With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

In the previous books in this quartet, Water and Earth, the predominant themes were around guilt and complicity. In Fire we are presented with the polar opposite - a woman who seems to have no morals whatsoever, a psychopath. Freya is a renowned burns surgeon. Single, living in a luxury apartment and obviously wealthy, she preys on teenage boys whom she grooms and abuses in the same way she was groomed and abused as a 12-year-old child, by slightly older but still underaged boys.

The narrative alternates between the present day and her reprehensible actions, and the unfolding story of a childhood of neglect by everyone who was meant to be looking after her - the mother who didn't want her, the grandmother who tried to bring her up but did a dismal job of it - and the revenge she took then and continues to take now. As with the previous two books, there are links between them and this third instalment; Freya was a juror in the trial of the rapist footballers in Earth and is now living in the apartment that used to belong to one of them.

I thought Earth wasn't quite as compelling a read as Water, and I'm sorry to say I think that trend has continued with Fire. The story verges on the preposterous, and the central question is not especially well resolved - is Freya a product of her upbringing of neglect and her experience of abuse, or is she a psychopath? Are her actions in the present justified in any way by her experiences, or is she as much of a monster as the people who abused her in the past?

John Boyne is always worth reading, but this quartet of novellas is feeling more conceptual and less compelling with each new section that is published.

This book is an uncomfortable and, at times, disturbing read. Lead character Freya is a young burns doctor with a traumatic past. She has been neglected by her family and as a young teen suffered abuse at the hands of some older boys whilst staying with her estranged mother.

Now in her 30s, Freya seeks revenge by grooming and manipulating teenage boys of a similar age, raising the question: Are her actions justified, or is she simply perpetuating the cycle of abuse?

Freya is an unlikeable character, which makes it difficult to sympathise with her, despite her tragic backstory.

While unsettling, the book is undeniably thought-provoking, leaving you questioning the line between victim and perpetrator and whether vengeance ever truly heals past wounds.

I am a huge fan of John Boyne’s writing and while this book posesses the succinct and lyrical prose we have come to expect from him as well as his usual decison to deal with the most uncomfortable of themes in an uncompromising way I was not a fan of this story and I I found this book utterly unbelievable. No spoilers but this book comes with major trigger warnings. I don’t mind a flawed character or disturbing themes but I just could not imagine someone could get away with their reprehensible behaviour for so long. I have found Boyne’s previous books have been rooted in reality for me but this was just a step too far for me to buy into it emotionally. I feel the novella format was maybe not the correct one for this particular story or this character, while we learn why she turned out the way she did it all felt very rushed and matter of fact and I did not get the sense that Freya suffered from any inner turmoil for her actions and therefore, as a character she was quite one-dimensional. Maybe in a longer format we may have gotten more of a sense of her journey from victim to perpetrator but for me, that part was missing and affected my ability to sympathise with Freya or understand that leap. Yes it is am utterly tragic story and as usual with Boyne’s novels it raises uncomfortable questions for the reader to reckon with but I have to mark this down to 3 starts for the sheer implausibility of the whole thing. Sorry John, I’m still a huge fan!!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fire" by John Boyne is a must-read, not just for its compelling narrative but for its exquisite use of figurative language.

I have come to regard John Boyne as one of the best authors of our time. The story is both horrific and compelling, repulsive and consuming, deplorable and fascinating. It's the kind of book that you can't look away from, much like a rubbernecking incident on the highway.

Freya is the main character and she is most certainly the 'badest' of them all!

A dark and disturbing story indeed.

The story opens with the narrator saying that she has experience of being buried alive. Then we see a successful woman burns specialist doctor describe her usual day, with particular attention to the way men look at her. Only it's not just adult men but teenaged boys as well. The difference being that the adults are habitual and entitled, whereas the boys are embarrassed. They are also easy to manipulate.

Told from the doctor's perspective, she alternates her present with her childhood, where she spent the summer as a twelve year old in Cornwall with her single mother. There she met two twin boys aged fourteen who were terrifying in their abuse. Then she returned to Norfolk to be raised by her inept grandmother. Her developmental years were full of neglect but she worked hard to escape her underprivileged life and eventually became a doctor.

