"As a child of the 80s who’s a year older than Prince Harry, I was always fascinated with “Princess Di,� as we called her. My sister and I played with a set of Princess Diana paper dolls! And I will never forget the shock I felt at her death. (I feel even more shocked now, as I looked it up and found out that she died at age 36!!?! 😮 I have outlived Diana by almost 4 years!)

When I heard about “Spare,� written by Diana’s younger son, I was intrigued, and I planned on reading it. I had loosely followed Prince Harry since he started dating Meghan Markle; I was happy for them when they got married and had their first child, and I knew it was a big deal when they announced their departure from official royal duties. And I roughly knew that paparazzi hounded the royals, including them. But I really had no clue how much the “paps� invaded Harry’s life.

I got a better idea after watching Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, but reading “Spare� brought it to a much deeper level. I am not one to research or judge the veracity of everything Harry shares. (Heck, until I was checking dates for this review, I thought Princess Di and Mother Theresa died on the same day, that I’d watched footage of both while babysitting one Saturday—but it turns out Diana’s funeral was on the same day as Mother Theresa’s death, so I guess that’s what I was watching?!) But one cannot listen to Harry tell his story—I think audiobook is a must for this book—without deep sympathy for the press-hounding he’s been at the mercy of his *entire life.* No wonder he is triggered to protect his wife and child when it gets to a breaking point, especially when he holds the paparazzi responsible for his mother’s death!

Kudos to Harry for seeing a therapist to try to work through these and other issues, and for taking about them openly in this book! I think more therapy should be ordered for the entire royal family, though. Harry refers to them as a great “dysfunctional� family, and even if the details he shared are missing the “other sides� of the story, I agree with his description!

This book was a fascinating window into a life I knew little about—a life of astonishing privilege and devastating loss, stifled affection and deep love, agonizing frustration and at least a measure of triumph.

Some have wondered the irony of someone sharing so much when all he’s wanted was more privacy, but I get it: if his story has always been told by others, his version of the truth suppressed, no wonder Harry wants to share his life from his perspective! Kudos to him and his ghostwriter for doing it so well. Not perfectly, but well worth a read if you’re the least bit intrigued."

"This was a fantastic book. I loved the information about how things were in East Germany, but the best part was that it was told about her own family. This is one I'll read again."

"This woman's story is gut-wrenching. I've read a number of books about North Korean defectors and this is definitely the most intimate and personal. I appreciated how she delicately told about her experience with human trafficking without sharing all of the gory details. I admire her courage and willingness to be vulnerable to communicate the severity of what people are experiencing. "