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The Elements #1-4
The Elements
From bestselling author John Boyne, a gripping and profound exploration of guilt, blame, trauma, and the human capacity for redemption.
In The Elements, acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne has created an epic saga that weaves together four interconnected narratives, each representing a different perspective on the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim.
The narrative follows a mother on the run from her past, a young soccer star facing a trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and a father on a transformative journey with his son. Each is somehow connected to the next, and as the story unfolds, their lives intersect in unimaginable ways.
Boyne’s most ambitious work yet, The Elements is both an engrossing drama and a moving investigation of why and how we allow crime to occur. With masterful, spellbinding prose, he navigates this complex subject with extraordinary empathy and unflinching honesty. The story resonates on a deeply emotional level, challenging readers to confront their own conceptions of guilt and innocence at every step. Amid the wildly engrossing storytelling, the book ultimately What would you do when faced with the unthinkable?
15 hr. 24 min.
In The Elements, acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne has created an epic saga that weaves together four interconnected narratives, each representing a different perspective on the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim.
The narrative follows a mother on the run from her past, a young soccer star facing a trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and a father on a transformative journey with his son. Each is somehow connected to the next, and as the story unfolds, their lives intersect in unimaginable ways.
Boyne’s most ambitious work yet, The Elements is both an engrossing drama and a moving investigation of why and how we allow crime to occur. With masterful, spellbinding prose, he navigates this complex subject with extraordinary empathy and unflinching honesty. The story resonates on a deeply emotional level, challenging readers to confront their own conceptions of guilt and innocence at every step. Amid the wildly engrossing storytelling, the book ultimately What would you do when faced with the unthinkable?
15 hr. 24 min.
16 pages, Audiobook
First published September 9, 2025
1269 people are currently reading
30287 people want to read
About the author
John Boyne
82 books15k followersI was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UEA.
I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.
Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.
In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.
My novels are published in 58 languages.
My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.
I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.
Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.
In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.
My novels are published in 58 languages.
My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 645 reviews
September 16, 2025
Originally published as 4 individual stories and is now one and interconnected.
The elements represent different perspectives on crime: the enabler, the accomplice; the perpetrator and the victim.
A woman has run away to hide from the media and the heinous crimes her husband committed. Did she ignore what was going on? Deny it? Water can cleanse one’s soul; but it can also take one’s life.
A boy with a talent but doesn’t like the sport. He runs away and lives a duplicitous life. When one thinks they are doing something for someone they love but know to their core it is wrong. The Earth can be suffocating when lies become the truth. But, it also can also offer the strength to redeem oneself.
Fire is a disturbing story. How patterns of evil are perpetuated. How trauma, when not dealt with, can create the cycle of abuse. Revenge becomes a driving force to ensure righting a wrong against others who may commit the same offences. But it can be a dangerous one and when one plays with fire, they will get burned.
Air. It gives us life. It allow us to breathe and can save us from the suffocation people in our lives have put us through. The trauma caused. It can give us the space to redefine ourselves as who we are, rather than by their actions.
This was an exploration of human behaviour. The extents one will go to - to fit in; to be loved. The costs it has on those who are surrounded by it. Boyne masterly crafts these 4 narratives to which we bear witness. It’s not always comfortable, but sometimes, it’s a chance to heal from the elements that have hurt us the most.
5⭐️
The elements represent different perspectives on crime: the enabler, the accomplice; the perpetrator and the victim.
A woman has run away to hide from the media and the heinous crimes her husband committed. Did she ignore what was going on? Deny it? Water can cleanse one’s soul; but it can also take one’s life.
A boy with a talent but doesn’t like the sport. He runs away and lives a duplicitous life. When one thinks they are doing something for someone they love but know to their core it is wrong. The Earth can be suffocating when lies become the truth. But, it also can also offer the strength to redeem oneself.
Fire is a disturbing story. How patterns of evil are perpetuated. How trauma, when not dealt with, can create the cycle of abuse. Revenge becomes a driving force to ensure righting a wrong against others who may commit the same offences. But it can be a dangerous one and when one plays with fire, they will get burned.
Air. It gives us life. It allow us to breathe and can save us from the suffocation people in our lives have put us through. The trauma caused. It can give us the space to redefine ourselves as who we are, rather than by their actions.
This was an exploration of human behaviour. The extents one will go to - to fit in; to be loved. The costs it has on those who are surrounded by it. Boyne masterly crafts these 4 narratives to which we bear witness. It’s not always comfortable, but sometimes, it’s a chance to heal from the elements that have hurt us the most.
5⭐️
October 12, 2025
5 ⭐️
I’m always hesitant to read books that are highly praised and surrounded by hype, as I often find myself being an outlier. Still, as a huge John Boyne fan, I knew I had to read The Elements. I’m so glad I chose to experience it as a complete novel rather than as separate novellas. While each story would have earned a high rating on its own, they wouldn’t all have reached five stars. Read together as a cohesive quartet, the stories wove together brilliantly, making the experience more satisfying and absolutely deserving of all the stars.
John Boyne is truly a master of his craft. What I love about him as an author is that he doesn’t force his messages on the reader. He presents multiple viewpoints, allowing readers to see things from more than one angle. He gives his audience enough credit to form their own judgments, recognizing that things are not always as black and white as they seem.
While this was hard to read at times given the subject matter, it was also difficult to put down. Although there is some hope, overall the book is quite dark. If you choose to read the novellas individually, be aware that Fire, which I thought was the best of the four, also contains the darkest subject matter of them all. Definitely check the trigger warnings. Highly recommend.
Trigger warnings: sexual abuse from various perspectives, rape, grooming, emotional abuse, pedophelia.
Available now. Many thanks to Henry Folt & Company and NetGalley for my digital ARC.
I’m always hesitant to read books that are highly praised and surrounded by hype, as I often find myself being an outlier. Still, as a huge John Boyne fan, I knew I had to read The Elements. I’m so glad I chose to experience it as a complete novel rather than as separate novellas. While each story would have earned a high rating on its own, they wouldn’t all have reached five stars. Read together as a cohesive quartet, the stories wove together brilliantly, making the experience more satisfying and absolutely deserving of all the stars.
John Boyne is truly a master of his craft. What I love about him as an author is that he doesn’t force his messages on the reader. He presents multiple viewpoints, allowing readers to see things from more than one angle. He gives his audience enough credit to form their own judgments, recognizing that things are not always as black and white as they seem.
While this was hard to read at times given the subject matter, it was also difficult to put down. Although there is some hope, overall the book is quite dark. If you choose to read the novellas individually, be aware that Fire, which I thought was the best of the four, also contains the darkest subject matter of them all. Definitely check the trigger warnings. Highly recommend.
Trigger warnings: sexual abuse from various perspectives, rape, grooming, emotional abuse, pedophelia.
Available now. Many thanks to Henry Folt & Company and NetGalley for my digital ARC.
May 27, 2025
At first I had no desire to read these stories because I most times shy away from reading about sexual abuse, especially in children. Even though they were written by an author I have come to admire , I still didn’t think I could read them. But I couldn’t ignore the glowing reviews and the fact that I loved Boyne’s writing. Then I was given the opportunity to have an Advanced Copy of this. So I started reading and really couldn’t stop even though these are among the most disturbing stories I’ve ever read. In spite of the brutal nature of the novellas, they are beautifully written by one of the master storytellers of our time.
The way the reader is made privy to the intimate thoughts and feelings of the characters, the way Boyne connects the stories through character and theme, the way he takes the reader full circle to and from this island off the coast of Ireland is nothing short of stunning. From complicity and actual committing of the heinous acts by the perpetrators to the impact on the victims, their depression, dysfunction trying to move forward from the trauma, at least for those who could - Boyne has done it all. All of this making me glad I read these in spite of the gut punch I experienced.
Since these were published individually before they will be published together in this compilation, I reviewed them individually .
Water : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Earth : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fire : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Air: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I received a copy of this from Macmillan through Edelweiss.
The way the reader is made privy to the intimate thoughts and feelings of the characters, the way Boyne connects the stories through character and theme, the way he takes the reader full circle to and from this island off the coast of Ireland is nothing short of stunning. From complicity and actual committing of the heinous acts by the perpetrators to the impact on the victims, their depression, dysfunction trying to move forward from the trauma, at least for those who could - Boyne has done it all. All of this making me glad I read these in spite of the gut punch I experienced.
Since these were published individually before they will be published together in this compilation, I reviewed them individually .
Water : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Earth : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fire : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Air: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I received a copy of this from Macmillan through Edelweiss.
September 3, 2025
WOWZA! This book which is made up of four novellas (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) that are inter connected and have ties to a small island off the coast of Ireland. . This book was gripping, thought provoking, emotion evoking and raw. The Elements deals with some heavy subjects and will not be for everyone. This book deals with trauma, sexual assault, guilt, sexuality, abuse, and relationships. This book is so well thought out it's amazing!