She is quite a complex character. Obviously she is affected by past events and the uncaring upbringing, yet she chooses to help those who have been disfigured by burns. The people who others don't look at, who turn away from their damage. The doctor rebukes any friendship advances or any kind of affection and the only closeness she experiences is with the nurse with whom she works - but that is a very limited relationship. However, there is a type of human contact she has and the consequences are horrific.

Extremely well written, this is a story about power, manipulation, entitlement as well as cause and effect. It considers physical and psychological damage, trauma and victimhood. There is a lot to think about, especially how a woman is in the uncomfortable role usually taken by men. Perplexing and a strangely engrossing, provocative read.

Wow. I’m struggling to pin down my thoughts on this one! This book tackles a topic I hated, but the delivery was so gripping I couldn’t stop reading. As always, John Boyne’s writing is exceptional. It's sharp, precise, and utterly engrossing.

John Boyne is the author of one of my all-time favourite books, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, which is filled with warmth and humour. Fire couldn’t be more different. It’s cold, almost clinical in tone, and yet I was completely enthralled. It’s a dark and disturbing story, often uncomfortable to read, but brilliantly executed.

Having read the previous books in the series, Earth and Water, I knew to expect morally ambiguous characters and challenging themes, but this one hit me the hardest. Freya’s childhood was harrowing, and while it explains a lot about the person she became, there’s nothing ambiguous about how despicable she is as an adult.

This book, like the others, is thought-provoking and leaves you grappling with big questions. The nature versus nurture debate is central to the story and it’s fascinating to reflect on how much of Freya’s cruelty was shaped by her past versus being an intrinsic part of who she is.

If you’re reading the series, I’d recommend starting with Earth and working your way through in order as previous characters do feature in each book (if only fleetingly.)

I'd definitely say Fire isn’t an easy read, but it’s certainly one I won’t forget anytime soon. It’s challenging and unsettling and I can’t wait to see how John Boyne concludes the series with Air.

Fire By John Boyne

Fire is part 3 of a 4 part series.
It's no secret that I love despicable characters and John Boyne, so add them together and I am very happy.
As with the previous books in this series, it hits on some difficult topics.
So Fantastically written, and if you like audiobooks, Anna Friel is the narrator for this one and I checked it out, and she was perfect.

I plan to re read all three books before reading the 4th installment so I can remind myself of each character and how these stories weave together.

John Boyne is an amazing storyteller. This is the third instalment of his element series. Freya, a very minor character in Wind is a doctor who has a dark secret and carries out her twisted dark deeds on others. She is a despicable character and yet I did feel some sympathy towards her. But not much! This book definitely brings forward the conversation about nature vs nurture. I would recommend this book but for me it didn’t have the same impact as the other two of the series. I’m eagerly anticipating the next though.

The third of four in this unique series of loosely interlinked books, and by far the darkest. Can you say you enjoy a book that goes to such dark places? I'm not sure, but the writing is powerful. Boyne's writing has a cool quality to it that is perfectly suited to the deepest, darkest parts of the psyche that his novels travel to. Our protagonist Freya is a doctor in the emergency unit who specialises in burns. Her past is slowly revealed with twists, turns and shocks aplenty, and once again this book ends on a knife edge. Looking forward - with slight trepidation, how dark can he go? - to the grand finale of this four part series, due early next summer.

I have been eating up this series as fast as it comes out. I was lucky enough to stumble upon earth on #netgalley and seeing the author’s name I had to request it and the rest is history.

These little books really pack a punch and leave you with a bit of a hangover and mulling over the complicated topics they tackle. Fire is no different. It’s just as readable as all of the other Boyne novels I have read and once again very ambitious in its exploration of such a tough topic.

Although not my favourite of the series so far, it is one I would recommend provided you check out the trigger warnings in advance.

I felt that this novella was rather lightweight even though it dealt with a serious subject ie the main protagonist displays both a good side and also a very dark one and could be described as a Jekyll and Hyde character. Freya appears to have had an idyllic childhood but all is not as it seems. Does the sexual abuse that caused her such damage really excuse her adult behaviour and revenge? An interesting hypothesis. I'm sure Mr Boyne's legions of fans will not be disappointed. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK/ Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to read and review Fire.

