The Elements is four novellas (Water, Earth, Fire and Air) that tie together to form one novel. Water is about a woman who escapes to a remote island after her husband is accused of a horrific crime. Earth follows the rape trial of two young footballers. Fire follows a doctor who gets away with horrific crimes. And Air follows the life of a young doctor who is a victim of a horrific crime.

Each story builds on the previous one, and while each was difficult to read in its own way, the overall arc is expertly written, and it all ties together beautifully.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. The Elements is available now.

I knew this novel was sad and depressing but didn’t know why. Unfortunately some of the content was a trigger for me and ultimately not for me.

This is not an easy book to read but it is an amazing novel that will stay with me for a while. Boyne deals with heavy and difficult subject matter - sexual abuse, trauma, child abuse, suicide and more - but handles it with surprising ease and fluidity. Each narrator and character is carefully created, made sympathetic to the reader despite terrible character flaws. The narrators have distinct voices and each novella/element has a unique setting and atmosphere. I loved all of the books/novellas, but some were quite hard to read. The book raises the question of why people behave in the ways that they do and what long lasting effects may be caused by childhood trauma.

What an unexpected and terrific find. This is really four novellas very carefully artfully woven together. They each could have been their own novel, but I absolutely loved the way they kept building on each other, it was unique and refreshing.

This is not an easy read in that it tackles some really hard topics, I also appreciated how the author showed us that these tragedies do not tie themselves up neatly, they often set in motion other events of the future and leave a wake behind them. This is what really gets you to think and the beauty of the way the author chose to plot the stories out. You were forced to see how these characters are impacted, both main characters, side characters and those they meet along the way. It also brings home the point that it really can be a small world.

This is my first time reading John Boyne's work but I look forward to discovering more.

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.

I had the good fortune to read this Irish based novel while vacationing in Ireland so it added something special to my experience but you definitely don’t need to be in Ireland to appreciate this collection of four novellas that are separate and distinct stories and yet also connected by the characters. The Elements, Water, Earth, Fire and Air, are each heartbreaking, beautifully written stories of some very difficult subjects.

Each Element has a different, first person narrator which adds to the depth of the reader’s experience as we are privy to unique perspectives and information. The author did a fantastic job of bringing in pieces from the prior “element” and tying it all together. And while much of the subject matter was dark, there was hope and humanity as well. Fans of literary fiction will want to read this collection.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Henry Holt and Co. for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

4.5 🌟 rounded up

The Elements was incredible. It's really four stories in one - Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Each story focuses on a different character, and over the course of the novel, you see how their stories intertwine. John Boyne knows how to develop characters, flaws and all. There are many difficult subjects brought up in these four stories, but they're written and connected so well. Fire hit me the most, but I loved them all. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time after the last page.

Narration for the audiobook was performed by Anna Friel, Colin Morgan, Dane Whyte O’Hara, and Niamh Cusack. They all did a really excellent job with the different characters, bringing them to life. It is on the longer side (about 18 hours at 1x speed), and I couldn't listen as quickly due to the accents (I struggle with Irish/Scottish accents), but I still finished it very quickly because I was so invested in the story.

Recommended for fans of deeply layered literary fiction. [I do recommend looking up trigger warnings for this; child SA/abuse is one of the main themes.]

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the ARC.

I’m still trying to figure out why I liked this book so much. I think it is because it makes the reader so uncomfortable that if you turn away and stop reading you will feel guilty. Every book I have read so far by John Boyne has been a five star read for me, and now The Elements is no exception. Water, Earth, Fire and Air are short novellas that are tied together in one book. The stories are disturbing, extremely disturbing and if I had known about the rape, sexual abuse, and child abuse I most likely wouldn’t have read this, but something drew me in and I couldn’t stop reading no matter how much I wanted to. In this book you are drawn into the characters most intimate thoughts and acts. It feels like you are spying on them. You feel complicit and guilty for standing by and watching and not helping. When you are abused at a young age you carry the trauma with you for the rest of your life. If you become an abuser after you are abused are you guilty? If you witnessed abuse and remain silent are you guilty? In this book you will question if you blame the abused for abusing later in life. The Elements is very timely in that mental health is so prevalent today and the enabler, the accomplice and the perpetrator need more resources to get help.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review and thank you John Boyne for opening up my eyes to these very difficult, but real topics. If you, the reader, are willing to read this book please drop me a note after to let me know your thoughts.