John Boyne's writing is beautiful and exquisite. He is a master storyteller, and his skills are on full display with The Elements He takes readers into the minds of an enabler, an accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. Whew! These novellas will stay with me for some time. They are raw, powerful, make an impact and will make readers uncomfortable. This book looks at a mother trying to run away from her past, a soccer player on trial for a heinous crime, a surgeon with a traumatic past who becomes a perpetrator, and a father and son on a healing journey.
This is a book you do not want to read fast. I sat with the stories and felt their impact. Masterfully told, they are beautifully raw and as I mentioned, deal with heavy and triggering subject matter. Boynes takes readers into the minds of the characters, and we get a bird's eye view of the characters inner thoughts/beings.
Beautifully written, gripping, thought provoking, and well thought out. Highly recommend.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company | Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
John Boyne's writing is beautiful and exquisite. He is a master storyteller, and his skills are on full display with The Elements He takes readers into the minds of an enabler, an accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. Whew! These novellas will stay with me for some time. They are raw, powerful, make an impact and will make readers uncomfortable. This book looks at a mother trying to run away from her past, a soccer player on trial for a heinous crime, a surgeon with a traumatic past who becomes a perpetrator, and a father and son on a healing journey.
This is a book you do not want to read fast. I sat with the stories and felt their impact. Masterfully told, they are beautifully raw and as I mentioned, deal with heavy and triggering subject matter. Boynes takes readers into the minds of the characters, and we get a bird's eye view of the characters inner thoughts/beings.
Beautifully written, gripping, thought provoking, and well thought out. Highly recommend.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company | Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
September 22, 2025
UPDATE: This review (obvs.) was written prior to the dust-up over Boyne's inclusion on the Polari Prize longlist for LGBTQ+ works for Earth, the 2nd novella in this tetralogy. I abhor and am DEEPLY saddened/disappointed that Boyne has chosen to side with the despicable JK Rowling on trans issues and even go as far as to self-identify as a TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist - a misnomer on both counts!).
However - THIS book is still an amazing piece of fiction - the controversy DOES give me pause and has tarnished my enthusiasm a fair bit - but I'd still list it as one of the best books I've read this year. It's always very difficult to try to separate the art from the artist (e.g., I can no longer read Philip Roth, knowing him to have been a despicable excuse for a human being) and I can well understand anyone choosing NOT to support Boyne's writing over this issue.
Original review:
My sincere and heartfelt thanks to the author and Henry Holt & Company for providing me with an ARC of this magnificent book through Netgalley, in exchange for this honest and enthusiastic review.
Boyne's latest is a truly astonishing, though at times, difficult read. Four novellas, each with a different narrator, but all weaving together to tell a compelling story of abuse, culpability, complacency and ultimately, redemption. Amongst its many strengths are fully developed characters, accomplished prose, and some really shocking and unexpected twists and surprises.
One thing I particularly admired is that each narrator had their own distinct style of speech and disclosure; so often when you have multiple narration, it all tends to sound exactly the same - so kudos to Boyne for not falling into that trap.
Also, two of the narrators (all of whom, to some extent, are unreliable), are female - male authors rarely even attempt to cross the gender divide in their MCs, and few are able to create such complex women as Vanessa/Willow and Freya.
The books DO need to be read in order, and as I composed individual reviews for each, I will link to them below, if anyone is interested further:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Still, I highly recommend this, and am sure it will be in the top of my reads for 2025!
However - THIS book is still an amazing piece of fiction - the controversy DOES give me pause and has tarnished my enthusiasm a fair bit - but I'd still list it as one of the best books I've read this year. It's always very difficult to try to separate the art from the artist (e.g., I can no longer read Philip Roth, knowing him to have been a despicable excuse for a human being) and I can well understand anyone choosing NOT to support Boyne's writing over this issue.
Original review:
My sincere and heartfelt thanks to the author and Henry Holt & Company for providing me with an ARC of this magnificent book through Netgalley, in exchange for this honest and enthusiastic review.
Boyne's latest is a truly astonishing, though at times, difficult read. Four novellas, each with a different narrator, but all weaving together to tell a compelling story of abuse, culpability, complacency and ultimately, redemption. Amongst its many strengths are fully developed characters, accomplished prose, and some really shocking and unexpected twists and surprises.
One thing I particularly admired is that each narrator had their own distinct style of speech and disclosure; so often when you have multiple narration, it all tends to sound exactly the same - so kudos to Boyne for not falling into that trap.
Also, two of the narrators (all of whom, to some extent, are unreliable), are female - male authors rarely even attempt to cross the gender divide in their MCs, and few are able to create such complex women as Vanessa/Willow and Freya.
The books DO need to be read in order, and as I composed individual reviews for each, I will link to them below, if anyone is interested further:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Still, I highly recommend this, and am sure it will be in the top of my reads for 2025!
October 20, 2025
We talked about this before Johnny! I'm not what people call "mentally stable," I'm not a "well adjusted" adult, I don't have "coping skills." And yet you continue to put out these novels that require mental stability, to be well adjusted, and have some form of coping skills to read. You broke my heart in Water, and you crushed my soul in Earth. Then, when I was lying on the ground with a broken heart and crushed soul, you kicked me in the balls with Fire. But then you picked me up and dusted me off a little and told me to quit being such a bitch; it'll be ok with Air.
I absolutely love John Boyne. Elements will be his fourth book on my favorites list. Yes, it's utterly devastating. Yes, it'll crush your soul. Yes, you will cry. Yes, you will look like an idiot when you cry at work while you're reading it (or is that just me). Yes, it'll absorb your whole life so don't make plans for a couple weeks. Yes, you will be recommending it to everyone you know after you finish.
I can't thank you enough Mr. Boyne for the absolute soul crushing devastation that you have brought into my life for the past 2 weeks. I LOVE IT!!! It was absolutely beautiful, a F##king masterpiece, a work of GD art. You're a wizard, a wordsmith of infinite talent, a prince among men, and I will praise your writing till the day I die!
P.S. If you ever find yourself single, look me up!
I absolutely love John Boyne. Elements will be his fourth book on my favorites list. Yes, it's utterly devastating. Yes, it'll crush your soul. Yes, you will cry. Yes, you will look like an idiot when you cry at work while you're reading it (or is that just me). Yes, it'll absorb your whole life so don't make plans for a couple weeks. Yes, you will be recommending it to everyone you know after you finish.
I can't thank you enough Mr. Boyne for the absolute soul crushing devastation that you have brought into my life for the past 2 weeks. I LOVE IT!!! It was absolutely beautiful, a F##king masterpiece, a work of GD art. You're a wizard, a wordsmith of infinite talent, a prince among men, and I will praise your writing till the day I die!
P.S. If you ever find yourself single, look me up!
August 11, 2025
5 ⭐️ I could not put this one down! Told in 4 different stories, the Elements, that each connect with the next, Water, Earth, Fire,and Air. Each narrator, 2 females and two males, some unreliable, some unlikeable, tells a story.
There’s Vanessa/Willow, the enabler, Evan the accomplice, Freya the abuser, and Aaron the victim.
Beautifully written, the stories touch on some difficult subjects of sexual abuse, child rape, suicide, and murder. Each story connects with the next until the last comes full circle with a beautiful ending.
I will be looking to add more books by this author to my TBR list. Highly recommend!
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt Co for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
There’s Vanessa/Willow, the enabler, Evan the accomplice, Freya the abuser, and Aaron the victim.
Beautifully written, the stories touch on some difficult subjects of sexual abuse, child rape, suicide, and murder. Each story connects with the next until the last comes full circle with a beautiful ending.
I will be looking to add more books by this author to my TBR list. Highly recommend!
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt Co for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 19, 2025
Boyne's quartet tackles the topic of sexual abuse from different angles, and the result is a tableaux that is more than the sum of its parts: This is a brave and relentless effort to talk about sexual trauma and rape culture, and it incorporates an astonishing amount of aspects. Let's take a short look at the individual parts and some of their connections:
Water
The narrator is the estranged housewife of a once powerful, now disgraced functionary in the Irish National Swimming Federation; she flees to a remote island to escape the sexual abuse scandal surrounding her husband. The main theme is her (possible) complicity as a bystander who looked away and didn't ask questions.
my complete review
Earth
The narrator is a gay young man who grew up on the island from part one; now he is a young football star in the UK who stands trial as an accessory to rape. The roles are thus reversed: While the tradwife from part one held no societal or financial power of her own, the soccer star is rich and famous, but closeted and a former victim himself.
my complete review
Fire
The narrator was the jury foreperson in the rape trial; she is a doctor in a burn unit where she helps people with severe physical trauma to survive, while in her private life, she plays out the saying that hurt people hurt people. The theme is the cycle of abuse, how victims become perpetrators, and, much like in part two, that sexual trauma knows no gender.
my complete review
Air
The narrator, a child psychologist, is a colleague of the protagonist from part three, now the ex-husband of the daughter of the swimming functionary from part one, a pilot; on a long journey via plane, he tries to break the cycle of trauma for the benefit of his fourteen-year-old son, and his whole family.
my complete review
Very impressive, and highly readable.
