On one hand we have a Memoir of time in prison for murder. On the other hand we have a self help book.
I went into this wondering if the author would have enough insight to critically assess his own life, the decisions that led him to be in prison, and the privilege that allowed him to complete tertiary education. There was one paragraph in the entire book where he acknowledged that his being white gave him opportunities that non white prisoners may not have, both in prison and after release. There was also a lot of cherry picking of psychology and philosophy that supported his trajectory. Very little about what shaped him to become a murderer at 18, other than a lot of talk about how violence was acceptable in the 80s, and therefore he was a product of his environment, plus dying mother, SA etc.
I also noticed several references to his victim maybe being a paedophile, in a way that seemed to be an attempt to shift some of the responsibility onto him for being murdered. And only one or two references to the impact of the loss of life.
Overall, yes this is a great redemption story, but it feels somewhat calculated into moulding the reader's view of the author which came off an inauthentic to me. I'm sure that he has enough knowledge for him to realise this.