I've been meaning to read a Ruta Sepetys book for a long time & so glad I started with this one. Set in the 1980's during the horrifying Ceausescu regime in Romania, the story follows teenage Christian & his family. This book really kept me reading long into the night. I could really feel the terror Christian & his family faced. Standing in line for food, not trusting your friends or relatives...it's a life hard to imagine. This book was even more horrifying to me than a lot of the WWII books that I have read because this was happening during my lifetime & I mostly had no idea. All I mostly knew about Romania was Nadia Comeneci!
Wonderful pictures & further reading ideas at the end. I am now eager to read all of Ruta's books. They are labeled young adult & teens can definitely relate to the main character, but this is a book that everyone should read, especially in light of currrent events.