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.

The Elements is a four-novella collection of intertwined stories that present the reader a stark dichotomy: they are so very difficult to read but also so difficult to stop reading. The Elements is well written and presented, so it’s challenging to convey how it can be so dark and yet incredibly readable, and to some extent interjected with hope. Few works of literature can do that. (Trigger warnings listed below.)

Presented as each of the four elements – water, earth, fire, and air – the stories focus on lives of those impacted in some way by the sexual abuse of children. That’s the difficult-to-digest. But the characters are well-developed and worth investing in.

Water: Vanessa Carvin has just been through a nightmare that cost her two daughters and a life in which she had grown comfortable and thrust her into the public eye. She flees to a tiny island as Willow Hale to figure out whether she can escape that former life for good with only what is most important to her. On the island, she finds a place where she is at first a curiosity before she is welcomed by people who don’t know who she is or who have turned a blind eye to give her space. Vanessa leaves cleansed.

Earth: Evan just wants to love someone and be loved in return. He doesn’t get it from his father, he doesn’t understand it from his mother, he doesn’t get it from his dreams of being an artist, so he dives deep into a world of self-loathing, rejection, and hatred. As a lost soul turned professional soccer player, his world is very different from the tiny island he fled, and it’s only when he sets things right that he makes peace for himself. I found this story extremely dark and bleak.

Fire: Dr. Freya Petrus had a disastrous childhood and lives with demons from that past, while at the same time dissociating from those demons at work as a surgeon specializing in burns. But it isn’t a simple matter, keeping those two worlds separate. This was my least favorite of the four stories – it was dark, ugly, disturbing and enraging.

Air: Aaron Umber worked for Dr. Freya Petrus and married Rebecca Carvin, but he has his own history of abuse. As a single father to a 14-year-old boy he is learning to navigate learning to let go of Emmet while wanting still to hold him close and protect him from the ugliness of the world. I found this story suffused with more light.

Boyne does a masterful job of sticking to elemental motifs within each story and in bringing all the elements full circle within the greater work. I recommend it, but only for those who are not triggered by sexual abuse, rape, child predators, murder, suicide, and arson.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for the advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

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Shockingly The Elements is the first work of John Boyne's that I've read- and it has definitely left me wanting to read more. The Elements is a quarter of stories, that can be read alone, but weave together so perfectly that it's best read as one story. Through the four elements- water, earth, fire and air, Boyne represents different aspects of a crime- the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. The Elements does not shy away from dark and heavy material so readers with trigger warnings, beware. Boyne's writing is absolutely magnificent and will evoke all sorts of emotions. This will be a contender for top book of the year for sure and one that will stick with me for years to come.

There are many ways in which to be involved in a crime

A woman leaves behind her life in Dublin, hoping to escape the harsh public scrutiny she has endured due to the actions of her husband and also to come to terms with the loss, in different ways, of her two daughters and the implosion of her life. In her new existence on an isolated island to which she has retreated she crosses paths with a young soccer player whose brilliant future is interrupted when he is put on trial as an accomplice to rape. One of the jurors in his trial is a doctor, a specialist in pediatric burns, whose traumatic childhood still reverberates and interferes with her role as a healer. One of her former residents is traveling from Australia to Ireland with his son; he too is struggling to overcome past trauma and hopes to protect his son from suffering from it as well. Four people, strangers to one another, yet each is connected to crimes involving abuse....although each from a different perspective, be it perpetrator, enabler, accomplice or victim. There is trauma and guilt, redemption and resilience, and for each of the four characters a particular element...water, air, earth and fire....is a constant in their narrative,
Originally published as four separate novellas, these four stories are connected through the characters whose lives intersect with that of the person whose story follows theirs and through the dark themes that permeate the narratives. This is not a light, breezy type of story, it features guilt, abuse, and more as it explores human nature and how it responds when confronting moral challenges. The characters are deeply flawed but fascinating to come to know, and the writing is brilliant....honest and unflinching about some very troubling topics. It is without doubt literary fiction but also incorporates psychological exploration and social commentary as it reflects upon crime and a society that allows it to happen. Fans of author John Boyne will certainly want to get this onto their nightstand as soon as possible, as should readers of Ian McEwan, Emma Donoghue and Kate Atkinson (to name just a few) and lovers of gifted storytelling. There are some rays of hope piercing the sadness and pain, but be prepared for intense emotions and moral complexities that will provoke thought and conversation. My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for allowing me access to this unforgettable story in exchange for my honest review.

Acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne presents four linked novellas that explore various facets of crime. In the initial tale, “Water,” 52 year old Vanessa Calvin née Hale, being complicit in a crime committed by her husband, Brendan, changes her name to Willow Hale, sheds her shoulder length blonde hair, and embarks on a self-imposed exile to an island (“a barren rock in the Atlantic Ocean”) of four hundred residents. As Willow settles into her isolation, with occasional trips to the two pubs on the island, she reflects on her marriage, the events that led to Brendan’s incarceration, the suicide of their eldest daughter, Emma, and their younger daughter, Rebecca’s, estrangement.

The second tale, “Earth,” is not about a woman fleeing the misdeeds of a man that she had trusted but, rather, a young man escaping the brutality of his father. Evan Keogh, a talented footballer, was raised on the island where Willow Hale decamped. He goes to London with hopes to be a painter but, after being rejected by every gallery he approached, he sells himself to Rafe, who then serves as Evan’s “erstwhile pimp.” In a bit of a stretch, Evan shows up at a soccer club as a walk-on and becomes a successful footballer. But, a woman has accused Evan’s teammate of rape and Evan has been charged as an accessory. The tale volleys from Evan’s betrayal by his boyhood best friend, to his rent boy days, to the trial and its aftermath.

“Fire,” the third story and the most haunting, is about a thirty-six year old physician in a burn unit, Dr. Freya Petrus, who presents as a composed, dispassionate professional who champions the rights of the vulnerable, but she is a monster. Having been raised by a grandmother who had starved her of the company of other children, she was dispatched to spend two months in the summer with her detached mother where she was vulnerable to the twin boys who purportedly befriended her. Freya was repeatedly raped and victimized as a twelve year old by the teenage boys and, as an adult, she becomes an unrepentant predator sexually abusing young boys.

In the final story, “Air,” Aaron Umber, a child psychologist who had been victimized as a young boy, is traveling with his teenage son, Emmet, to visit his ex-wife and his son’s mother whose contact with her son post-divorce has been minimal. Aaron knows that most parents are at their most protective when their children are infants, but he has become increasingly vigilant since his son turned fourteen a few months back. “I can’t help myself. I know the dangers out there for boys his age.” Aaron is particularly concerned about the dangers of the digital world as he guiltily snoops on his son’s cellphone and sees pictures of Emmet’s naked torso.

Boyne’s propulsive novel explores the devastation of sexual abuse from four different perspectives: that of an enabler (Water), a complicit observer (Earth), a perpetrator (Fire) and a victim (Air). Although a bit contrived, part of the pleasure of the novel is when these connections between these disparate characters are revealed. The issue of child abuse has particular resonance for Boyne, who was assaulted by a teacher when he was a high school student in Dublin. Boyne was one of 12 victims who reported the abuse to the police as adults. The perpetrator was arrested, but he died of natural causes a few months before the trial was scheduled to begin. Boyne’s own backstory likely contributed to his ability to write with such emotional impact about these deeply wounded characters. As Aaron muses, “The things that happen to us when we’re kids — good or bad — define the life we’ll come to have.” Thank you Henry Holt & Company and Net Galley for an advance copy of this provocative read that will have book clubs talking.

Originally published as four novellas, now published in the US in one volume, The Elements is four interconnected stories taking place on an island in Ireland. Dealing with incredibly difficult subject matter, suicide, sexual abuse, murder, The Elements asks the reader to consider the perspective of multiple POVs within a sphere of abuse (the victim, the perpetrator, etc.).

This book will definitely not be for everyone but for those who are interested in reading about complex, complicit characters, and are willing to really dive into their psyche, this book is definitely that.

John Boyne is a wonderful storyteller, and I've enjoyed his prior works. This story is told uniquely through four different novellas, Water, Earth, Fire and Air. This story has some very difficult content, and the author did a wonderful job writing about such a hard topic.
I thought this was a really thought provoking story.



Thank you to Henry Holt & Company for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the new book by John Boyne, with the audiobook production narrated perfectly by the cast of Anna Friel; Colin Morgan; Dane Whyte O’Hara; and Niamh Cusack. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

An epic saga that expertly weaves together four interconnected narratives, each representing a different perspective on the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim and based around the elements Water, Earth, Fire, Air. There's a mother on the run from her past, a young soccer star facing a trial, a surgeon dealing with childhood trauma, and a father on a journey with his son.

