Fire is dark, disturbing and brilliantly written. I won’t go into any more detail on the plot as I wouldn’t want to give anything away. For me, at the centre of this novel is a complex moral debate, John Boyne has written sympathetically about a difficult subject, and at times Fire was difficult to read. But I read it in one sitting and was hooked throughout. I had different reactions to Freya. What the manipulative adult Freya does is unforgivable and terribly sad. What happened to the child Freya was also very sad and damaging. The story then throws up questions - to what extent could I as the reader seek to understand or find an explanation for the actions she took as an adult. How much were her actions as a child a result of what happened to her? I also found it interesting that when the adult Freya lost control of a situation, was she a victim at in the new dynamic? What made the other party act as they did? Again back to the nature/nurture debate. Having read Water and Earth I enjoyed the references to these previous stories, and also to the wider themes of earth, water, fire and air. Another brilliant book from John Boyne, and I can’t wait to read Air.

Fire is the third in this Elements series from John Boyne and this one really dials up the disturbing factor. Burns specialist surgeon Freya is brilliant at her job, and she knows it. With that comes an arrogance and aloofness that keeps people at a distance, which is just how she like sit as it also leaves her free to dabble in a very dark and disturbing past time. Weaving together a past and present story to try and go some way to explain Freya's actions, we also get glimpses of the two previous stories - Water and Earth and I really enjoyed how they were all subtly linked together.

I absolutely love John Boyne’s writing and wow oh wow did this book deliver! This felt so different to any of his other books for me in that he wrote from the POV of someone soooo dark and twisted. It was honestly making me wince!! The fact he did so much and there were so many layers in so few pages was just incredible. The pace of the book was great and although I wanted more because I am so greedy for his writing and characters, it was absolute perfection in length, every page was used for something and the twist and layers were just amazing. Every character in this book was just so complex and wow Freya was mind-blowing in how messed up she was. I was really wincing when reading some of her parts, especially the bits with the different boys. Although I understood what she went through with her own mum was not ideal and the treatment she received from Pascoe and Arthur was awful, her behaviour was just insane! As with all of the stories in the quartet so far I absolutely loved how they all gently link together but how the element acts so integral to the part of the story. I quite literally bow down at John Boyne’s intelligence. This book is just one I am absolutely desperate to talk about.

In Fire our narrator is Dr Freya Petrus, an accomplished and dedicated burns specialist. At just 36 years old she is recognised in her field, has a plush apartment, drives a sports car and lacks no material needs. Freya has no close friends; no real warm relationships in her life. She is curt with her staff and somewhat stand-offish. She’s probably closest to her secretary/assistant, Louise who is about to retire. When her intern, Aaron, asks her why she chose burns as her specialism she responds: ‘The elements destroy everything. Think of water. When someone drowns, and their body floats back to shore, their features are so bloated it can be difficult to identify them. Think of earth. When a body is buried, it starts to decompose immediately. Think of air. If we’re deprived of it for even a few minutes, we die. Then think of fire. When someone’s physical appearance is damaged by burns, we turn away, repulsed. We don’t want to know.’ Outwardly cool and composed, Freya’s exterior persona conceals a burning inner rage that eats away at her. She is inflamed by the fire of retribution and as she states starkly early in her narrative: ‘A doctor in the burns unit should know better than to play with fire.’ Freya had a difficult childhood; abandoned by her mother, Beth, who was a teenage mum. She was brought up in Norfolk by Hannah, her grandmother, herself only 36. Every year, Freya was sent to Cornwall to stay with her mother for the summer. Beth, however, didn’t want to know her daughter. She was more interested in whichever boyfriend was in tow at the time and Freya always felt as if her mother wanted her to turn round and go home as soon as she arrived. Left to her own devices she runs into the older twin boys who are 14 to Freya’s 12 and whose father lives in a nearby grand house which is undergoing renovations. Pleased to have someone to talk to Freya does her best to fit in with the twins, even to the extent of pretending she agrees with everything they tell her. It is her eagerness to please and her need to have friends that stops this very young and girl from realising just how cruel these boys are. Boyne raises the nature or nurture debate, but there’s no doubt that what happened to Freya that summer coloured who she became. And she became a monster. Fire is a dark book and as with the previous two, continues the theme of damage and abuse and how this impact on the characters in these books. Though you can read each as a stand-alone, reading them in order allows you to see that there is one character that features in every book and that another character hands the baton on to a character in the next book. This link is both deliberate and fascinating. Is John Boyne telling us that like seeks out like or demonstrating that victims will, more often than not, become the perpetrator? Or perhaps that the ripple impact of abuse brings it closer to us than we care to imagine? This device evokes echoes of Freya’s response to why she chose burns ‘When someone’s physical appearance is damaged by burns, we turn away, repulsed. We don’t want to know.’ That’s also true when we confront a perpetrator of abuse. Do we not also turn away, repulsed? How many of us want to know what brought an abuse victim to turn perpetrator. How much sympathy would we have for them? Then there’s the issue of gender; abuse is not solely confined to the male species. Fire is a read that you will not find comfortable. 12-year-old Freya’s horrific experiences shaped her adulthood. Her lack of parental care and concern also helped shape who she became. It’s impossible not to feel so sorry for her, but that leads us to wonder how much we can also feel sympathy for her subsequent actions. It’s appropriate, too, to remember that it is Freya who is telling this story. How much of what she tells us is designed to make us feel sympathy for her? Verdict: As ever John Boyne’s writing is sharp, succinct and very challenging. Long after I had finished reading, I’m still thinking about it. Fire is a powerful and thought-provoking work with depth and nuance. Utterly compelling and I can’t wait for Air

This is the third in John Boyne's elements series of short novels. I found this one to be very disturbing, as Freya seems to have no conscience at all. She had a terrible childhood, and this theme of a damaged child - (does it excuse later behaviour? ) is examined in the book. The writing is concise and never becomes gratuitous. I loved the text messages sent by George which showed his immaturity. It's hard to say more about the plot without giving spoilers, but there were a couple of parts which stretched credulity. The links between the three novels so far are becoming more obvious. I had to re-read them all again to find the links I had missed. I hope that all the threads are pulled together in the last book, Air. Sadly I will have to wait until next year to find out. It is always a treat to read a John Boyne - I loved this. Thank you to NetGalley for my free review copy.