experience being the subject of public discussion, i kinda feel like the most helpful thing i could do is not speculate any more about him beyond what i've read in this book.
two things are abundantly clear to me from this book:
1. this is a man who is so unbelievably and undeniably in love with his wife. i teared up many times when he was talking about how much he loves meghan.
2. public existence seems like actual hell, and hearing about the horrible lengths people will go to makes me lose a little bit of faith in humanity.
this is... a shockingly good memoir. long, yes, but also exceedingly thoughtful, grounded, and earnest. all the memes about this book have been funny, and they were what piqued my curiosity in the first place, but those few snippets you see floating around grossly misrepresent the real contents of the book.
as an official record of what happened to who at what time? factually questionable. but as a memoir and a first time tell-all from someone previously forbidden to make his own public statements? fantastic. harry talks about mental health, his military experience, his mother's death, and his personal relationships, and it was honestly very well written and moved me more than i expected, considering my general apathy for the movements of the royal family. listen, i get it: this is harry's story so of course his take on the continued existence of the monarchy is going to be a bit rose-tinted, but the romance of the monarchy is overshadowed by the relationships harry has with his family, and specifically his brother. the way his family is portrayed in this book is actually shockingly tame compared to what people have said, and the overall tone is just bittersweet, not vilifying anyone.
i don't actually want to comment on the politics of the book; it's kind of all been said before. so much of harry's story is heavily shadowed by his relationship with the press living under public scrutiny, worsening once the vitriol and outright racism of the press got to meghan. in light of learning about harry's experience being the subject of public discussion, i kinda feel like the most helpful thing i could do is not speculate any more about him beyond what i've read in this book.
two things are abundantly clear to me from this book:
1. this is a man who is so unbelievably and undeniably in love with his wife. i teared up many times when he was talking about how much he loves meghan.
2. public existence seems like actual hell, and hearing about the horrible lengths people will go to makes me lose a little bit of faith in humanity.