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juliaclark's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
4.0
ellen_adriana's review against another edition
3.75
I was pleasantly surprised by Harry's charisma as a narrator (I listened to the audiobook). Whilst it obviously tells a specific side of the story, it's an important read when it comes to understanding the royal family and the UK tabloid media and he has a very interesting story to tell, although I could have done with less military tales... Ultimately, I left the book with the sense that Harry doesn't quite know who he is or what he wants to say, unsurprising given his story, but made for a not always consistent author.
florencedahl's review against another edition
3.0
Today I finished Prince Harry’s official memoir “Spare”, which was entirely embellished by the famous memoir ghost-writer J.R. Moehringer.
How I can sum up the book? I think it’s an average book- a firm ☆☆☆/5. Some of its passages are bit repetitive and monotonous, (mainly for me the parts when he discusses his time in the army), but others are fun, witty, and like breath of fresh air.
Overall, the book tries to summarize the life of Harry, Hazze, H, Spike, haz, Harold (who goes by thousands of different nicknames) from his early years to the present. It gives the reader a well described insight of his privileged but broken and lonely life, and explores many topics such as his education at Eton, his travels, his military career, his relations with his –royal- family members, and his love life (from his teenage affairs, to his marriage with actress Meghan Markle). In addition to that the whole book directly emphasizes the shattered and anxious relationship with the yellow British media and its reporters.
There are no surprises in this book, as expected. For me, it kind of created a new perspective into the royal family understanding them as more human, more fragile, less sterile and overall less perfect.
As I see it the book made a well-done job and allows the reader to join him into his maturation journey, and also enables the reader to resonate with his experiences –even if they may seem distant and privileged for a standard human being.
How I can sum up the book? I think it’s an average book- a firm ☆☆☆/5. Some of its passages are bit repetitive and monotonous, (mainly for me the parts when he discusses his time in the army), but others are fun, witty, and like breath of fresh air.
Overall, the book tries to summarize the life of Harry, Hazze, H, Spike, haz, Harold (who goes by thousands of different nicknames) from his early years to the present. It gives the reader a well described insight of his privileged but broken and lonely life, and explores many topics such as his education at Eton, his travels, his military career, his relations with his –royal- family members, and his love life (from his teenage affairs, to his marriage with actress Meghan Markle). In addition to that the whole book directly emphasizes the shattered and anxious relationship with the yellow British media and its reporters.
There are no surprises in this book, as expected. For me, it kind of created a new perspective into the royal family understanding them as more human, more fragile, less sterile and overall less perfect.
As I see it the book made a well-done job and allows the reader to join him into his maturation journey, and also enables the reader to resonate with his experiences –even if they may seem distant and privileged for a standard human being.
thatnatiam's review against another edition
1.0
Could not get very far in this book. I am fascinated by the British royals, but the tone of the book was too whiny for me. And the language seemed weirdly flowery. I so wanted to like it but just couldn’t.
vanfox723's review against another edition
5.0
I came out of this book with a new found respect for Harry and Meghan, while presenting a whole other view of the royal family. It is absolutely appalling that a father could refer to his children as “an heir and a spare” (This is what Harry claimed Charles said to Diana when Harry was born. Was it truly said? Who knows…but it is still appalling and something I can totally see Charles saying) I also could have done without so much detail about his military career, but it did further serve to show what molded him into the person he is.
reydeam's review against another edition
5.0
I am not a fan of memoirs. I don’t typically like them. I am also not a fan of Harry and Megan. With that said, I was shockingly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I found Spare to be interesting.
Say what we will, this is the account of one person’s perspective — that is a memoir. And whether or not I agree with choices and decisions is besides the point. It’s not for me to agree or not. But hearing his perspective did give me pause to think and a reminder that we don’t actually know what happens in other people’s lives especially when details could be very manipulated by media.
There are many themes in this book that many people could identify with in their own way. And that gives way for the possibility of deep conversations and understanding gained.
I listened to the audiobook. I’m glad I did. I think Prince Harry did a good job with narrating. And frankly, I think this book would be much less if he did not narrate.
I went into the book absolutely convinced I would not like this book. That I would grimace all the way through. The opposite happened; I liked it very much. Lots to think about beyond the obvious of the royal family.
Say what we will, this is the account of one person’s perspective — that is a memoir. And whether or not I agree with choices and decisions is besides the point. It’s not for me to agree or not. But hearing his perspective did give me pause to think and a reminder that we don’t actually know what happens in other people’s lives especially when details could be very manipulated by media.
There are many themes in this book that many people could identify with in their own way. And that gives way for the possibility of deep conversations and understanding gained.
I listened to the audiobook. I’m glad I did. I think Prince Harry did a good job with narrating. And frankly, I think this book would be much less if he did not narrate.
I went into the book absolutely convinced I would not like this book. That I would grimace all the way through. The opposite happened; I liked it very much. Lots to think about beyond the obvious of the royal family.