Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

78 reviews

phouka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Child death, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, War, Antisemitism, Hate crime, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Murder, Medical content, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, and Abandonment

maddyy_orourke's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Wow. This book is incredible.

I read this when I was 10, and I thought ‘oh, cool’, not knowing what happened in the end and not understanding the naïvety of Bruno and the situation he was in. A couple years later, I analysed the book for an English project in high school. And I discovered the amazing way that James Boyne has told the story. 

A very strong aspect of the book is its symbolism. For example, Bruno misspelling words in the book (Führer = Fury / Auschwitz = Out-with), implies his dramatic naïvety in the concentration camps. This is just one example, there are many more.

I found this book quite entertaining, but very sad. Knowledge about concentration camps is needed to read this and understand what is happening properly. Definitely recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Child death, Genocide, and Slavery

Minor: War

brittneyhelen_'s review against another edition

reflective sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Confinement, Genocide, War, Death, and Child abuse

chireadsandchill's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Violence, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, War, Bullying, Death, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Slavery, Hate crime, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

bejeweledmeli's review against another edition

Overall not great writing or especially deep. Why tell from the nazi perspective if you’re not going to explore the parents that ultimately make the decisions. The movie was actually better 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Genocide, Murder, Violence, War, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Death

exhaustedmumma's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Antisemitism, and Torture

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Child abuse

autismandniamh's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, War, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Read this book by yourself. Read this book to children. Keep this book on library shelves and in classrooms. Recommend this book to a friend. 

Though this is a work of fiction, it very easily could have been non-fiction, and it is important that the world as a whole never forget the holocaust. 

Read. This. Book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Hate crime, Death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Infidelity

readiculousreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Absolutely devastating, but so brilliantly written. To come at this issue from a child's perspective, who lacks any understanding of the political situation happening around him, and being able to see his natural inclination against the violence of certain characters and his love and curiosity about other people is heart wrenchingly beautiful. 

Big warning to parents, this might be an especially hard read for you. It had me absolutely weeping for the entire last chapter, but I have no children. Trust me when I say it will hit harder if you do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Bullying

lucylaws14's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Gun violence