Moving, thought provoking All The Broken Places is timely and emotive sequel that ticks all the boxes for being a memorable read.

What a wonderful read this is. The character of Gretel is so complex and believable that I feel as if I know her. The author so skilfully blends the various timelines and in doing so paints a remarkable picture of Gretel, growing from child to young woman to the now formidable matriarch in her nineties.

It’s a tribute to the author’s storytelling abilities that he chose to continue the story of Bruno and his family from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; and what a successful sequel.

I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a well told story.

My thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of the book, to read and review.

What a remarkable and moving read. It’s not often a main character is so well written that although they are unlikeable you can’t help actually liking them but to be honest that’s really what the whole story is about. Can you really judge someone by one action, does something that happened when they were young make them all bad and bad for the rest of their life or is life and people more complicated. This is a really thoughtful provoking read and one that will keep me thinking for sometime. I think John Boyne has just been added to my list of must read favourite authors,

The more I think about this book, the less I like it and its flaws become more grating. I actually enjoyed reading it for the most part and certainly found it a page-turner of a sort. But as the story progressed I found my credulity stretched almost to breaking point and as the coincidences and unlikely plot twists piled up I began to lose patience. It’s difficult to review without giving away too many spoilers, and I don’t want to be guilty of that, so I can’t specify those aspects of the narrative that with retrospect seem particularly unfortunate, but I will say that while the central theme of the book – guilt and redemption – is powerful and thought-provoking, and while I had some sympathy with the central character, Gretel, last seen as a child in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and now a 91-year-old feisty survivor living comfortably in London, ultimately the book raises more questions than it answers. A sequel to the earlier book, Gretel remains haunted by what happened back then and the extent to which she was culpable. And that was my first problem. To what extent is a 12-year-old ever guilty of the sins of her parents? There was nothing she could have done, and although she is responsible for one particular tragedy, it has to be remembered that she was little more than a child at the time. Then in this book she is aware of another crime and has to choose what to do about it, whether to stay silent or act. But the later crime, although terrible, and devastating for those concerned, is hardly on a par with the Holocaust. Not to mention the fact that the perpetrator is a complete cardboard cut-out. Lazy writing here. Then there are all the coincidences. Meeting her father’s former aide purely by chance in a pub in Australia didn’t seem all that convincing, and wasn’t helped by his weak characterisation. Then there are the storylines shoe-horned in for no reason except perhaps to be suitably “woke”. Gretel’s friend in Australia just happens to be gay. This adds nothing to the central narrative. And so on. And so on. And the final plot twist is quite simply ridiculous. So…..yes, it’s a good read, and yes, it’s well-constructed and well-paced, and yes, I probably would recommend it, but overall the flaws outweighed the positives for me, and quite possibly this is a book we just didn’t need.

One of the best aspects of a prolonged lockdown - Covid’s silver lining, is the plethora of new books. Sorting the wheat from the chaff is easy with John Boyne’s long anticipated sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. All The Broken Places picks up the story of the older sister, Gretel, and her mother in the aftermath of the War when they flee to France. The book covered aspects of post war troubles that I wasn’t aware of such as Nazi hunters. The story unfolds during two timelines, one details Gretel’s immediate post war experiences, the other takes up her story when she is in her 90s and living in a posh London apartment. When Gretel suspects a child is being abused she has a choice of whether to intervene and this obviously resonates with the loss of her brother all those decades ago. Haunting and hopeful I just loved this book.

I am a huge huge fan of John Boyne and have been since the boy in the blue striped pjs. This story continues from that book. This is the story of Gretel who escaped from Poland with her mother they must never tell anyone who they are, they escape to Paris. We then see her in the present, Greta is in her 90s living in a posh apartment with a new neighbour an actor and his wife and child named Henry. Highly highly recommend, another fantastic book from John Boyne.

Beautifully written
This is probably one of the most powerful reads I’ve ever read
Are we after all responsible for the sins of our fathers?

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All the Broken Places
By John Boyne
Doubleday
Many fans had very mixed feelings when John Boyne announced that he was writing a sequel to his 2006 global bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. What more could there possibly be left to say?
Turns out quite a lot. While the first book looked at the horrors of the holocaust through the eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp who strikes up a forbidden friendship with Shmuel, a Jewish child, the sequel focuses on Bruno's elder sister, Gretel.
Now 91, she has spent a lifetime feeling guilt about her brother's tragic death and the fact that her father was one of the most notorious SS commanders.
Spanning from the end of World War II in France to present-day Britain, the book examines how Gretel has tried to hide from her past. However, when a troubled young boy named Henry moves into her London apartment block, his presence brings back some painful memories. Gretel realises she has the chance to save him - but only if she has the courage to act and not just turn a blind eye like she did decades before in another intolerable situation.
While I don't think this book will generate anywhere near the level of acclaim and fanfare that The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas did, it's still a very absorbing, cleverly structured and well-written read that asks some difficult questions about guilt and personal responsibility.

I already knew this was going to be a difficult read and not only that, but also a difficult book to review, because how can you sympathise with an oppressor?Except Gretal isn't the oppressor, she is just a child in the strangest of circumstances. As a daughter of a nazi commander, should she pay the price of her fathers actions?

This story is told in a dual timeline which is very fluid. Gretal, today a 91 year old widow, a life full of secrets she is desperate to keep hidden and a young Gretal ageing through the decades where her tragedies become the older Gretals secrets. How unfortunate can one person's story be? The older Gretal sets out to undo her unlucky past with one last good action. Will it be enough?

A really well written story which I would love to see on the screen.

Good book. If you like Kristin Hannah or Kate Morton books you will like this one. Secrets, unexpected twists, different characters keep your attention and don't let you to put the book down until the most unexpected end.