Literally burned my skin with anger and disgust in equal amounts!

Thanks NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers , Double Day Books for the invite to read this ARC!

I don’t know how Boyne does it - but I am both fascinated and flabbergasted by the main character in his latest quartet offering of Fire.

Synopsis -

Freya, a skin graft specialist and surgeon possesses the most coveted lifestyle - a great job, posh housing and car. But what is her life actually built on? Flashback to her childhood - there was one summer that intrinsically changed her living composition, making her the kind of adult she is.

Review -

This novella is just another testament to Boyne’s deepest understanding of the human psyche - the unending debate between nature or nurture and of course his exemplary writing skills.

Via Freya’s character Boyne explores the aftermath of a childhood deprived of love, the lack of care, attention and the reverberations of exposure to the world’s harshest elements too soon, before the emotional maturity to comprehend their slightest meaning.

There were times I wanted to slap Freya for the kind of woman she turned out to be. At the same time, I was simply awestruck by her tenacity, felt pity and compassion for what she went through, admired her for her perseverance while she 'burned' with hunger for vengeance - determined to take from the world what she had lost.

The ending is left open to the readers to interpret and conclude by questioning or even picturing themselves in Freya’s shoes. It seemed to ask - “What would you do if you were her?” That’s enough food for thought right there.

This is one of those powerful books that will leave you reeling from its gut punching impact - unable to make sense of what just happened and leave you incapacitated to even decide how you feel about it.

What are the factors that drive humans towards compassion, kindness, cruelty and to the limits of revenge? Read Fire to find out.

Fire is the third novella of the Elements Quartet. Again, it amazes me how much John Boyne can pack into less than 200 pages. He is one of my favourite writers.

Dr Freya Petrus is a beautiful and successful specialist surgeon working in a hospital Burns Unit. Despite giving the impression of a privileged, comfortable upbringing there is a much darker side to her that she has so far managed to keep hidden. The good Freya helps people in her role as a surgeon specialising in skin grafts; the darker Freya is a scheming monster.

Did Freya always have a dark side or did an earlier childhood trauma cause her to become such a predatory monster?

At times it's a disturbing and uncomfortable read but it's also compelling. It deals with themes of sexual abuse and how our perceptions and expectations of certain characters can be way off the mark.

When Freya tells of her past, you feel some sympathy but at the same time cannot condone or understand her shocking behaviour.

I've read the three already published novellas that make up the Elements series: Water, Earth and Fire. Each one can be read on its own but I'm fascinated by the way the stories connect without me realising at the time. In this case, Dr Freya Petrus had already appeared briefly in Earth as a juror in the court case. Characters in Earth had appeared in Water. When I notice these connections I want to go back and read the previous book(s) again – and then I notice things I have missed. All the connections make you think of the repercussions that can arise from an earlier choice.

I can't wait for the final book in the series, Air.

This is by far the most shocking book so far in the Elements quartet. The series explores the impact of sexual abuse from interesting and surprising angles and this novel goes to entirely new dark and twisted places. This is really tough and upsetting to read. But this is not gratuitous, as Boyne explores evil and whether it is born with a person or caused by trauma inflicted on them. I enjoyed the way Boyne plays with who society expects to be good and bad and how these labels are exactly what can help an abuser hide in plain sight. This quartet is intelligent and thought-provoking and I look forward to the final novel, Air.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

