Spare

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Feb 2

Spare - Charlie Donlea

my review : ✮✮✮✮

As soon as I heard that Prince Harry was writing a memoir, I knew I had to read it. I have always had a vague interest in the royal family but never followed them closely. When Harry + Meghan got engaged, I was enamored by their love story. To be honest, it reminded me of a fabulous fictional book called The Royal We (honestly, after reading this book, I was shocked by how much that book got right about being a Prince).

If you’re reading this review trying to work out if you should read this, let me help you! If you want to pull back the curtain on royal life and understand life from Harry’s POV, this is for you. If you hate Harry & Meghan, please skip this, and also, please skip sliding into my DMs with your passionate messages about those two♥️

This story gets into the weeds of Harry’s life and focuses on his early years, his time in the military, and his relationship with M. Much of this story, though is focused on his all-consuming hatred of the press. Yet, even though I am far from royal (despite wearing a crown on my wedding day), I found many elements of his story.. relatable?

I found this story to alternate between being heartbreaking, heartwarming, delicious, cheeky, fascinating, funny, and frustrating.

I thought the writing was well done and, at times, poetic.

Maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me, but Harry’s description of first seeing Meghan made me swoon. I thought that page was more romantic than most romance novels, probably because it’s a true story.

Two things I think are important to know about this book… firstly, I made a critical mistake by reading it and instead should have listened to Harry himself narrate it. Secondly, the ghostwriter is the insanely talented J.R. Moehringer, who ghostwrote Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog, among many other books.

I understand this book is not for everyone and is very polarizing. I personally enjoyed it immensely. If you’re on the fence, I might advise you to skip it, as I think you really have to be interested in the subject matter to make your way through this lengthy book.

Best paired with a G + T. Cheers, mate!