Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Spare by Prince Harry

11 reviews

dmswack3's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

I usually avoid memoirs and biographies due to their voyeuristic feel, but something about 2023 has made me want to listen to a few, and Spare was undoubtedly one of them. 

I highly enjoyed the narration Prince Harry gave, and the story itself was fun to listen to. His ghost writers was phenomenal in my opinion. I'm very glad I listened to it instead of reading it, however, because I think I would have found myself bored by some of the longer chapters had it not been read to me. 

Something else for readers to be weary of besides long chapters and perhaps boring text, should you choose to read this rather than listen- this story bares all... Like ALL. You will hear a LOT about the Prince's... Todger, as he calls it. Like a LOT. Where it's been, who's seen it, how it's been injured so uh. Fair warning there. 

Beyond the todger, this book really doesn't pull punches. I saw shocked at points, angered at others, cried at some. But I also felt myself thinking: is it all true? God I hope not. It's that bad. 

Give it a listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide, Car accident, Infertility, Child death, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcohol, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Hate crime, Addiction, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment

at806's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Mental illness, Racism, War, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Animal death, Car accident, Miscarriage, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

lexa's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad

4.75

While there was nothing truly groundbreaking in here, and I felt it was maybe a bit long winded, I did greatly enjoy Prince Harry’s story telling. But really, it just made me dislike the monarchy even more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Bullying

Moderate: Stalking, Racism, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Death, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, and Car accident

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Animal death, Vomit, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Kidnapping

loloburns's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

This book almost broke me. Its not often it takes me 4 months to finish a book, especially one that I'm interested in, however this book was so narratively dense, with so many details and side tangents that I had to keep stopping to digest it.

As a tell all memoir, I didn't immensely enjoy it, instead, reading it with the mind that it was written by a person. Just a person. Its heartbreaking.

I have never cried as much reading a non fiction book as reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Classism, Drug use, Death of parent, Racism, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Death, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism

Minor: Vomit, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping

lmy612's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

5.0

I am the same age as Prince Harry and always felt a affinity for him. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the royal family, but Harry’s memoir discusses the absurdity of everything the press have ever said about the royal family. This book was also Harry’s chance to tell his side of the story about how his family has treated him and Megan. 

This is a very heavy book and I cried many times listening to his recount of very painful topics: his mother’s death, 9/11, self medicating with drugs and alcohol, going to war, racism against his wife and children, threats against their lives, the loss of an unborn child, the toxicity of his family, the death of the Queen, and the paparazzi who refuse(d) to let them live their lives. 

This was a highly enjoyable and deeply moving memoir, even for an anti-monarchist living in the colonized commonwealth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Alcohol, Classism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Drug use, Animal death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, War, Death, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, and Cursing

Moderate: Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Miscarriage, and Kidnapping

aloy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, War, Racism, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Classism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Bullying, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Miscarriage

norwegianforestreader's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, Classism, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Death of parent, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and War

rainbowyeticorn's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I could really identify with the sibling aspects of this book. It really reminded me of the fraught interactions I've had with my own siblings, of my own feelings of wanting that bonded closeness but being rejected over and over again for whatever unknown reasons. I also really appreciated Prince Harry's honesty about his struggles with mental health, his inherent racism and the steps he took to address it, and examining the dehumanization of war. If I had one critique it was the Prince's streetstre aversion to using pharmaceuticals while also experimenting with street drugs. This narrative in no way helps fight the ableist stigma against taking prescribed medications for mental health support. Medications are researched and tested and they can improve and save lives. I just would have appreciated if Prince Harry had acknowledged that somewhere in his narrative, even if that is or isn't what eventually helped him. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, War, Death of parent, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Medical content, and Animal cruelty

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

1.0

Truly every chapter is wilder than the last and it's all read by him. I do not fathom how these stories made it past editors but also past his wife. Most of the memoir is a jarring juxtaposition of a deeply mentally unwell child who craves empathy from his family while being delusional about his mother's death contrasted with him talking about his "todger". I really don't know why he talks about it so much but so far it has made an appearance at least 7 times in the first 03:30 hours. Certainly an iconic read.

The audiobook is also unnecessarily 15.5 hours long but honestly all due to the fact that this man reads at a snails pace with a breath in between every other word. 

It’s a psychiatrists playground with not only generational trauma but also family trauma but also war PTSD but also stalker trauma but also maternal death trauma topped off with royal trauma. Truly a wild time. I’m sorry to this man.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, War, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

cheuksin's review

dark emotional funny informative sad tense slow-paced

3.75

This book is essentially trauma dumping for 400 pages. I never thought I’d feel sympathy for a royal yet here I am. 

The tunnel is called Pont de l'Alma, I told him.
Yes, yes. He knew it.
I want to go through it.
You want to go through the tunnel?
At sixty-five miles per hour - to be precise.
Sixty-five?
Yes.
The exact speed Mummy's car had supposedly been driving 

Wow. The ghostwriter really worked some magic. At some times it does feel like someone tried to stretch an sentence into and essay. Harry mentions his mother in pretty much every paragraph. Oversharing is a understatement. 

Honestly, anyone who could hate Harry and Megan after reading this book is a heartless bastard. My neutral opinion of Will and Kate has also depreciated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Drug use, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Infertility, Trafficking, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, and Suicide