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John Boyne, author portrait
Photo:Barry O'Donovan·CC BY-SA 3.0·
Commons

John Boyne

Irish
Born 1971
John Boyne is an Irish novelist and writer. He is the author of sixteen novels for adults, six novels for younger readers, two novellas, and one collection of short stories. Boyne's historical novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2006) received critical acclaim and was adapted into a 2008 drama film of the same name. As of 2022, the book has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 58 languages, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. A sequel, titled All the Broken Places, was published in 2022.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed 2 of John Boyne's books, including The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and All the Broken Places.
2
Books Reviewed

In John Boyne's own words

Author John Boyne discusses the premise of 'All the Broken Places' and addresses criticisms of 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' on Ireland AM.

Uploaded by Virgin Media Television, 2022 · Watch on YouTube ·

Also in this interview

On All the Broken Places

On The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

In order

John Boyne books in order

21 books; 2 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.

  1. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas cover
    2006
    The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
    Our review →
  2. The Thief of Time cover
    2007
    The Thief of Time
    Amazon ↗
  3. Next of Kin cover
    2009
    Next of Kin
    Amazon ↗
  4. The Dare cover
    2009
    The Dare
    Amazon ↗
  5. The House of Special Purpose cover
    2009
    The House of Special Purpose
    Amazon ↗
  6. The Absolutist cover
    2011
    The Absolutist
    Amazon ↗
  7. Noah Barleywater Runs Away cover
    2012
    Noah Barleywater Runs Away
    Amazon ↗
  8. The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket cover
    2013
    The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket
    Amazon ↗
  9. Stay Where You Are And Then Leave cover
    2014
    Stay Where You Are And Then Leave
    Amazon ↗
  10. The Boy at the Top of the Mountain cover
    2016
    The Boy at the Top of the Mountain
    Amazon ↗
  11. The Heart's Invisible Furies cover
    2017
    The Heart's Invisible Furies
    Amazon ↗
  12. A Ladder to the Sky cover
    2018
    A Ladder to the Sky
    Amazon ↗
  13. My brother's name is jessica cover
    2019
    My brother's name is jessica
    Amazon ↗
  14. A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom cover
    2020
    A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom
    Amazon ↗
  15. The Echo Chamber cover
    2021
    The Echo Chamber
    Amazon ↗
  16. Penguin Reader Lvl 4 Boy Striped Pyjamas cover
    2022
    Penguin Reader Lvl 4 Boy Striped Pyjamas
    Amazon ↗
  17. All the Broken Places cover
    2022
    All the Broken Places
    Our review →
  18. Earth cover
    2024
    Earth
    Amazon ↗
  19. The Dog Who Danced on the Moon cover
    2024
    The Dog Who Danced on the Moon
    Amazon ↗
  20. The Elements cover
    2025
    The Elements
    Amazon ↗
  21. The Weight of Angels cover
    2026
    The Weight of Angels
    Amazon ↗
Cover of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

4.6/5

reader rating · 34,544 ratings

John Boyne's novel follows Bruno, the nine-year-old son of Auschwitz's commandant, and his forbidden friendship through the camp fence with Shmuel, a Jewish prisoner his own age. A multi-award-winning classroom staple praised for its child-eye narration, it is also persistently criticized for historical implausibility — a powerful fable best read with that debate in view.

Reviewed Sep 13, 2026

Cover of All the Broken Places
All the Broken Places

4.6/5

reader rating · 35,569 ratings

All the Broken Places is a historical fiction novel by New York Times bestselling author John Boyne — a sequel to his book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas — that follows Gretel Fernsby, now 91 years old and living quietly in a London mansion block, as the arrival of a new family forces her to confront decades of buried guilt over her father's role as commandant of a Nazi extermination camp, her own complicity, and her part in her brother Bruno's death.

Reviewed Apr 27, 2026

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Authors Like John Boyne
Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak

Fiction
Markus Zusak's The Book Thief also explores Nazi Germany through a child's innocent perspective on atrocity, framed by the narration of Death.
1 book reviewed
The Book Thief
William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger

Fiction
William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace uses retrospective narration to reckon with childhood loss, moral culpability, and the lifelong cost of staying silent.
1 book reviewed
Ordinary Grace
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Heather Morris

Historical Fiction
Fiction
Heather Morris's The Tattooist of Auschwitz draws on a survivor's testimony, taking readers inside the camp fence that John Boyne's historical fiction viewed from outside.
1 book reviewed
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
A

Ariel Lawhon

Historical Fiction
Fiction
Ariel Lawhon's The Frozen River shares John Boyne's focus on moral courage under social pressure, crafting historical fiction filled with meticulous period detail.
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The Frozen River
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Georgia Hunter

Historical Fiction
Fiction
Georgia Hunter’s We Were the Lucky Ones explores Holocaust survival, shifting from a single child's viewpoint to follow an entire Polish family scattered across continents.
1 book reviewed
We Were the Lucky Ones
Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys

Historical Fiction
Fiction
Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea offers devastating, YA-accessible wartime storytelling, following four young people fleeing toward the Baltic in 1945.
1 book reviewed
Salt to the Sea