Cover Image: Warrior

Warrior

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I simply adore Audrey Hepburn, She did so many amazing things, Thanks for the review copy. I love that people are still interested in her,

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In continuation from his international best seller “Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II , author Robert Matzen continues to explore the life of humanitarian and actress : Audrey Hepburn. In this latest work alongside Hepburn's son Luca Dotti shares her journey as ambassador of UNICEF. Dutch Girl, and Warrior serve together as a full embodied work noting Hepburn’s relationship with UNICEF after having received support from them as a child at the end of the Second World War. Matzen highlights Hepburn’s decision to raise her sons, after leaving Hollywood roughly 20 years prior at 38 years old and explores her decision to work for UNICEF and become an ambassador for the many children of the world. This book focuses on Hepburn’s five years working with UNICEF from 58-63 years old. Racial justice, climate change, women’s rights, and the global refugee crisis are areas Hepburn came across during her time as UNICEF ambassador. The resilience found as a child is depicted to be brought forth once more as she entered war zones once again, as she observed hunger, famine, and death. This book held her many roles in life in equal reverence and adds to exploring her experience and contact as she assumed them in life. Out of five stars on goodreads I gave this a strong five out of five stars. I recommend it to those who enjoy biography’s , films of Audrey Hepburn and would like to know the person behind the icon. Thank you to Netgalley and Good Knight Books for an advanced readers copy.

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I've always thought it unfair that Audrey Hepburn is mostly remembered for being extremely pretty in films when the work she did as a UNICEF ambassador changed and saved lives. Having all she went through to ensure that people didn't just sweep children's suffering under the rug and pretended it wasn't happening simply because it was in impoverished countries has been inspiring. But I never really knew the whole story of everything she did, experienced, and sacrificed to achieve what she did.
This book is both fantastic and heartbreaking. The beautiful, honest writing by Matzen is both the reason I admire it and that it took me 6 months to read it. It is a no-holds-barred retelling of the highs and lows of each campaign and all the work Hepburn and the people at UNICEF did. It paints a vivid picture of entire communities decimated by war and famine. It is both the good and hope in people doing their best to bring aid and the horrors of that aid not being enough or getting there in time. And through it all, a slight wisp of a woman with more will and determination than an entire battalion walking into Hell in hopes of being able to give those suffering a voice.
It is not an easy read. I continually had to walk away from it just from how well Matzen places the reader right next to Hepburn as she walks through starving villages and war-torn cities. It hits hard and keeps on hitting even when the chapters are about things that happened in Hepburn's life outside of her work for UNICEF.
Even with that, I very highly recommend giving this one a read to see what true strength of character is and how one person lending their voice to a cause can change the world.

Extremely grateful to NetGalley and GoodKnight Books for the eye-opening read!

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A timeless icon, Audrey Hepburn is a trailblazer for showing compassion and helping others via her fame.

Thank you #NetGalley and GoodKnight Books for giving me the opportunity to read this!

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Highly recommended this! We all know Hepburn as the iconic movie star! This gives you an insight of her life outside and how she was so much more than that. Didn’t realise how much work she done for UNICEF. Definitely one to read!

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I am struggling to read this book. Audrey sounds like she had done some amazing work but this book unfortunately is not for me.

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I am a big Audrey Hepburn fan and have already read several biographies on the Hollywood star; so I was intrigued by this release by Matzen and its main focus upon her experiences of war and her charity work.
I enjoyed it a lot because the book centers on her efforts to help people and use her platform and fame for a greater purpose; some information of which was new to me. Although the extreme level of detail could definitely slow the pace for those who aren’t such a fan of Hepburn. In general I liked the writing style of this biography but at times certain biases came through, rather than simply chronicling her achievements within UNICEF and other charitable works. A biased tone at times comes through just because Matzen should have an opinion on her motives or actions. This could unconsciously steer a reader to taking it as fact, which I find to be a potential problem in so many biographies, although this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
I appreciate this book because it helps to highlight a lot of the incredible work Hepburn did away from the cameras and glitz of Hollywood. It shows the qualities and the strength of an icon that was a world away from Givenchy and film sets.

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As a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, it was so nice to dive deeper into this less known life of hers. She truly was a remarkable woman.

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Towards the end of her life, Audrey Hepburn spent a lot of time and energy towards advocating for the children of different countries through her work work with UNICEF. With a lot of input from her son, we see how how she worked and the sacrifices that she made including those that affected her health.

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I loved reading about Audrey Hepburn in this manner. I truly think she is an icon, both on camera and in real life. I think her philanthropy goes unacknowledged and I’m so glad this book exists.


I received an early copy. All thoughts are my own.

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I've read a couple of biography about Audrey Hepburn but they all mostly focused on her career or her life as a mother, I loved discovering this new aspect of her. I knew about her humanitarian work, but I had no idea about the extent of her involvement and commitment, and I loved learning all these new things about her.
I've always admired Hepburn, she's always been one of my role model, but my love for her still managed to grow even more while reading this book.

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Excellent in-depth look at Audrey Hepburn's life post-Hollywood and the missions she undertook as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. I appreciated the details on the political climate of the time, the challenges and cynicism she faced, and the inspiring, compassionate attitude she kept to fuel her work.

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3.5 stars, rounded up.

I have been a fan of Audrey Hepburn for decades, and love learning things about her that I did not know before. While I knew she had dedicated her later years to working for UNICEF, I did not have many details. This provided great information about the missions she did and how she went above and beyond what was expected of her as an ambassador for UNICEF. There were a handful of pictures of Audrey I had not seen before that were included as well, and they made for an exciting addition to the book.

