Wow! This book was absolutely incredible. I am in no way a history buff but it was fascinating and heartbreaking to view the aftermath of WW2 through the lense of someone who was on the inadvertently on the side of the Nazis. What the main character Gretel went through was tragic and isolating. I am in no way condoning the Nazi party. I have never read a book through that particular perspective. I wish I had read "The Boy In the Striped Pajamas" beforehand but it's not necessary to read it if you have at least seen the movie before reading this book (like I have.) The author does an incredible job of storytelling that I found myself consumed by this book. Hours would pass by and I would not have the faintest idea. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WW2 and the aftermath of it.

John Boyne’s follow-up to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas explores the post-war life of Bruno’s elder sister Gretel and how she is able to live with the great burden of guilt she carries as the child of the concentration camp commandant. Gretel’s story explores guilt that one feels, be it deserved or undeserved.

Boyne, as he did in the prequel, creates a fictional story and it should in no way be taken as historically accurate portrait of the Holocaust, its victims and perpetrators. He does however create a story in which the reader is asked via the character of Gretel what we as human beings are responsible for in regards to our fellow humans.

A very good read and greatly recommended.

4.5 stars. John Boyne is just a magnificent writer and he writes inner conflict so well. Having family who died in the camps, and growing up with a friend tormented by her grandfather's deeds in the war, All the Broken Places was such an interesting read. I highly recommend it. There is just too much to take away from this novel.

All the Broken Places is a sequel to Boy in the Striped Pajamas something I wasn’t aware of until I started. Now finished it is only until now that I feel that I can address what to say in this extremely thought provoking book. Like all books these days it moves from past to present as we follow the life of Gretel after she escapes Germany with her mother. This is a book that no matter which chapter I read I had a feeling of perpetual dread. I didn’t particularly like Gretel but then I suppose living a life where you have to hide who you are wouldn’t make for a woman who is all warm and fuzzy. As we learn about her life after Germany and the reactions of people who learn her story I was forever asking myself why they felt that she was responsible for the sin of her father, her mother yes but she was a child of 12, yes later when she is away from her mother she could have gone to the authorities but then again this is the big question ‘What would we do?’ Follow our conscience and report or escape like Gretel who really doesn’t actually escape as the guilt she feels is her constant companion, reporting on known Nazis would be both the moral choice and one where she would eventually live in a semblance of peace. Throughout her story there is also the death that plagues her the most, her brother whose name she hasn’t spoken in 80 years.

’”I suppose you wish you’d won the war.” I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, Mr. Darcy-Witt,” I said, as if I were explaining something obvious to a child “No one wins a war.”

When we meet Henry, Boyne with the imagery from a single paragraph made adore him.

‘He considered this, then turned around, dragging his trainers in the grass, much like a bull preparing to charge. Unexpectedly, he ran to one corner of the garden—carefully, so as not to upset his injured arm—then ran back, as if he’d experienced a sudden need to burn off some energy. When he started talking again, it was as if none of that had taken place.

When Gretel meets Henry what she finds is a small gentle boy who reminds her so much of her brother but all is not well in Henry’s house, as the story progresses the pesky question of ‘what would you do?’ arises again and its here that Boyne does what he does best and I found myself pleading that Gretel does the right thing.

As I said this is a sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a book I haven’t read although I have seen the film, and a lot of the reviews do mention it I don’t feel that you need to TBitSP before this one as you will easily get the gist of it. John Boyne also seems to get a fair amount of criticism for the Boy in the Striped Pajamas saying it is an inaccurate depiction of the holocaust and while that may be true it is a fictional story one that had a huge impact when my kids read and watched the film in in 6th grade. An impact big enough that they willingly search for more information on the holocaust and isn’t that what we truly want for this monstrous act not to fade into the history books.