All I can say after reading Ruta Sepetys' new YA historical fiction novel is wow! This story impressed me from the very start. I am a huge fan of Ruta Sepetys in general and have loved her other historical fiction novels. This one centered on a time period in Romania when Nicolae Ceaușescu established a dictatorship and ruled the nation through brutality and fear. The protagonist of the novel, Cristian Florescu, is a 17 year old boy who is blackmailed by the secret police into becoming an informer who must betray those around him. However, he plans to undermine the secret police and resist the brutal regime. This novel is fast paced and thrilling, and I could not put it down once I began reading it. Some parts of the novel are very tough to read because they are very emotional and gut wrenching, but this story is such an important one. The author manages to shed light on a time period in history that is barely talked about, and you could tell that Sepetys did a great job throughly researching this topic. I loved this novel and would recommend it to everyone. It is a hard story to tell but I am so glad that Ruta Sepetys shared this novel with the world, so that no one will forget what took place in Romania during the brutal dictatorship of Ceaușescu.