I did have a few issues with the writing. There was language used when describing the people Audrey met on her UNICEF missions in Africa and South America that seemed borderline racist, to me. Or perhaps it was the reference to Audrey being "colorblind" multiple times. As we all know, that is not a real thing, and it does not work or make someone not be racist. Not that Audrey was, but the author could be. Also, including the title over and over to describe Audrey got fairly annoying.

I suppose what it boils down to is that I am glad I learned more about Audrey's work for UNICEF and about the last few years of her life. However, I think I would have preferred a different writer to bring that story to life.

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Having read the authors previous book about Audrey I was excited to read his ‘follow up’ book focusing on the years after her retirement from Hollywood at the age of 48. And particularly her work with UNICEF.
Anyone who has read ‘Dutch Girl’ will not be surprised at the strength and determination Audrey showed throughout her years as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, the organisation that had saved her life when she was a teenager at the end of World War two. Matzen chronicles Audrey’s enormous and lengthy efforts to endeavour to help children effected by war and famine throughout the world. She was naturally shy and very nervous when having to give press conferences or speeches but she knew how to harness her ‘star power’ for good. (Having first done so at the behest of her sons who wanted their grandfather moved to a different hospital, “for once in your life Mummy use your bloody name”.)
That said though, this book also shows that Audrey was not just a pretty face used to drum up support, she cared deeply about the work of UNICEF and campaigned on behalf of the organisation right up until her premature death at the age of 63. This book highlights some of the remarkable work that Audrey did on behalf of UNICEF and indeed shows the reader what was involved including the great personal risk she put herself in, whilst carrying out humanitarian missions with the organisation. I hope that people reading this book will come away from it with a much more truthful image of this courageous, brave, and determined lady, than the one that seemed to be portrayed by Hollywood.

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A nice book about the other side of Audrey. I adore Audrey so this was a lovely read however a lot of it was quite known! Thank you for the opportunity.

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This biography follows the final years of Audrey Hepburn’s life as she parlayed her fame as a tool to help children in wartorn areas of the world. The author previously wrote about Hepburn’s experiences during World War II, and shows how those created her determination to try to keep other children from suffering. She and her companion traveled into the most heartbreaking and sometimes dangerous situations where they saw firsthand how badly some children needed help. They alternated these trips with glittering, glamorous trips to raise money for UNICEF.

Although she raised both money and awareness, her time as a UNICEF ambassador had a devastating effect on her own life. Not only did she exhaust herself, she delayed seeking medical advice for the cancer that would kill her—attributing the abdominal pain to dodgy food.

This is a beautiful biography of a truly beautiful soul. #warrioraudreyhepburn #netgalley

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Warrior by Robert Matzen follows the later, lesser-known years of Audrey Hepburn's life, primarily filled with her UNICEF charity work across the world.

As a lifelong fan of Audrey's acting, I really enjoyed reading more about who she was as a person and the things that mattered most to her. I felt the book was well-organized and provided a lot of fascinating information that only served to further my love of her. She was an extraordinary woman right up to the end of her life, and I think it's a side most people are missing when they think of her. I hope people read this as I think it is really inspiring to see how far she came and all she did with what she had.

I do, however, have a few qualms with this book. At times, the narration used prose that I felt painted Audrey as a typical White Savior. Based on the experience she went through herself, I don't have any reason to suspect she was actually like this, but rather that the author tried to frame her that way in his own imagining of her thoughts and feelings. Another issue I had was in the discussion of her family. The author made clear that some of this information was stuff Audrey desperately didn't want known, so it seems kind of disrespectful to include it in this book. It made the experience a bit offputting when it really wasn't necessary. Her childhood trauma could have been included without those details, as they added nothing to her motivations for wanting to help UNICEF.

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"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

One extraordinary life; brilliantly penned.

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Audrey Hepburn was so much more than a Hollywood star, she was a mother, a woman with strong views about everything, and most of all, she had the urge to be always on the go to help people. She faced rather difficult circumstances around the world to raise awareness to women and their children in situations of peril and need. She knew what being hungry meant, and she wanted better living conditions for the younger ones throughout the globe. This book puts her work in perspective and enlights the reader regarding this special human being who was much, much more than just a beautiful talented star.

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Robert Matzen has published his second book about Audrey Hepburn, this one focusing on her humanitarian work in her post-acting years.

Warrior: Audrey Hepburn completes the story begun in the author's last work Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II. Hepburn's experiences in wartime, her survival through combat and starvation conditions, and work on behalf of the Dutch Resistance put in in the proper mindset to become humanitarian for UNICEF. She ventured into war-torn countries in the Third World on behalf of children of any color, race, or creed. Audrey showed that when acting is over, that doesn't mean there isn't a purpose for one's life. She became the gold star for celebrity humanitarianism even at risk to her own self.

This follow-up to Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II, follows Hepburn on her humanitarian efforts. Having read the first book is not required for Warrior. The author hearkens back to pertinent trails of her past that affect what's going on in her life and gives you a full picture of Audrey's mental state. This book shows Audrey as more than an ex-actress, more than just a pretty face. What comes to light is her courageousness and her humbleness that no one expected. The author looks into her health and death and how she gave everything to children which would eventually lead to her death according to her son.

The writing is tedious chronicling every minuscule event. One such example: Audrey hits her head getting out of the plane. This is just told; it is not used as an example of her being nervous or any such thing. This could have been skipped. The writer didn't have a voice of his own. He let Audrey be the star but without her being alive to inject her charm and new hindsight into her activities. Matzen just dictates; doesn't give Audrey her voice.

Overall, I enjoyed hearing about Audrey from those that knew her. I wasn't aware of how extensive her humanitarian work was either. I have a great deal more respect for her after reading her books.

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