Water
The narrator is the estranged housewife of a once powerful, now disgraced functionary in the Irish National Swimming Federation; she flees to a remote island to escape the sexual abuse scandal surrounding her husband. The main theme is her (possible) complicity as a bystander who looked away and didn't ask questions.
my complete review
Earth
The narrator is a gay young man who grew up on the island from part one; now he is a young football star in the UK who stands trial as an accessory to rape. The roles are thus reversed: While the tradwife from part one held no societal or financial power of her own, the soccer star is rich and famous, but closeted and a former victim himself.
my complete review
Fire
The narrator was the jury foreperson in the rape trial; she is a doctor in a burn unit where she helps people with severe physical trauma to survive, while in her private life, she plays out the saying that hurt people hurt people. The theme is the cycle of abuse, how victims become perpetrators, and, much like in part two, that sexual trauma knows no gender.
my complete review
Air
The narrator, a child psychologist, is a colleague of the protagonist from part three, now the ex-husband of the daughter of the swimming functionary from part one, a pilot; on a long journey via plane, he tries to break the cycle of trauma for the benefit of his fourteen-year-old son, and his whole family.
my complete review
Very impressive, and highly readable.
October 9, 2025
Human life is governed by the elements - water, Earth, fire and the air. These elements are not only fundamental to our existence, but they also sustain, and challenge us.
Boyne has separately published short stories for each of the elements which have now, FINALLY, been collated into one 500 page novel. Having already read ‘Earth’, I was not only excited to read the remaining 3 stories, but also feel privileged to have this masterpiece on my bookshelf 📚 This truly is an EPIC read; a story for the ages.
This is the kind of book you can’t rush. You want to treasure every page and make it last as long as possible. It requires you to sit with the stories and feel their impact. Each of them is a masterpiece in itself, yet they are interconnected. They are all so raw, real, and so incredibly powerful. But most of all, they contain individual messages that cut through you like a knife.
Water 💧
‘Water had been the undoing of me. It has been the undoing of my family. We swim in it in the womb. We are composed of it. We drink it. We are drawn to it throughout our lives, more than mountains, deserts, or canyons. But it is terrible. Water kills.’ 💦
Water brings us the story of a woman who has run away, changed her name, chopped off her hair, and is starting a new life - or is she hiding from a previous life? Her husband has been committed of heinous crimes and the media have gone wild. But what bothers her the most lies beneath the surface…did she ignore what was going on? Or was she totally ignorant to what was happening right under her nose? In this excruciating tale of a woman and her family, water can both cleanse and kill.
Earth 🌍
Please see separate review
Fire 🔥
‘After all, a doctor in the burns unit should know better than to play with fire’ 🔥
Fire is a tragic, intense and disturbing story. It is somewhat different from the others in that I felt no relatability to the protagonist. She represented the evil in people. And, when revenge comes for her - to right a wrong - the one who plays with fire, will inevitably get burned. I was just thankful to get out of this story alive 🥵
Air 🌬️
I certainly needed a breath of fresh air after reading ‘Fire’ 😮💨 Air is what gives us life. The ability to breathe, even through the difficulties life throws at us. Yet, there are moments throughout this story that sucked the air out of my lungs.
This story begins in Sydney airport, as a father and son are about to depart. We meet Aaron, once again, on his 40th birthday and instead of living it up on Bondi beach, the pair are off to visit a woman who’s not expecting them. Much of the story is told 35,000 feet up in the air, where we learn of this father/son bond. But, this story is truly depicting is how confronting life-long trauma can affect those involved. It is a story of destruction, and redemption that causes us to hold our breath until the last page.
I absolutely love this book (or these books). I honestly can’t express how impactful they are. Boyne does not beat around the bush, these are deeply cutting, raw and emotionally challenging pieces of work. He concludes all 4 stories beautifully in the final instalment, and forces you to REALLY think: What would you do when faced with the unthinkable? 💭
‘staring into the dark black depths of the water, feeling the tug of the earth, the fire within me and the air that remains in my lungs… at one with myself, at one with the universe, and finally - at one with the elements.’ 💧 🌍 🔥 🌬️
Easiest 5 stars I have given all year 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Boyne has separately published short stories for each of the elements which have now, FINALLY, been collated into one 500 page novel. Having already read ‘Earth’, I was not only excited to read the remaining 3 stories, but also feel privileged to have this masterpiece on my bookshelf 📚 This truly is an EPIC read; a story for the ages.
This is the kind of book you can’t rush. You want to treasure every page and make it last as long as possible. It requires you to sit with the stories and feel their impact. Each of them is a masterpiece in itself, yet they are interconnected. They are all so raw, real, and so incredibly powerful. But most of all, they contain individual messages that cut through you like a knife.
Water 💧
‘Water had been the undoing of me. It has been the undoing of my family. We swim in it in the womb. We are composed of it. We drink it. We are drawn to it throughout our lives, more than mountains, deserts, or canyons. But it is terrible. Water kills.’ 💦
Water brings us the story of a woman who has run away, changed her name, chopped off her hair, and is starting a new life - or is she hiding from a previous life? Her husband has been committed of heinous crimes and the media have gone wild. But what bothers her the most lies beneath the surface…did she ignore what was going on? Or was she totally ignorant to what was happening right under her nose? In this excruciating tale of a woman and her family, water can both cleanse and kill.
Earth 🌍
Please see separate review
Fire 🔥
‘After all, a doctor in the burns unit should know better than to play with fire’ 🔥
Fire is a tragic, intense and disturbing story. It is somewhat different from the others in that I felt no relatability to the protagonist. She represented the evil in people. And, when revenge comes for her - to right a wrong - the one who plays with fire, will inevitably get burned. I was just thankful to get out of this story alive 🥵
Air 🌬️
I certainly needed a breath of fresh air after reading ‘Fire’ 😮💨 Air is what gives us life. The ability to breathe, even through the difficulties life throws at us. Yet, there are moments throughout this story that sucked the air out of my lungs.
This story begins in Sydney airport, as a father and son are about to depart. We meet Aaron, once again, on his 40th birthday and instead of living it up on Bondi beach, the pair are off to visit a woman who’s not expecting them. Much of the story is told 35,000 feet up in the air, where we learn of this father/son bond. But, this story is truly depicting is how confronting life-long trauma can affect those involved. It is a story of destruction, and redemption that causes us to hold our breath until the last page.
I absolutely love this book (or these books). I honestly can’t express how impactful they are. Boyne does not beat around the bush, these are deeply cutting, raw and emotionally challenging pieces of work. He concludes all 4 stories beautifully in the final instalment, and forces you to REALLY think: What would you do when faced with the unthinkable? 💭
‘staring into the dark black depths of the water, feeling the tug of the earth, the fire within me and the air that remains in my lungs… at one with myself, at one with the universe, and finally - at one with the elements.’ 💧 🌍 🔥 🌬️
Easiest 5 stars I have given all year 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
October 12, 2025
John Boyne wrote four superb interconnected novellas originally published as "Water," "Earth," "Fire," and "Air." They were collected in "The Elements" and should be read in the order first published. Minor characters from one novella go on to be the protagonists in the next novella forming a complete circle.
The novellas can be heartbreaking since they all deal with abuse of some form--sexual, physical, and emotional. Some of the abuse is multi-generational with a child victim going on to become an adult abuser. Other characters live with the lifelong guilt that they ignored possible signs of abuse in a family member. There are both heterosexual and LGBTQ characters with the characters and the plots seeming very real. The book ends on an optimistic note with the theme of life-giving Air, communication, and healing as the last group of characters look to the future.
Even though reading about abuse can be difficult, reading "The Elements" was a good experience because Boyne writes with so much compassion. I was impressed with the author's storytelling skills!
I received a copy of "The Elements" through Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you to the author and Henry Holt and Company for the advanced reader's copy.
The novellas can be heartbreaking since they all deal with abuse of some form--sexual, physical, and emotional. Some of the abuse is multi-generational with a child victim going on to become an adult abuser. Other characters live with the lifelong guilt that they ignored possible signs of abuse in a family member. There are both heterosexual and LGBTQ characters with the characters and the plots seeming very real. The book ends on an optimistic note with the theme of life-giving Air, communication, and healing as the last group of characters look to the future.
Even though reading about abuse can be difficult, reading "The Elements" was a good experience because Boyne writes with so much compassion. I was impressed with the author's storytelling skills!
I received a copy of "The Elements" through Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you to the author and Henry Holt and Company for the advanced reader's copy.
September 7, 2025
'From bestselling author John Boyne, a gripping and profound exploration of guilt, blame, trauma, and the human capacity for redemption."
In this magnificent literary saga, John Boyne examines heinous crimes in the most brilliant way. The Elements consists of four parts: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Each part looks at a crime from a different perspective: the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. What is profound is that each person may have played a different role at a different time in their life. The characters in each story are connected and it wraps up in a beautiful and hopeful way. There is an element of suspense threaded throughout each story that is propulsive and captivating.