I must begin by admitting that I have found that I have an affinity for the author's works. Even if I do not like the end result, the journey to that point makes from some swift reading. The prose flows, and I can imagine the people and the places.
This is a sequel to a more famous work, one that I have not read. After looking at a few better-informed reviews, I do not really plan on reading it either. That does not take away anything from my reaction to this story.
If you are aware of the previous work, you would be interested to note that this is Gretel's story.
The skill that I was surprised to appreciate was the author's ability to create unlikeable characters that I would still willingly read about. Many of them have no redeeming characteristics, just at least one other person who does not mind their general makeup.
Gretel is ninety. She has lived a long and convoluted life. We get brief glimpses of her past (post-Hitler's fall) during the events of the present. Her son wants her to give up the house as an early inheritance before he gets married again - the same goes for her only friend in the building, who is having memory issues, but her grandson also wants some liquid cash.
In the midst of the contemplation of her long life, a new family moves into the building. Their presence brings back uneasy memories and stirs a form of rebellion in Gretel's mind and heart.
When we first meet our central protagonist, her mind and behaviour seem much more straightforward and linear. It is only with each additional piece of information and the pressures she starts to feel that the tone of the narrative shifts.
I really enjoyed this book. I found the twists quite intriguing. One of the main 'secrets' was not continuously in our faces(although one was - that was understandable), so when the reveal happened, I was quite taken aback by how much it mattered to me by that point.
I preferred the current timeline to the older one, but Gretel's past is quite important to show the truth of the multiple facets of her present actions.
I highly recommend this to fans of the author and of historical fiction/dual narratives.

John Boyne is a master storyteller. Again, he pulls at our heartstrings and asks us the question, could we forgive someone like Gretel? A lady in her nineties who has a dark secret. Her father was commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, and she has been on the run all her life. Living a lie. And can doing the right thing make up for those lies?

Gretel, the older sister of Bruno whose tragic end with Shmuel in The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, absolutely destroyed many of us, lives quietly. She never speaks of the war or her families part in it. When a family with a young son moves into her block of flats, she tries to stay away. It pains her to see young boys as she remembers her lost brother. But she soon realises that the boy Henry is at risk from domineering father and fragile mother. Despite her own misgivings, she befriends Henry and sets in motion a chain of events that threatens the life she thought was safe.

I loved this book. As a piece of fiction, it is a masterfully crafted story. Gretel is somehow unlikeable and likeable in equal parts. She initially buries her head in the sand, not accepting responsibility for the things that she had done. But then, at the same time, she's tenacious and determined with a streak of humanity that even being brought up in such an evil regime hasn't destroyed.So you swing wildly from one emotion to another. A worthy and excellent sequel to a classic novel.

This book was gripping and is harrowing in parts but is a page turner. There were too many story lines going on for me though.

For those of you who read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas you will be equally as moved by this book which in loose terms is a sequel. Gretel, now in her 90's, living alone, is eager to meet the new family living in an adjacent flat. She has a turbulent past, and escaped from Nazi Germany as a child. Her father had been commandent of Auschwitz a fact she wishes to keep to herself, but when the young boy now living next door is subject to abuse she wonders if she should interfere and perhaps undo the terrible horror that happened to her younger brother many, many years ago, and for which she carries a terrible guilt. This is heart-wrenching story telling, a story that will stay with you for a very long time, and once again showcases the talent that is the amazing Mr Boyne. Highly, highly, recommended. Many thanks to netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

If you read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and loved it, you will love this too. This book was as beautifully written and equally as touching.

Would recommend to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC.

All the Broken Places is the sequel to The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and it’s another masterpiece.
In this book we follow 91 year old Gretel Fernsby’s past and present incredible, secretive life and it’s consequences!
What a story! It’s an extremely multi layered powerful read which I couldn’t put down and which I won’t forget…it’s very clever the way John has connected the two books too! Also, the way John has captured the tension and guilt of Gretel’s life under the shadow of her haunting past which she could never escape is a masterful piece of storytelling, although it’s hard reading at times!
Responding to John’s question at the end of his author’s note, I too believe Gretel’s story is worth telling and can totally appreciate the burden of responsibility of exploring emotional truths and human experiences during the very real actions of inhumanity during the holocaust.
All the Broken Places is one of my top reads this year and such a good title for the book.
Big thanks to John Boyne, Random House UK and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, but tragedy grounded his dreams. Now the dust has settled, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home.

I adored this book, the same way I adored the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Beautifully written and touching, I will be recommending to everyone I know!

Wow.
Just amazing.
What an incredibly well written book, featuring Gretel who was the German sister in the boy in the stripped pyjamas. She is now in her 90s and her story is told past and present. Def def recommend

I must caveat this review by saying that after reading The Heart's Invisible Furies I am pretty sure that I could read this author's shopping list and be blown away! John Boyne's writing is incredible and All the Broken Places is no exception. The long-awaited follow on to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is just as mesmerising and heartbreaking. We follow Gretel, who is now in her 90s and living in London. We learn about the years after the Second World War and the path that her life followed. There were moments in her story when I was confused about how I felt - Boyne makes it easy for the reader to sympathise with his protagonist but I didn't know if that is how I wanted to feel towards her. There is no doubt that Gretel is strong-willed and forthright but has she ever really faced up to her history and the impact of her father's actions? This is a book that posed may questions for me and I was totally immersed in the story. I have always read about the Second World War and the Holocaust in particular so I really appreciated the author's note as Boyne helped me to realise that I have been looking for answers where perhaps there are none. All the Broken Places gave me the same experience as I searched for answers for Gretel's responsibility and realisation that she had been complicit in the Nazi movement and the Final Solution. Another absolute masterpiece from Boyne. I need to read more of his writing.