This third book in John Boyne’s acclaimed Elements quartet is by far the most disturbing – and unfortunately the least convincing. His main theme is the same – rape and abuse, the consequences for all concerned, and how the abused can become the abuser – but here he takes it one step too far and stretches both credibility and credulity. It’s not necessary to have read the two earlier novels, although I recommend doing so, not least as incidents and characters reoccur, but also to see how any nuance has now disappeared and the perpetrator in Fire is simply too extreme to be believed. Freya Petrus is a successful and renowned consultant and surgeon in a burns unit, leading an apparently enviable life. But she is deeply damaged by what happened to her at the hands of two teenage boys when she was 12 and has spent her life taking revenge for the hurt she suffered. She does this by destroying the lives and well-being of any teenage boy she can persuade to fall to her charms and exults in their downfall. She suggests that she has managed to wreak her vengeance on possibly hundreds of innocent young boys – which begs the question how she manages to get away with it for so long, considering the boys’ ages. Did not one of them report her? Yes, I know we have become used to stories of such abuse not being called out on, but nevertheless, it still seemed to me to be unlikely. Freya is a deeply unsympathetic character and any sympathy we might have had for her due to her earlier experience of abuse soon dissipates in the almost farcical way she punishes others for her own hurt. In the earlier books the reader could have some modicum of understanding as to why the perpetrators acted as they did. Their crimes are familiar. Here there is no understanding, just revulsion. I also found the actual abuse she suffered, with one particular incident being again almost farcical, not conveyed convincingly enough. Overall I feel that Boyne could have usefully reined in his imagination to better effect, and thereby created a more powerful narrative.

Freya is a successful, respected surgeon working in a hospital burns unit. She's unmarried, childless and lives life her own way. She drives an expensive car and home is a fancy apartment in an affluent development. To outward appearances she's a strong, independent woman. However, as a child she experienced a trauma. The question now is: did that trauma shape her into the person she's become or was it always her destiny regardless? Inside Freya there's a darkness that's cruel and dangerous.

Fire is the third novella in John Boyne's 'Elements' series and my favourite to date. The theme of nurture versus nature is explored. Freya is a fascinating character who appears to be paying the world back for what happened to her as a child. She knows her actions are illegal and abusive but has a craving inside that can't be satiated. The novella is excellent. Boyne has a knack of sucking you in until you're completely immersed. The story is immensely disturbing yet totally gripping. A fantastic read.

I had read and enjoyed Water and did not see the second book Earth come out so I read tgis one, Fire out of order but I would suggest that doesnt matter. I HADNT realised there was actually a connection at all.
John Boyne gets better all the time. The novels immerse the reader in a little piece of the world that seems absolutely real and absorbing. Without flowery description he manages to set scenes and hold the reader in a landscape as realistic as any around you. The main protagonist here is a complex character and readers may feel she is very unsympathetic but she is interesting for all that. And what a topic to pick right now with gender critical discussions abounding, cries of misogyny rampant, he could have thought this topic would be too incendiary for the times. But like any decent writer he wrote it anyway and forces us to consider how we feel about things this way around. It isnt comfortable but it is compelling.

I found this to be an incredibly difficult and unbelievably uncomfortable read. This is by far the darkest of all the Elements books so far but still fantastically written and without a doubt a 5 star read. I love this series, how it makes you think about stuff you’d really prefer not to, but that they’re short enough not to completely overwhelm you. Can’t wait for Air to be published in 2025 although gutted the series will then be over!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I am a massive fan of John Boyne and of the other novellas in this quartet so was over the moon to have been approved to read Fire on NetGalley. It did not disappoint and I read it all in one sitting. Boyne‘s writing style is addictive, always leaving you wanting more, both from chapter to chapter and beyond the final page. Fire follows Freya, a talented young burn-trauma surgeon, and asks the question as to whether at all or to what extent trauma justifies trauma. It is a fantastic exploration of the roles of victim and perpetrator, of guilt and of justice in continuation of these themes‘ exploration in Earth and Water. I cannot wait to see what Air will bring in May 2025!

Fire tells the story of Freya who is linked to the second in the series: Earth as she was on the jury during the court case. Freya is a burns specialist in a hospital so we see her in her everyday life helping those with severe burns but also she holds quite a secret about a little hobby she indulges in her spare time.

I love these little novels and how their theme is always engrained into the character perhaps with their profession or even, as in the case of Earth, in their dreams and aspirations. They're a character study into motives and traumas, a deep dive into the life of strange individuals that escape the island or run to the island that was described in the first novella.

A fascinating character driven novel, my favourite kind and the added bonus is they're always short enough to keep your interest!