This is one of the most impactful and thought-provoking books I have ever read. It is easy to condemn criminals for heinous acts towards their fellow man and rightfully so. These stories examine the layers and complexity of those in each of these roles. Juxtaposed with the dark nature of the crimes are joy and the hope of redemption and healing. There is a fine line between guilt and innocence, right and wrong, complacency and complicity. This book is a masterpiece of human nature woven in with the tapestry of elements that surround all of us.
⚠️CW: sexual abuse, child abuse, rape, murder. There is some heavy material that can be difficult to read.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Company, and John Boyne for an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.
In this magnificent literary saga, John Boyne examines heinous crimes in the most brilliant way. The Elements consists of four parts: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Each part looks at a crime from a different perspective: the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. What is profound is that each person may have played a different role at a different time in their life. The characters in each story are connected and it wraps up in a beautiful and hopeful way. There is an element of suspense threaded throughout each story that is propulsive and captivating.
This is one of the most impactful and thought-provoking books I have ever read. It is easy to condemn criminals for heinous acts towards their fellow man and rightfully so. These stories examine the layers and complexity of those in each of these roles. Juxtaposed with the dark nature of the crimes are joy and the hope of redemption and healing. There is a fine line between guilt and innocence, right and wrong, complacency and complicity. This book is a masterpiece of human nature woven in with the tapestry of elements that surround all of us.
⚠️CW: sexual abuse, child abuse, rape, murder. There is some heavy material that can be difficult to read.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Company, and John Boyne for an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.
October 21, 2025
Why was The Elements not on any of the Booker Prize lists? I just learned about the Booker this year, but I’m still aghast (at least I think I am. Not 100% sure what that word means)that it didn’t make at least the Longlist. I am sure that all four Elements novellas are better than the gold bar brick bashing brouhaha and the Kitamura meet cute/meet weird/pithy nonsense.
With that off my chest please find my Elements reviews below:
Water:
Ladies and gents, let’s get to some reviews! Sorry for the delay. I was back home to see the ‘rents and my niece, but I still did quite a bit of reading. And that started with this beautiful novella. Omg I feel so fancy even typing that word. And just wait for this. It’s part of a quartet! Those are two words I’ve said or written maybe five times in my life and all since I joined this app. This was my first novella, and damn if it’s not a classic.
I read my first Boyne, Heart’s Invisible, at the perfect time because The Elements quartet had just been released. Water starts out with a bit of mystery and morphs into discovery. I was again shocked by the oppressiveness in Ireland that soaked through the book. Rather than sexuality however, this book focuses more on feminism and the “role of the woman” in society. Boyne does such a brilliant job of defining the barriers and then satirizing them to illustrate their idiocy.
This book is about a wife who lived within the rules of the patriarchal society that is Ireland, and let’s be honest the World, until she was forced to escape, and a family that was splintered because of a father.
Will escaping help the mother and her daughter reconnect? Will the woman forgive? Who needs forgiveness? You will find out when you read this story that drips with raw emotion.
Definite trigger warnings.
Earth:
I set my tablet down and immediately lean back, aggressively rub my face, and mutter “Jesus Christ.” I’ve just finished this novella and my fingers feel like they’ve gone numb on purpose, like this novella isn’t for me to review.
But it’s Boyne so there are things I relate to so fiercely that the story feels like it’s become a part of me. The novella is appropriately titled Earth as you sink into it, feel it in your hands as you read it, and it takes root deep within you only for those roots to be ripped out without warning. I suppose that’s appropriate as we don’t give warnings to nature before the damage we cause it.
We also don’t cultivate an environment in which kids, adolescents, and adults can be free. Free to pursue who they want and what they want. Instead, just like gravity, society acts as a force to push down and discredit voices that need to be heard.
This is a brutal story for a brutal world, but also a reminder that it takes courage to be free.
Trigger warnings definitely.
P.S. I have no idea what’s to come in the next two novellas, but would love to hear what others think of Water and Earth. To me, these are stories that beg discussion.
Fire:
INTENSE
Air:
I can breathe again.
With that off my chest please find my Elements reviews below:
Water:
Ladies and gents, let’s get to some reviews! Sorry for the delay. I was back home to see the ‘rents and my niece, but I still did quite a bit of reading. And that started with this beautiful novella. Omg I feel so fancy even typing that word. And just wait for this. It’s part of a quartet! Those are two words I’ve said or written maybe five times in my life and all since I joined this app. This was my first novella, and damn if it’s not a classic.
I read my first Boyne, Heart’s Invisible, at the perfect time because The Elements quartet had just been released. Water starts out with a bit of mystery and morphs into discovery. I was again shocked by the oppressiveness in Ireland that soaked through the book. Rather than sexuality however, this book focuses more on feminism and the “role of the woman” in society. Boyne does such a brilliant job of defining the barriers and then satirizing them to illustrate their idiocy.
This book is about a wife who lived within the rules of the patriarchal society that is Ireland, and let’s be honest the World, until she was forced to escape, and a family that was splintered because of a father.
Will escaping help the mother and her daughter reconnect? Will the woman forgive? Who needs forgiveness? You will find out when you read this story that drips with raw emotion.
Definite trigger warnings.
Earth:
I set my tablet down and immediately lean back, aggressively rub my face, and mutter “Jesus Christ.” I’ve just finished this novella and my fingers feel like they’ve gone numb on purpose, like this novella isn’t for me to review.
But it’s Boyne so there are things I relate to so fiercely that the story feels like it’s become a part of me. The novella is appropriately titled Earth as you sink into it, feel it in your hands as you read it, and it takes root deep within you only for those roots to be ripped out without warning. I suppose that’s appropriate as we don’t give warnings to nature before the damage we cause it.
We also don’t cultivate an environment in which kids, adolescents, and adults can be free. Free to pursue who they want and what they want. Instead, just like gravity, society acts as a force to push down and discredit voices that need to be heard.
This is a brutal story for a brutal world, but also a reminder that it takes courage to be free.
Trigger warnings definitely.
P.S. I have no idea what’s to come in the next two novellas, but would love to hear what others think of Water and Earth. To me, these are stories that beg discussion.
Fire:
INTENSE
Air:
I can breathe again.
September 10, 2025
John Boyne’s The Elements is an amazing creation, a novel of four interconnected stories, each centered on a person whose life has been ripped apart by someone’s act of abuse, emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Each of these people, two women, two men, have led very different lives but the course of each life has been influenced by such an act. In Boyne’s signature prose, we learn of each person’s history, present life and attempts to resolve their inner struggles.
Sections of this book were difficult to read, in part because they felt so real. These people become real as you read their thoughts and words. Boyne relates each person’s story to one of the four elements, a technique that works well. While I hesitate to write too many details about the individual stories, not wanting to say too much, each story grows out of the story before it, developing the life of a minor character in the prior tale. It works so well.
This may well be the best book I will read this year. I do highly recommend it while acknowledging that some might be emotionally triggered by this subject matter. All who read The Elements will read a tour de force of both prose and story. I am glad that I have.
Thank you to Henry Holt and Company and NetGalley for an early copy of this book.
Sections of this book were difficult to read, in part because they felt so real. These people become real as you read their thoughts and words. Boyne relates each person’s story to one of the four elements, a technique that works well. While I hesitate to write too many details about the individual stories, not wanting to say too much, each story grows out of the story before it, developing the life of a minor character in the prior tale. It works so well.
This may well be the best book I will read this year. I do highly recommend it while acknowledging that some might be emotionally triggered by this subject matter. All who read The Elements will read a tour de force of both prose and story. I am glad that I have.
Thank you to Henry Holt and Company and NetGalley for an early copy of this book.
August 7, 2025
5 stars. Another brilliant and deeply moving book from John Boyne, although, for a while, I actually thought I wasn't going to like it as much as I did. It took me quite a while to figure out how ambitious this novel is, how deep and dark and disturbing it really is. No spoilers, but the book is divided into four stories and they're more connected than they appear to be. There are some major themes that Boyne explores here, two of them being guilt, both direct and by association. Again, no spoilers, but the author has us face many important issues in this book, but never didactically; the book engages you from the first and makes you care, even about people who are doing seriously bad things. Seriously recommend this book.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
September 18, 2025
Published by Open Letter Review - https://openlettersreview.com/posts/t...
Richly woven scenes are threaded with dark connective tissue in John Boyne's stunning new collection, The Elements.
In Water, Vanessa Carvin arrives to a tiny Irish island and immediately changes her name to Willow Hale. She’s fleeing a family scandal and burrows into an off-the-grid cabin for isolation and reflection. Vanessa might be a victim or co-conspirator of deeply tragic events, and the reader is invited to judge as she assesses herself. Boyne immediately kidnaps our attention:
My next task is to shave my head. I’ve kept my hair shoulder length and blonde for as long as I can remember but I purchased an electric razor before leaving Dublin and plug the device in to charge for half an hour before easing it around my skull, experiencing a feverish delight in watching clumps tumble into the sink or fall on the floor around my feet. Standing in the cascading tendrils of my femininity, I decide…
Earth introduces Evan Keogh, a young man in possession of enough footie skill to be a generationally masterful soccer player. But Evan’s passion is paint, and he wants nothing more than to succeed as an artist. Largely due to paternal pressure, he’s boarded up his real self with so many lies that he lives in conflicted agony. His story begins after a tailspin, the gripping details we learn as he awaits the verdict of his high-profile sexual assault trial.
