Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

84 reviews

kalyn_c's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Physical abuse

jayvdw's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

The book asks the question of how did the Holocaust look like through the eyes of a German child. And the book delivers on this! It was so interesting to read the spoiled german child trying to make sense of this bizar and horrible but sadly real moment in history. 

I did take quite a while for Bruno to actually meet the boy in the striped pyjama. But this time is not wasted and used to really make the reader learn and understand who Bruno is and how he sees the world. 

I believe this book is a great way to teach teenagers about the Holocaust or to introduce the topic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, and War

werepsyche's review

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

1.0

ah yes!! i love to spread extremely dangerous misinformation about a horrible tragedy!! anyway, don't read this book, and stop teaching it in schools. there are so many other books that are accessible to school-age children that are way better suited for genuine education than this book. people don't know enough to understand that this is purely FICTIONAL and pushes really harmful stereotypes and ideas that german civilians were completely ignorant of what was going on when they DEFINITELY WERE. the diary of a young girl, once, hitler's canary... DOZENS of other books that people could be teaching about the holocaust with but they chose the work of fiction that propagates really dangerous fallacies. hate!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and War

riyaa_'s review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, and Antisemitism

hokulani_'s review

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

i’ve always found it hard to imagine people in the past, the way they are described in textbooks is always very dry. it’s not like they’re actual humans, just people that existed and i never know about their personality or anything. this book helped me imagine living in the past. i’m not at the age where i’m being taught about ww2 yet (im american), so i have a very basic knowledge of the holocaust. 

this book doesn’t really inform about the whole holocaust, why and how it happened, etc. since bruno is only 9 and, well, is not being told the whole picture. but it does capture the emotional side very well. it describes how sad the people on the other side are and some of the torturous conditions they go through. i’m pretty sure there’s a movie based on this book too, so i might check that out. 

i’m very grateful to have read this book. i will say though that you don’t actually meet the boy in the striped pajamas until halfway through, and the whole first half is just  (sorta spoiler-y? not really? idk)

bruno’s life moving away from berlin.

july 2 2024

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

iluvshelby's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Genocide

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

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

Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, and Abandonment

maddyy_orourke's review

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

Minor: War

brittneyhelen_'s review against another edition

reflective sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

chireadsandchill's review against another edition

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