Reviews tagging 'Death'

Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton

23 reviews

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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katie0528's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

A brutally honest and funny memoir from Tom Felton, best known as Draco Malfoy, as his life before and experiences filming the Harry Potter movies, and his struggles in adulthood after as he tried to find himself apart from his fame.
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amandaacat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

If you’re a fan of Tom Felton and Harry Potter, this is a great book to listen to the audio for. Tom does a great job narrating his own stories and does give you a glimpse of life of set - which was fun. I can’t say anything he wrote about was groundbreaking and I liked his recap of his substance abuse struggles towards the end, but overall it seems that growing up on set wasn’t too bad for him. Would only recommend if you’re a fan!
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bethanyrh's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.75

Let’s be real, I was always going to rank this book pretty highly. I loved getting to glimpse behind the scenes of the Harry Potter films and hearing about Tom’s anecdotes about his fellow cast members, but I also enjoyed that it included stories about his non-Potter works (we were, after all, looking beyond the wand) and a deeper look into the effects of fame.
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reading_on_the_moon's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

4.5

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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

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midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Tom Felton’s autobiography Beyond the Wand is lighthearted, warm, inspiring, and at times sad. I felt an enormous amount of affection towards Tom as he reflected on his life and career. Definitely would recommend!
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theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

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funny inspiring medium-paced

4.25

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isabezza's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted

3.75

This memoir filled me with nostalgia for my childhood surrounded by Potter magic. Tom Felton describes, with such respect and joy, the relationships between cast-members and families, and showcases the inner workings of a film set invisible to many viewers imaginations. This book gave me a deeper understanding of what it may mean to work as an actor, and a greater understanding of the Potter films. It was particularly interesting to learn about Tom Felton's family and his mental health struggles, which were explored in a reassuring and hopeful manner. I listened to this as an audiobook (since it was read by the author) so his personality shined through, and the comedy of the book communicated well in a verbal form. Obviously writing is not Tom Felton's trade, and I cannot say this was the best structured book or particularly effective writing, but I thoroughly enjoyed this as a light-hearted read, and it was easy to listen to for hours without getting bored. 
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jessspeake's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version of this memoir. Tom reads it himself, and it really feels like sitting down with him over a cup of tea and listening while he tells his story. 

It was everything I wanted in terms of Harry Potter content, plus so much more in terms of Tom’s life and experiences outside of Potter. 

He speaks about everyone in his with a reverence that is really special and kindhearted. It was a joy to listen to!

I really respect how openly he speaks about addiction and mental illness in the book. 

This book far surpassed any expectations I had of it, and left me hoping to read more from Tom in the future!
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