Dr. Freya Petrus, the protagonist of Fire, is a skilled skin surgeon who grafts burn victims most in need. Her life should overflow with wealth and happiness but is shrouded in evil acts and darkness. Freya’s tumultuous upbringing forces questions of nature vs nurture with innovative cruelty and sick twists. Might some monsters deserve sympathy?
Finally, Air begins at 30,000 feet and Aaron Umber is at a crossroads. It’s his 40th birthday and instead of sitting on Bondi Beach drinking beer and being teased about his receding hairline, he’s taking his 15-year-old son on a flight halfway around the world to see a woman not expecting them. Aaron hopes to confront life-long traumatic demons and write his own amazing father/son redemption story. As it progresses, we see the possible destruction of every meaningful relationship in his life and hold our breath turning the final pages.
These four slim standalone works (published by Doubleday between 2023 and 2025) forge a comprehensive 500-page narrative brimming with powerful synergy. Characters and plot points from each section are linked through emotionally charged bonds and the author uses the tiny Irish island to connect complex souls in spectacular fashion. Some are salvageable while others wreak havoc attempting to repair themselves. Imagination spills from the page and it is fascinating to witness how each element frames its respective part.
Streamlined prose and perfectly placed flashbacks make the book an immersive literary experience. Perspective never waves from first person, and the author reflects race, creed and gender as if he shouldered each for a lifetime. Rarely is such elegant writing paired with succinct character crafting. Boyne dabs backstory artfully, and scenes feel as if they are all told in present tense. Foreshadowing is hinted at through restrained, mysterious touches. This is a masterpiece that proves it is possible to tackle intensely serious themes and still serve up a thrilling page-turner.
John Boyne became a sensation with his 2006 Holocaust historical drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It reached number one on the New York Times Bestseller list, was made into an award-winning movie and sold a total of seven million copies. Its notoriety is well merited as it is a daunting, moving novel. But, while The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is effective though magic realism and creating a realistic fable, The Elements is a much starker, more literal book. Fans of Boyne’s previous work, and hopefully many new readers, will fully embrace this collection of his work. Read as a whole, as intended, this is easily one of the best books of the year.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for a review copy.
Richly woven scenes are threaded with dark connective tissue in John Boyne's stunning new collection, The Elements.
In Water, Vanessa Carvin arrives to a tiny Irish island and immediately changes her name to Willow Hale. She’s fleeing a family scandal and burrows into an off-the-grid cabin for isolation and reflection. Vanessa might be a victim or co-conspirator of deeply tragic events, and the reader is invited to judge as she assesses herself. Boyne immediately kidnaps our attention:
My next task is to shave my head. I’ve kept my hair shoulder length and blonde for as long as I can remember but I purchased an electric razor before leaving Dublin and plug the device in to charge for half an hour before easing it around my skull, experiencing a feverish delight in watching clumps tumble into the sink or fall on the floor around my feet. Standing in the cascading tendrils of my femininity, I decide…
Earth introduces Evan Keogh, a young man in possession of enough footie skill to be a generationally masterful soccer player. But Evan’s passion is paint, and he wants nothing more than to succeed as an artist. Largely due to paternal pressure, he’s boarded up his real self with so many lies that he lives in conflicted agony. His story begins after a tailspin, the gripping details we learn as he awaits the verdict of his high-profile sexual assault trial.
Dr. Freya Petrus, the protagonist of Fire, is a skilled skin surgeon who grafts burn victims most in need. Her life should overflow with wealth and happiness but is shrouded in evil acts and darkness. Freya’s tumultuous upbringing forces questions of nature vs nurture with innovative cruelty and sick twists. Might some monsters deserve sympathy?
Finally, Air begins at 30,000 feet and Aaron Umber is at a crossroads. It’s his 40th birthday and instead of sitting on Bondi Beach drinking beer and being teased about his receding hairline, he’s taking his 15-year-old son on a flight halfway around the world to see a woman not expecting them. Aaron hopes to confront life-long traumatic demons and write his own amazing father/son redemption story. As it progresses, we see the possible destruction of every meaningful relationship in his life and hold our breath turning the final pages.
These four slim standalone works (published by Doubleday between 2023 and 2025) forge a comprehensive 500-page narrative brimming with powerful synergy. Characters and plot points from each section are linked through emotionally charged bonds and the author uses the tiny Irish island to connect complex souls in spectacular fashion. Some are salvageable while others wreak havoc attempting to repair themselves. Imagination spills from the page and it is fascinating to witness how each element frames its respective part.
Streamlined prose and perfectly placed flashbacks make the book an immersive literary experience. Perspective never waves from first person, and the author reflects race, creed and gender as if he shouldered each for a lifetime. Rarely is such elegant writing paired with succinct character crafting. Boyne dabs backstory artfully, and scenes feel as if they are all told in present tense. Foreshadowing is hinted at through restrained, mysterious touches. This is a masterpiece that proves it is possible to tackle intensely serious themes and still serve up a thrilling page-turner.
John Boyne became a sensation with his 2006 Holocaust historical drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It reached number one on the New York Times Bestseller list, was made into an award-winning movie and sold a total of seven million copies. Its notoriety is well merited as it is a daunting, moving novel. But, while The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is effective though magic realism and creating a realistic fable, The Elements is a much starker, more literal book. Fans of Boyne’s previous work, and hopefully many new readers, will fully embrace this collection of his work. Read as a whole, as intended, this is easily one of the best books of the year.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for a review copy.
May 6, 2025
Having been a fan of John Boyne for years, I was beyond thrilled to receive an early edition of his latest. As in his other books, he approaches his subject with depth and humanity and not a little humor, but overall with a seriousness that the subject demands. Four interlocked novellas with four distinct protagonists present a history of sexual abuse with an unconventional slant. Yes, there is the familiar situation of an older man preying on young women, but also the woman who rapes teenage boys as a distorted method of revenge. What Boyne has managed to provide are reasons without doling out sympathy, and the reader is more aware of the long terms effects of these crimes on not just the victims, but also those associated with them. I cannot recommend this book highly enough with the caveat that it is powerful and pulls no punches.
October 14, 2025
This was originally 4 novellas, each named for an element, and there is some relationship to humans and nature to support all of that (and the ending sort of brings it all together but I won't discuss that because it would be too spoiler-y). I thought three of the novellas, each is its own story tangentially connected to all the others, worked quite well. Each fell between a 4 and 5 star on my scale. It was only the third novella where I think Boyne fumbled.
The first novella, Water, focuses on a woman's story, and I was quite impressed with how fully Boyne brought to life the character, Willow/Vanessa (she changes her name for REASONS). I hear all the time that men cannot write female characters, and I would refer all those who believe that to read Water. That story is heartbreaking and real, and I was able to feel what the character was going through and understand her frustrations, regrets, and choices. I just loved it.
I liked the second story, Earth, very much. It centers on a person Willow meets in passing in the first novella. Evan is a young Gay man finding his way. I don't want to say too much about this one, but it also felt heartbreakingly real. I was frustrated with Evan's choices, but I understood them, and they rang true. The bad guy in the second story (there is a bad guy on all the stories) was so evil it was a touch ridiculous, and the daddy issues went a bit further than I think is in keeping with real damaged people with terrible fathers, but overall this was pretty great.
Then came novella #3, Fire. Freya, the MC, made no sense to me. She is a burn doctor with many secrets. That is all I will say about the plot. Freya, like all the MC's in this book, is living with trauma that left scars that disfigured her psyche in much the same way fire disfigures the appearance of her patients in the burn unit. Again, I don't want to say how this manifests or ends, but I will say that I thought the psychology of it all was wildly oversimplified, and Freya's actions, or really patterns, were made theatrical. I also need to address one elephant in the room, because I am certain it impacted my reading of this section. Boyne has publicly pronounced himself a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist in interviews and social posts. I find that appalling, but where art does not incorporate the vile belief systems of the artist, I usually choose to separate those beliefs from my reading of the work. In this story, Boyne brings that gender essentialism to the page. There are many pronouncements: This is what all adolescent boys do, this is how all adolescent boys ache, this is what all women want, this is what no women want. These statements of alleged fact come up again and again. Even if Boyne was not crowing about his TERF philosophy, I would have had a problem with this, but in light of his statements, I was disgusted by much of the story. The prose is gorgeous, and the suffering of several of the characters reached inside me and wrung out my heart like it was a wet sponge, but all in all, this story ended up between a 2 and a 3 star.
Happily, Boyne returned to form with the last story, Air, which I loved. To see Aaron, whom we met in Fire, rebuild his sense of self after years of denying himself pleasure and engagement, and to have that happen through his relationship to his son and to a place that featured in two of the three earlier novellas, it was just lovely. This story brings us back to story #1 and closes a circle. It was beautifully done, truly masterful writing.
