Happy New Year! What an intense way to start the year's reading. Wow, this book... I remember reading it perfectly; it's one of those stories that stays with you and never leaves.

You're absolutely right that the narration from Bruno's perspective is what makes it so powerful and painful at the same time. That innocence with which he describes terrible situations breaks your heart because, as you rightly say, as an adult reader, you gradually understand all the horror and tension behind it (including the part about the mother, which is a very powerful detail) while he only sees a friend. I loved reading your review!