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S kouzelnickou hůlkou: Magické dospívání filmového čaroděje by Tom Felton

42 reviews

bookwitch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

Not specifically well-written, but certainly accessible for all kinds of readers; this inside look at one of the stars of the world-wide phenomenon, was incredibly informative. I had no idea about any of the facets of Tom's life, from his early career, to his flying under the radar and living a "normal muggle life" during the filming of the movies, to his rapid downward spiral upon moving to LA and having freedom for the first time in his life. Tom was extremely open, and honest about all the pockets of his life he has chosen to share with the world, talking about some tough topics at times, and giving us juicy details behind the scenes of one of the biggest franchises in our modern history.
I absolutely cannot believe that he was so anonymous during the films, considering their popularity. I guess it kind of makes sense since he wasn't necessarily the MAIN character, but he was in every one of the movies...and there are HOARDS of fans who love his character (and often ship him with ahem, another character). It is just mind boggling that he was "lucky" enough to have a somewhat normal life despite being in the most popular movie series at the time.

I was also a bit shocked to find out that he as a person was a bit of a little shit, like his famous character. Not in the elitist sense, thank goodness, but more so in the getting into trouble, being the "baddie" both on set and in real life. His arrests, his abuse of alcohol, and his rehabilitation, all were pretty shocking for me. But Tom remained candid and honest, and breezed through them as if they were exactly what they are, parts of his past.

I enjoyed how quickly I was able to get through this, and quite liked the trajectory through time. I truly don't know if we will ever see books like this from any of the MAIN three, so this little toe-dip into the behind the scenes of that world was magical and appreciated, warts and all.

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juliannaferroni's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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chezler24's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.25

Listened to the audio book, and really enjoyed Tom Felton's narration. It made it really easy to listen to and the storytelling was quite fluid. Definitely would have devoured this back during my peak Harry Potter enjoyment. It was interesting getting to hear about the different actors he met, learning about his family life, and seeing the progression from childhood actor into adult. I do feel that this felt like the first part in a memoir. Tom is still relatively young and has a good chunk of life left to live; it just so happened that he was part of such a worldwide phenomenon from a young age. I felt like we just barely scratched the surface at what makes him tick. The final chapters (dealing with life post-Potter and dealing with finding work, developing an alcohol addition, and undergoing rehab) started to touch on some deeper musings beyond the rosier picture that was painted with the average family life, star studded sets, and stellar career. As a closer look at life of a "muggle playing a wizard," this gave a lot of interesting perspective; however, as a memoir I feel like there just needs to be a bit more room to grow and breathe or maybe to include some more "realness" or "rawness" behind the "behind the scenes" passages.

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r_j_setser's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

In Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) recounts his acting career up to the point of this publication and gives special attention to his time at Hogwarts (filming the Harry Potter movies). Any fans of the Harry Potter series should consider this memoir a "must read" as it is both full of behind-the-scenes and nostalgic memories of the movies.

Tom's memoir is everything I hoped it would be. I laughed so much at his forward and no-nonsense way of telling stories. Listening to the audiobook (which he narrates himself) felt like listening to theatrical takes from the set of the Harry Potter movies. Many of his stories had me laughing out loud and I loved this rare glimpse into the life of a child actor. He was very good about explaining things that aren't common knowledge, so I feel that I learned a lot about the acting industry by reading this book, as well.

After the first half of the book, which is where spends his time describing his Harry Potter experience, the book takes a more personal turn and focuses on his life after the films and his journey through rehab and finding himself again. While there are a few chapters that made me incredibly sad and worried for him, I feel that with the conclusion of this book, he's doing much better now.

I will caution readers who haven't finished the Harry Potter series that there are many spoilers to the series mentioned throughout this book! Tom Felton assumes that his readers have watched all the movies and talks about the endings often, so don't read this if you're trying to avoid spoilers!

Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook so much and recommend it to anyone who loves Harry Potter or even just if you'd like to read about the behind-the-scenes of filmmaking!

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