Overall, I recommend this despite my many issues with the third novella.. Please be aware that every story is shot through the tales of violence. Expect beatings, sexual and psychological child abuse, rape, suicide, murder, suicidal depression, and more. This is not an easy read, but it is an excellent one that moved me deeply.
The first novella, Water, focuses on a woman's story, and I was quite impressed with how fully Boyne brought to life the character, Willow/Vanessa (she changes her name for REASONS). I hear all the time that men cannot write female characters, and I would refer all those who believe that to read Water. That story is heartbreaking and real, and I was able to feel what the character was going through and understand her frustrations, regrets, and choices. I just loved it.
I liked the second story, Earth, very much. It centers on a person Willow meets in passing in the first novella. Evan is a young Gay man finding his way. I don't want to say too much about this one, but it also felt heartbreakingly real. I was frustrated with Evan's choices, but I understood them, and they rang true. The bad guy in the second story (there is a bad guy on all the stories) was so evil it was a touch ridiculous, and the daddy issues went a bit further than I think is in keeping with real damaged people with terrible fathers, but overall this was pretty great.
Then came novella #3, Fire. Freya, the MC, made no sense to me. She is a burn doctor with many secrets. That is all I will say about the plot. Freya, like all the MC's in this book, is living with trauma that left scars that disfigured her psyche in much the same way fire disfigures the appearance of her patients in the burn unit. Again, I don't want to say how this manifests or ends, but I will say that I thought the psychology of it all was wildly oversimplified, and Freya's actions, or really patterns, were made theatrical. I also need to address one elephant in the room, because I am certain it impacted my reading of this section. Boyne has publicly pronounced himself a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist in interviews and social posts. I find that appalling, but where art does not incorporate the vile belief systems of the artist, I usually choose to separate those beliefs from my reading of the work. In this story, Boyne brings that gender essentialism to the page. There are many pronouncements: This is what all adolescent boys do, this is how all adolescent boys ache, this is what all women want, this is what no women want. These statements of alleged fact come up again and again. Even if Boyne was not crowing about his TERF philosophy, I would have had a problem with this, but in light of his statements, I was disgusted by much of the story. The prose is gorgeous, and the suffering of several of the characters reached inside me and wrung out my heart like it was a wet sponge, but all in all, this story ended up between a 2 and a 3 star.
Happily, Boyne returned to form with the last story, Air, which I loved. To see Aaron, whom we met in Fire, rebuild his sense of self after years of denying himself pleasure and engagement, and to have that happen through his relationship to his son and to a place that featured in two of the three earlier novellas, it was just lovely. This story brings us back to story #1 and closes a circle. It was beautifully done, truly masterful writing.
Overall, I recommend this despite my many issues with the third novella.. Please be aware that every story is shot through the tales of violence. Expect beatings, sexual and psychological child abuse, rape, suicide, murder, suicidal depression, and more. This is not an easy read, but it is an excellent one that moved me deeply.
September 30, 2025
Brutal, beautiful, unforgettable.
In "The Elements", John Boyne weaves together four interconnected novellas - each linked to one of the four elements - exploring sexual abuse/assault and its ripple effects from every possible angle: the victim, the enabler/bystander, the accomplice, and the perpetrator. Through recurring characters and overlapping storylines, Boyne examines the way trauma echoes across lives and generations, revealing both cowardice and complicity, cruelty and resilience.
This is not an easy book to read. At times, it is unbearably raw, unflinching in its honest, painful depiction of heinous crimes and the silence that allows them to continue. For survivors, some chapters will be almost unbearable. And yet, there is power in that rawness - power in Boyne’s refusal to look away, and in his insistence on portraying not just the horror but also the rare moments of bravery, love, and hope that emerge in its shadow; a depiction of both the worst and the best humanity has to offer.
The prose is beautiful, haunting, and deliberate; the structure ambitious but deeply effective. By the time the stories come full circle, the result is as devastating as it is powerful, shattering and utterly unforgettable. "The Elements" is not a book you "enjoy," but one you endure, absorb, and carry with you. And maybe that’s exactly the point.
Many thanks to Henry Holt and Co. for providing me with a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
"The Elements" was published on September 9, 2025, and is available now.
In "The Elements", John Boyne weaves together four interconnected novellas - each linked to one of the four elements - exploring sexual abuse/assault and its ripple effects from every possible angle: the victim, the enabler/bystander, the accomplice, and the perpetrator. Through recurring characters and overlapping storylines, Boyne examines the way trauma echoes across lives and generations, revealing both cowardice and complicity, cruelty and resilience.
This is not an easy book to read. At times, it is unbearably raw, unflinching in its honest, painful depiction of heinous crimes and the silence that allows them to continue. For survivors, some chapters will be almost unbearable. And yet, there is power in that rawness - power in Boyne’s refusal to look away, and in his insistence on portraying not just the horror but also the rare moments of bravery, love, and hope that emerge in its shadow; a depiction of both the worst and the best humanity has to offer.
The prose is beautiful, haunting, and deliberate; the structure ambitious but deeply effective. By the time the stories come full circle, the result is as devastating as it is powerful, shattering and utterly unforgettable. "The Elements" is not a book you "enjoy," but one you endure, absorb, and carry with you. And maybe that’s exactly the point.
Many thanks to Henry Holt and Co. for providing me with a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
"The Elements" was published on September 9, 2025, and is available now.
October 9, 2025
5 gobsmacked 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠s
October 6, 2025
This book is comprised of 4 linked novellas. Sometimes the links are not obvious immediately, but characters from one novella pop up in another in shocking and often completely unexpected ways. However, the undercurrent of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children and teenagers is always present. There are some profoundly damaged people in this book.
In part one, a woman retreats to a secluded Irish island to heal and come to grips with her enabling behavior. We see how an entire family can be victimized by the gross misdeeds of one member. In part two, a victim of multiple abusers becomes an accomplice. In part three (which I found the most disturbing because of the intentional cruelty), we hear from the point of view of a victim who has turned into an abuser. In part four, a victim opens up to his teenaged son. This book was really wonderfully written and the stories were extremely compelling.
In part one, a woman retreats to a secluded Irish island to heal and come to grips with her enabling behavior. We see how an entire family can be victimized by the gross misdeeds of one member. In part two, a victim of multiple abusers becomes an accomplice. In part three (which I found the most disturbing because of the intentional cruelty), we hear from the point of view of a victim who has turned into an abuser. In part four, a victim opens up to his teenaged son. This book was really wonderfully written and the stories were extremely compelling.
September 30, 2025
Water, Earth, Fire, Air. The elements that can sustain us or kill us, depending on how they intersect with our lives. As with people and relationships--they can enhance our lives or leave holes in our souls.
Although written as four separate stories with different main characters, the tendrils of each reach across the pages to others, connecting characters and events and outcomes in poignant and important ways, making this a fascinating and cohesive look into crime. Boyne creates a world that imagines what might lead someone to abuse others, what might happen to others through collateral damage, and what might be the outcome for those victimized. He draws a compelling portrait of broken people doing broken things that leave a trail of human debris. While that sounds too bleak for words, there was enough there to counteract that darkness as characters found their way through the darkness that might have swallowed them.
Psychologically speaking, this was a deep dive into the minds of those who hurt others, those who've been hurt, and those who are filled with guilt over what they did or didn't do. There are also those who don't seem to feel that guilt, having pushed it under a self-protective barrier of revenge or denial. It's a realistic and well-done portrait of how the human psyche can go off the rails. But it also represents the very nature of resilience and how it can protect us from the elements that threaten our existence or well-being.
I was enthralled, and having spent much of my career working with both those who've been hurt and those who've hurt others in a variety of ways, I can attest to how realistic these portraits are. The blend of truly awful with optimistic possibility was masterful.
As mesmerizing as this can be, it could be a very difficult read for someone who has suffered at the hands of others.
Although written as four separate stories with different main characters, the tendrils of each reach across the pages to others, connecting characters and events and outcomes in poignant and important ways, making this a fascinating and cohesive look into crime. Boyne creates a world that imagines what might lead someone to abuse others, what might happen to others through collateral damage, and what might be the outcome for those victimized. He draws a compelling portrait of broken people doing broken things that leave a trail of human debris. While that sounds too bleak for words, there was enough there to counteract that darkness as characters found their way through the darkness that might have swallowed them.
Psychologically speaking, this was a deep dive into the minds of those who hurt others, those who've been hurt, and those who are filled with guilt over what they did or didn't do. There are also those who don't seem to feel that guilt, having pushed it under a self-protective barrier of revenge or denial. It's a realistic and well-done portrait of how the human psyche can go off the rails. But it also represents the very nature of resilience and how it can protect us from the elements that threaten our existence or well-being.
I was enthralled, and having spent much of my career working with both those who've been hurt and those who've hurt others in a variety of ways, I can attest to how realistic these portraits are. The blend of truly awful with optimistic possibility was masterful.
