Book Review #34: All The Broken Places by John Boyne

My Overall Review: 9.1/10

Introduction:

This one was sent to me by my Mom who said that I needed to read it. And when Mom says that you need to do something, you generally don’t ask questions. 

And boy am I glad that I read this one…

Overview:

Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn't talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn't talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich's most notorious extermination camps.

Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can't help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry's beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence.

All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel's girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before -- whatever the cost to herself....

My Thoughts:

I finished this book in about 3 days time. It was that good! It was one of those books that hooked you in from the beginning and then never let go of you until the end. Even then, it still ligners with sitting here and typing this now. To me, it was one of those books that really makes you think. Would I have really been any different than Gretel? Would you? Do I really believe that I would be courageous and stand up for what is right? I would like to think so but the odds of that in the situation that she was in are most definitely not in my favor. This book is about the ultimate evil that consumed Europe in the late 1930’s-mid 1940’s and then the aftermath of it all. It makes you stop and wonder, what role would I play in that global story if, God forbid, something like that happened again today?

I would recommend this book to literally anyone. Go pick up a copy, read it, and let’s talk about all of it. 

Happy reading friends!!

Have any thoughts on my take(good or bad)? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!