I was blown away by this book and was totally invested in each story and each character. The stories deal with crime and how we allow it to occur, and all the moral and ethical gray areas involved. This book will make you think by being so realistic and uncomfortable that you can easily put yourself in the characters' positions and ponder what you would do in a similar situation. The writing is beautiful, the stories gripping, and I have continued to think about these characters. This is a book I will read again and the audiobook was fabulous, further immersing me into these stories. Highly recommended!

I’m a big fan of John Boyne. The Elements is not my favorite of his, but on its own it’s still a fantastic book. Each section represents an element - earth, water, air, fire and just like the elements, they’re all connected in small and big ways. The writing is as good as ever, the way Boyne writes about human emotions and connections is a true gift to readers. The pace of this book moved a little slow for me and didn’t really come together until halfway through the second element, but it does come together in perfect fashion.
*Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this free ebook in exchange for an honest review*

Just wow. The Elements is one of the most difficult books I’ve read content-wise but if you can push through it’s ultimately a beautiful story about surviving. Expertly executed.

As usual, Bonne writes a beautiful book, which given the subject matter is pretty amazing.
There are 4 novellas named for the Elements, each building on the one before it.
The first, water is narrated by a woman who has exiled herself to a small Irish island.
I was fascinated by the life on the island, knowing that it is probably be a lifestyle that I wouldn't survive in long.
We meet Willow and slowly learn her story. It is not a pretty one for sure, and the effect of it on her daughter Rebecca will permeate story 4.
Next is Earth and centers on an island boy, Evan, who wants to be a painter, but is a very talented footballer. His father , Charlie, assumes Evan will fulfill the dream his father could not, but Evan rebels. With the help of his mother, who came to the island as Charlie's wife, Evan escapes. However, Evan's life does not turn out as he hopes. I think he has the saddest story, and it was quite a difficult read.
Next we meet Dr. Freya in the element of fire. A few years have gone by since Evan's story. She now lives in what was Evan's flat, and she has an even worse story. She is a Doctor who specializes in burn patients and we slowly learn why. I think she had the most traumatizing story and I had to take a break in between these 2 stories, as they are quite heartbreaking. Freya's story leads us to the last story, Air. We met Aaron as a an intern under Freya, and we slowly learn her importance in her life. Aaron was also traumatized and as we follow his story, his trauma is slowly revealed. He ends up married to Rebecca so the stories begin to intersect. Aaron's story had the most hope and the ending comes full circle.
I have read many of Boyne's books and sort of know what to expect, and they are certainly not easy reads. However, because he writes so beautifully, I do not give up. Nor should you.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. The opinions are mine alone.

I requested an ARC of The Elements based on its author, John Boyne, although I wasn’t certain if I could endure a long book focused on rape. From the start, Boyne pulled me into the stories comprising the book, quickly making me realize he was writing about the effects and perhaps even the possible causes of rape rather than upon the act itself. By centering on the people involved in the crimes from a variety of angles, The Elements is more a psychological study of the effects of trauma and how some people can overcome it while others may be destroyed by it than a book about the act itself.

The novel, or collections of previously published novellas, consists of four approximately equal parts: “Water,” “Earth,” “Fire,” and “Air.” Each each segment explores the topic of rape from a different perspective, that of the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. Although the sections in this collection are related, they tell four unique stories, not a single story from four people’s points of view. A minor character in the first section becomes the main character of the second narrative. A minor character in the second becomes the primary character in the third, and a minor character in the third becomes the primary character in the fourth. While this approach could mean ending the book without readers feeling a true sense of an ending, Boyne is far too accomplished a novelist for that although my revealing more could be a spoiler. Suffice it to say that I was not only impressed by the way individual narratives worked together but also fully satisfied with the ending. How I would have felt had I read each of the segments as separate novellas s originally published, I cannot say. However, read entirely over a week, these four narratives formed a perfect whole, dealing with individuals from various age groups, social classes, and occupations, dispelling people’s misconceptions about rape as well as looking at roles played by doubts, conscience, guilt, assumptions and misunderstandings, selfishness and secrets, hope and healing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Company for an advance reader eGalley of this extraordinary work by John Boyne.