Spare

Probably more of a 3.5 but I'm rounding up.

I may be anti-monarchy as an institution but I'm also one of many who was fascinated by Princess Diana, so I was definitely very interested to read this book. Meghan and Harry's Netflix documentary had also primed me for this.

And while there are parts from the documentary which are told here again and it can get repetitive, but there's also a lot of new information. I guess most of it just felt very surprising because the royal family, their dynamics, the way they do things, what they believe in - it almost feels like they aren't from our world and there were many instances where I felt incredulous. The middle portion of the memoir which is about Harry's experiences in the military and the war made me a lot uncomfortable, and I'm frankly astonished he was so candid about everything. This is definitely a book which felt like he was venting everything that he had never been able to talk about, and all I can hope is that it was therapeutic for him.

Reading it may feel a bit tedious though, because it's very stream of consciousness style of writing and the chapters sometimes were very small and ended abruptly. But he narrates the audiobook himself and that was definitely a better way to consume this memoir. I'm definitely feeling quite sympathetic towards him after finishing this and I can only hope he can find peace in his life in America, away from the fish bowl.