As mesmerizing as this can be, it could be a very difficult read for someone who has suffered at the hands of others.
September 12, 2025
This book was so cleverly written. It is essentially four separate short stories but they interact with each other in a small way. it is a compelling read to find the dangling item from the prior chapter. The stories were very interesting to me. Completely based on psychology and mental health issues. There are some challenges due to the setting being in Ireland, England, and Australia, however, we can extrapolate and form a thoroughly satisfying story. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
July 12, 2025
The Elements is a timely and important book. I don’t normally gravitate towards the didactic, but John Boyne is a masterful storyteller and one of the great writers of our time.
Elements is made up of four novellas - Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Each novella focuses on a character facing a moral reckoning. The stories explore themes of guilt, shame, denial, and complicity, often involving people who have been judged or cast out by society. While I didn’t enjoy the subject matter, especially the parts dealing with abuse, I did appreciate Boyne’s psychological depth and his ability to give humanity to people most would rather turn away from.
I think I liked Water the most, which was the opening novella. If I’m going to read something centered on moral failure, I usually prefer a redemption story, and Water offers that in a quiet way. It follows a woman exiled by the actions of her ex-husband. She finds redemption in the simple life and innocent acceptance of others in her exiled community. She’s eventually held to account for her complicity, but even in that, there is some redemption. It’s a moving look at grief, motherhood, and forgiveness.
Boyne doesn’t give easy answers or clean resolutions. Instead, the reader is sort of forced to sit with discomfort and see the complexity behind the character’s choices.
This reminded me a bit of Russell Banks’ Lost Memory of Skin, which also tries to create empathy for ostracized people. I do think Banks did a better job of exploring the complexities of these kind of characters - guilty and unlikable, but both books push you to reconsider who deserves compassion.
This isn’t a fun read, but it’s thought-provoking, especially if you’re drawn to stories that challenge assumptions and focus on the psychological turmoil of humanity.
Boyne’s writing and observations are on par with the other Irish greats like Colum McCann and Colm Toibin.
Thanks to Holt and Goodreads for review copy.
Elements is made up of four novellas - Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Each novella focuses on a character facing a moral reckoning. The stories explore themes of guilt, shame, denial, and complicity, often involving people who have been judged or cast out by society. While I didn’t enjoy the subject matter, especially the parts dealing with abuse, I did appreciate Boyne’s psychological depth and his ability to give humanity to people most would rather turn away from.
I think I liked Water the most, which was the opening novella. If I’m going to read something centered on moral failure, I usually prefer a redemption story, and Water offers that in a quiet way. It follows a woman exiled by the actions of her ex-husband. She finds redemption in the simple life and innocent acceptance of others in her exiled community. She’s eventually held to account for her complicity, but even in that, there is some redemption. It’s a moving look at grief, motherhood, and forgiveness.
Boyne doesn’t give easy answers or clean resolutions. Instead, the reader is sort of forced to sit with discomfort and see the complexity behind the character’s choices.
This reminded me a bit of Russell Banks’ Lost Memory of Skin, which also tries to create empathy for ostracized people. I do think Banks did a better job of exploring the complexities of these kind of characters - guilty and unlikable, but both books push you to reconsider who deserves compassion.
This isn’t a fun read, but it’s thought-provoking, especially if you’re drawn to stories that challenge assumptions and focus on the psychological turmoil of humanity.
Boyne’s writing and observations are on par with the other Irish greats like Colum McCann and Colm Toibin.
Thanks to Holt and Goodreads for review copy.
September 19, 2025
Terrific audiobook!
I listened to it while simultaneously reading the hard cover copy of each book: Water, Earth, Fire and Air.
I have posted my review for each book, separately.
All 5 stars.
A superb writer!
The audiobook includes all four books and is narrated by Anna Friel, Colin Morgan, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Niamh Cusack: 17.8 hours (unabridged)
I listened to it while simultaneously reading the hard cover copy of each book: Water, Earth, Fire and Air.
I have posted my review for each book, separately.
All 5 stars.
A superb writer!
The audiobook includes all four books and is narrated by Anna Friel, Colin Morgan, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Niamh Cusack: 17.8 hours (unabridged)
September 5, 2025
John Boyne does not shy away from the most difficult of topics in this full-circle compilation of four stories: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air.
Each of these books deals with the topic of child sexual abuse from four perspectives: the enabler (Water), the accomplice (Earth), the predator (Fire), and the victim (Air). Separately, each of the element books contains a minor character tied to the other three books. Together, they function in one universe to create four stories in one.
There is no doubt about it - John Boyne is a poignant writer. He is also extremely bold. I almost walked away from this while reading Fire. While I viscerally despise writing that focuses on childhood sexual experiences (which is why I cannot give this a five), I am willing to feel slightly uncomfortable knowing that Boyne is writing from his own childhood trauma. I don't generally gravitate to John Boyne's books because much of his writing focuses on the awakening of sexuality in children, but I will admit that the framing of this work is genius. It is a mayday reminder that hardly any choice we make is ever truly private. Our public and private choices ripple out to others, sometimes for generations.
The voice actors in this audio read are stellar. Anna Friel, Colin Morgan, Dane Whyte O'Hara, and Niamh Cusack captured these characters PERFECTLY. I was completely caught up, moved, and emotionally invested in each story because of these narrators' attention to characterization and storytelling that draws in the listener.
Thank you NetGalley, John Boyne, and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Each of these books deals with the topic of child sexual abuse from four perspectives: the enabler (Water), the accomplice (Earth), the predator (Fire), and the victim (Air). Separately, each of the element books contains a minor character tied to the other three books. Together, they function in one universe to create four stories in one.
There is no doubt about it - John Boyne is a poignant writer. He is also extremely bold. I almost walked away from this while reading Fire. While I viscerally despise writing that focuses on childhood sexual experiences (which is why I cannot give this a five), I am willing to feel slightly uncomfortable knowing that Boyne is writing from his own childhood trauma. I don't generally gravitate to John Boyne's books because much of his writing focuses on the awakening of sexuality in children, but I will admit that the framing of this work is genius. It is a mayday reminder that hardly any choice we make is ever truly private. Our public and private choices ripple out to others, sometimes for generations.
The voice actors in this audio read are stellar. Anna Friel, Colin Morgan, Dane Whyte O'Hara, and Niamh Cusack captured these characters PERFECTLY. I was completely caught up, moved, and emotionally invested in each story because of these narrators' attention to characterization and storytelling that draws in the listener.
Thank you NetGalley, John Boyne, and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.
July 5, 2025
5.0. Wow! A truly amazing and extraordinary novel! John Boyne is one of my favorite novelists and he has not disappointed in his latest, The Elements, four novellas titled Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Although four separate stories, Boyne masterfully weaved all elements together and makes it one work of art. His writing is simply breathtaking. His characters were extremely well defined, and attention to detail and settings were so realistic. As in many of his novels, he takes on controversial topics, in this one, sexual assault, and its profound and tragic impacts on all, victims, family members, loved ones, and society, among other things. In parts it was so painful to read as he truly captured the essence of the human condition, but the writing kept me going, so much that I could not put it down. What he did in this novel is just unbelievable by tying together so many truly disparate parts, and in a way you didn’t even know he was doing it. I always rate an author on their endings and frankly many authors do not have successful endings in my opinion, whether too contrived, predictable, nonsensical, etc, but this ending was very well executed. I cannot wait for his next one. Boyne is an incredible writer and many, many thanks to Netgalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased and candid review.
October 11, 2025
Wow.
The four novellas —Water, Earth, Fire, and Air— that make this novel, The Elements, made me feel the ugliness of hurt people hurting people, and the hope of hurt people healing. The world needs more healing.
So many traumas.
"You deserve to be loved."
An intense read - I felt it all. Some parts are disturbing, painful, uncomfortable, repulsive, heartbreakingly sad, and beautiful. Some parts challenged me. The conclusion rewarded me.
I'm dumbstruck and impressed by the mind that came up with the idea for this broad, brilliant framework, and by how these four stories and their characters were woven together to create such a powerful whole. What John Boyne did here was ambitious, and he succeeded. Deeply affecting.
The four novellas —Water, Earth, Fire, and Air— that make this novel, The Elements, made me feel the ugliness of hurt people hurting people, and the hope of hurt people healing. The world needs more healing.
So many traumas.
"You deserve to be loved."
An intense read - I felt it all. Some parts are disturbing, painful, uncomfortable, repulsive, heartbreakingly sad, and beautiful. Some parts challenged me. The conclusion rewarded me.
I'm dumbstruck and impressed by the mind that came up with the idea for this broad, brilliant framework, and by how these four stories and their characters were woven together to create such a powerful whole. What John Boyne did here was ambitious, and he succeeded. Deeply affecting.
