The Elements series by John Boyne is a collection of four novellas – Water, Earth, Fire, and Air (Release Date: 1st May 2025) – each representing the four elements found in nature. Earth is #2.

It’s the first day of a sensational trial. Famous footballer Evan Keogh stands accused of filming his fellow teammate and friend, Robbie Wolverton, having sex with a teenage girl. They claim it was consensual, she says it wasn’t. This is Evan’s story.

#1 Water contained some dark themes – Earth is progressively darker and bleaker. The prose was John Boyne’s usual high standard – immersive, poetic and lyrical, and I loved the way he utilised earth and water in his writing. The directions the plot took were twists I did not see coming. Evan’s character played a peripheral role in Water. He had grown up on the never-named island Willow (the main character in Water) fled to, located somewhere off the Galway coast of Ireland, and Earth answered some burning questions I had regarding his appearance in the first instalment. Five years have passed since the events of that one, and in the current timeline Evan is twenty-two, with flashbacks to the intervening years, aged 17-22. 

Be advised that the content warnings listed below contain major spoilers for this novella, and the series overall. I only include them because the crimes perpetrated in this book will be very triggering for some readers.