Jessie reviewed Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Review of 'Spare' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This book took me six entire months to read, solely because the middle section is just. so. boring. that I struggled to motivate myself to pick it back up. Part I, The Royal Childhood, is somewhat interesting, and Part Three, The Meghan Stuff, has some of the royal drama I was hoping for. But my God, is Part Two, The Military Stuff, dull. If I had to read one more chapter about like, shooting at the enemy or whatever, I was going to scream. I do not give a single shit about a military helicopter. Stop with that nonsense. I almost DNFed multiple times but I held on for my girl Meghan.
I honestly don't remember much about the beginning because it's been so long; I only remember that I bought the audiobook, couldn't stand Harry's narration for some reason, and promptly switched to the physical book. The Meghan stuff …
This book took me six entire months to read, solely because the middle section is just. so. boring. that I struggled to motivate myself to pick it back up. Part I, The Royal Childhood, is somewhat interesting, and Part Three, The Meghan Stuff, has some of the royal drama I was hoping for. But my God, is Part Two, The Military Stuff, dull. If I had to read one more chapter about like, shooting at the enemy or whatever, I was going to scream. I do not give a single shit about a military helicopter. Stop with that nonsense. I almost DNFed multiple times but I held on for my girl Meghan.
I honestly don't remember much about the beginning because it's been so long; I only remember that I bought the audiobook, couldn't stand Harry's narration for some reason, and promptly switched to the physical book. The Meghan stuff is mildly interesting; a lot of it I already knew from the Oprah interview, but I will say, the book is at its most enjoyable when the two of them are happy together.
The writing style is, to put it mildly, melodramatic. When Harry sees a photo of Meghan for the first time, for example, he starts reflecting on the nature of beauty? Calm down, Drama Prince. At another point, during the famous (and absolutely cringe) section about his frostbitten penis, a doctor tells him "time heals" and Harry is all "that's not my experience." Like, we get it, dude, you never properly grieved your mother. While discussing your frozen member is probably not the time to bring that up. Conclusion? Harry's ghostwriter is a bit pretentious.
Oh, also, if you're thinking of reading this, maybe just reflect for a little while on Why the British Press Is Bad. That's...pretty much what the whole thing is about, and you can save yourself some time by just thinking, like, "paps bad" a few hundred times.
Overall, I did not enjoy reading this book and would not recommend it to others. Books about fictional royals are way more fun; the real royals are all miserable and we should do away with the entire institution.
CONCLUSION: Abolish the monarchy.