Currently reading
October 16, 2025LBC 2025:
Book 3
Book 3
October 15, 2025
IMAGE: SHADOW AND SHADE
I had confused my Irish authors. I had mistakenly remembered that John Boyne had written The Bee Sting, when it had really been Paul Murray--The Bee Sting being one of my all-time favorite reads, btw. Actually, John Boyne had written The Boy in The Striped Pajamas and The Heart's Invisible Places, which were also truly great. (I also loved Colum McCann's TWIST; just as an aside I think Irish writers are more deeply serious than American ones are--and generically more deeply in touch with what makes us humans tick.) Those Irish, man. Anyway, when The Elements was soon to be published, I immediately preordered, misremembering though I was.
When I started at around noon, I could not put it down. I was up until 4:30 this morning, when I had finally devoured all 481 pages. They went down so easily, like a conversation you just can't pull yourself away from--at first, because he started with humor. A woman we know nothing about has been involved in some sort of scandal, has moved to a remote island off Galway, housing barely 400 inhabitants, and was changing her name. She's rented a tiny brick house, sight unseen, that will become her refuge and sanctuary. It's a living room with a kitchen but comes, apparently, with a disgruntled cat who ascends the only armchair as a throne and comes and goes at will. As felines do. There's a single bed that looks perhaps a bit too well used. Up the hill, she can see sheep. And from there, a harridan emerges, heading straight for her door:
"'I’ve come for bananas,' she says, turning to me now, her face red with rage. 'You’ve been feeding bananas, I know you have, so don’t deny it.' She raises a thick finger and jabs it in the air. 'You’re not here a wet weekend and you think you can just do as you like?' I stare at her in bewilderment and glance toward the kitchen area in search of a weapon, should this belligerence turn violent. Unfortunately, there’s nothing there but an empty cup and a teaspoon, neither of which seems likely to prove useful should I need to defend myself. 'I don’t know what you’re talking about,' I protest. 'I don’t have any bananas. I don’t even like bananas.' 'Bananas!' she roars, before pointing at the cat, who has risen to her feet, and appears to be considering a quick dart out the front door. 'You’ve been feeding Bananas!'
“'Bananas is the cat?' I ask, understanding now. 'Of course Bananas is the cat! What else would Bananas be?'...I glance over at Bananas, who is licking his testicles. How did I never notice them before? I wasn’t looking, I suppose. 'Well, I’m sorry,' I say, putting a couple of tea bags into the pot and filling it with hot water. 'I didn’t know. But I do now. So I’ll stop.'" (Would an American thus verbally assaulted proceed to make tea for them both, unasked? Can't see it, myself.) So, humor. I'm already hooked. (Of course, you probably know that 95% of Irish have been raised Catholic.) And THEN I read:
"The whole business of the Twelve Apostles has always bothered me, the hard-nosed maleness of their clique, the decision from the start to exclude women from their number. Most became saints, I think, but did that prevent them from leering at the women who served their food, or making vulgar remarks about girls they noticed on the streets? Did James lose interest during the Sermon on the Mount, his attention captured by the breasts of a young woman seated near him? Did John lure a serving girl at the Wedding at Cana into an anteroom and press himself against her, ignoring her pleas to be released? And what of Andrew, or Matthew, or Judas Iscariot? Did they take women without permission, forcing their unwashed parts into unwilling bodies whenever they felt so moved? All these men, all these fucking men. Sacred and hallowed and venerated for two thousand years. And yet it was the women, and only the women, who were there for Him at the end when the men betrayed Him, denied Him, ran from Him, pocketed their thirty pieces of silver for traducing Him. Here is Veronica wiping His face. Here are the women of Jerusalem greeting Him as He carries His burden. Here is Mary, weeping at the base of the cross. Loyal women; unfaithful and treacherous men. The former left to gather up His soiled and bloody clothes; the latter sanctified. Oh, I feel such anger."
Well, me, too.
Then I ask myself, how many American men can feel so perspicaciously what women feel? In a Farewell to Arms, Hemingway wrote: "The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially." Hemingway got it, but he still came from a very masculine POV. THIS is distinctly different. This is multi-gendered.
"It is imperative to find a woman to blame for a man’s crimes." I think of Ghislaine Maxwell, the only rapist ever brought to justice in the Epstein case, when thousands of children were trafficked and purchased as toys for wealthy White men--who's now been purchased by power, herself.
"'Whatever has brought you here will one day be little more than a memory. Trust in the Lord, Willow. He trusts in you.' I shake my head, disappointed that he would end our conversation in such a way. 'I’d never trust a man again, Ifechi,' I tell him, reverting to his given name. 'I’m not that stupid.'
This is a powerful story about how we choose not to look and become partners in crime. It's a story about fathers who damage and destroy their children, and about the women and daughters who stick with them until it becomes impossible. But then, it's also a story about the same sort of monstrosity in some pathological women--women who've been damaged by men, and boys. It's a story of the ruin of the family unit, and how that damage reverberates throughout decades. A gay son controlled by his father's demands and fists comes to believe:
"I think, sometimes, there are people who are destined never to have anyone fall in love with them. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they behave, how much money they have, how much kindness exists in their heart. The love of another person is simply never going to be theirs. There’s some aspect of them, something inherent, something indefinable, that makes people turn away. And I think I’m one of those people."
Out of ruin, a handful of characters will find a new beginning in peace, decades later:
"I’m not there yet, but one day I will be. At one with myself, at one with the universe, and—finally—at one with the elements." The last line provides the title, and we have come full circle. This character, Aaron Umber (from Latin, his last name, appropriately, means "shadow" or "shade," but also "of the earth"--all completely relevant) is written in first person late in the story and will eventually realize he's what his son has deemed "the unreliable narrator" in a fictional book.
Oh, give it 9-10 stars. I know when I'm holding back tears by page 79 that I'm in for it, in the worst--and best--possible ways.
Often, Boyne will bring in a minor character and feature that one in the next tale. I hope to meet some of these characters again.
October 14, 2025
It's no secret to anyone who follows my reviews that John Boyne is one of my favourite authors. So, this review may be rather biased, but man oh man, what a great novel this is.
It was certainly worth the wait. Beginning two years ago, John Boyne had released four novellas over the span of a year or so, namely Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. They were unavailable for Kindle this side of the Atlantic, which, as a fan, drove me nuts. With each subsequent release, the accolades went higher and higher, and we poor slugs in the New World were left waiting.
As it stands, I'm very thankful that when they were released here, it was as a collection of the four, The Elements. I'm thankful because it would have been torture waiting months for the next novella to be released. This is a collection that I feel is best read as one novel.
I say this with every book, but I'm saying it again: you are best going into this novel blind. I am loathe to divulge any details but I will say that the first novella deals with the aftermath of a crime, and subsequent novellas are linked.
The beauty of the novel as a whole is how eloquently these links happen, and the fun part of beginning the next novella is wondering what that link is going to be. And his writing, as always, flows effortlessly into my mind as if he were sitting across from me telling a story.
Collectively, this novel is such a grand story that is holding an epic space in my head. Although I burned through the pages I feel like that first novella was so long ago. What a wonderfully conflicting thing.
Like most of John Boyne's novels, themes like sexuality and damaged characters are front and center. And he has never done it better. This is his best work, I think, and given my love of The Heart's Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky, A History of Loneliness, and All the Broken Places, that is really saying something.
The best thing I can ever say about a novel is that I didn't want it to end. I wish there were four more novellas in it. And now, a massive book hangover.
Oh, one last thing. Boyne chose to write this novel using the present tense, a format I absolutely hate. I barely noticed it. Even added this mention after posting because I had forgotten. Goes to show you, huh?
What a great novel. What a great writer. Wow, John. What's next?
It was certainly worth the wait. Beginning two years ago, John Boyne had released four novellas over the span of a year or so, namely Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. They were unavailable for Kindle this side of the Atlantic, which, as a fan, drove me nuts. With each subsequent release, the accolades went higher and higher, and we poor slugs in the New World were left waiting.
As it stands, I'm very thankful that when they were released here, it was as a collection of the four, The Elements. I'm thankful because it would have been torture waiting months for the next novella to be released. This is a collection that I feel is best read as one novel.
I say this with every book, but I'm saying it again: you are best going into this novel blind. I am loathe to divulge any details but I will say that the first novella deals with the aftermath of a crime, and subsequent novellas are linked.
The beauty of the novel as a whole is how eloquently these links happen, and the fun part of beginning the next novella is wondering what that link is going to be. And his writing, as always, flows effortlessly into my mind as if he were sitting across from me telling a story.
Collectively, this novel is such a grand story that is holding an epic space in my head. Although I burned through the pages I feel like that first novella was so long ago. What a wonderfully conflicting thing.
Like most of John Boyne's novels, themes like sexuality and damaged characters are front and center. And he has never done it better. This is his best work, I think, and given my love of The Heart's Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky, A History of Loneliness, and All the Broken Places, that is really saying something.
The best thing I can ever say about a novel is that I didn't want it to end. I wish there were four more novellas in it. And now, a massive book hangover.
Oh, one last thing. Boyne chose to write this novel using the present tense, a format I absolutely hate. I barely noticed it. Even added this mention after posting because I had forgotten. Goes to show you, huh?
What a great novel. What a great writer. Wow, John. What's next?
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