Bogormen

Title: Spare
Author: Prince Harry
Genre: Autobiography
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~16hrs
Date read: February, 2023

It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.

For Harry, this is that story at last.

Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.

At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love.

Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .


There are always three sides to any story - his, theirs and the truth. As this is probably the only version we'll ever hear, I have no clue how close this is to the others. With regards to the UK news media? Probably very. With regards to the rest of the royal family? Who can say.

I will say that it was very engagingly written though. I don't know if Prince Harry had a ghostwriter or if he just happens to be a good writer, but I found the book really interesting, and appreciated this look behind the scenes. But those two boys had no chance of being normal, growing up the way they did. With that kind of trauma at a young age and absolutely no follow-up in terms of being sent to therapy and learning how to deal with it - it's a wonder they managed as well as they did!

Prince Harry has had an interesting life so far, and I enjoyed reading about his education, his travels (Africa especially), his time in the army and his vain attempts at having a 'normal' life. I loved reading about his relationship with Meghan - he is so obviously crazy in love with her, and that's always wonderful to read.

The book did not come across as sensationalistic to me. In fact, the back blurb is a lot more drama-filled than the book itself is. Prince Harry didn't downplay the things he did wrong, and he didn't go out of his way to paint others in a bad light either. It seemed a very sober take on things, and didn't seem like he tried to take advantage of the fact that he's probably going to be the only one to put out his side of the story. The way the press treated him and Meghan was awful, but everybody knew that ahead of time - it's not like they were being subtle about it.

I read this as an audiobook, narrated by Prince Harry himself, which was a nice touch. I always love it when memoirs/autobiographies are narrated by the authors themselves, as I think it adds a dimension that wouldn't have been present otherwise.

Title: Tir-Nâzrals arving (Stjernekrønikerne #1)
Author: Mads Schack-Lindhardt
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 340
Date read: February 2023

Forestil dig, at alle de verdener, der nogensinde er blevet skrevet bøger om, eksisterer – at de er lige så virkelige, som den verden, du lever i. Og forestil dig, at der findes et sted, der gør det muligt at rejse til disse verdener.

Da Sebastian flytter ind i sin fars afdøde onkels hus sammen med sine forældre, møder han den sære nabo, Martha. Hun er en del af en hemmelig verden, hvorfra man kan rejse ind i bøgerne og ændre deres historier.

Sebastian sendes ud på et eventyr, der overgår hans vildeste fantasi – til en hemmelig verden fuld af magi og forunderlige væsener. Det bliver en farefuld færd, hvor Sebastian skal tage sig i agt – bag hver et hjørne lurer det onde, som kan blive den magiske verdens undergang.


"Tir-Nâzrals arving" er første bind i en ny fantasy-serie - og så vidt jeg kan se også forfatterens første roman? I hvert fald den første, som er kommet på goodreads.

Mads Schack-Lindhardt får hurtigt skabt et fascinerende univers, og jeg fik flere gange flashbacks til "Dystopia" af Dennis Jürgensen, uden at kunne sige helt hvorfor. Stemningen mindede mig om den... omend handlingen er sin helt egen. Men "Dystopia" har været en af mine yndlingsbøger siden jeg var barn, så for mig var det kun en ekstra bonus.

Ideen om et univers hvor bøger bliver til virkelighed er evigt tiltalende for en livslang bogorm som mig, og jeg var kun ærgerlig over, at vi kun havde mulighed for at udforske en enkelt af portalerne denne gang - men regner med, at det bliver der rådet bod på i de efterfølgende bøger i serien.

Bogen led ind i mellem lidt under at forfatteren prøvede at inkludere for meget, for hurtigt, og jeg synes man kunne mærke, at det var hans første bog - men det betyder udelukkende at jeg har tiltro til, at han bliver bedre til at stramme handlingen op i de senere bøger, og jeg glæder mig til at fortsætte sammen med Sebastian på hans færd gennem de forskellige verdener, som Tir-Nâzral åbner op for.