This book was intense and emotional, but it was also compulsively readable. Like, I read it in one day readable. I was nervous that the writing style would be very unapproachable, but really it was the opposite. I totally felt immersed in the world our MC, Cristian, was living in.
A little more about that - Cristian is 17 in 1989 Romania. I didn't know anything about this?? But apparently their dictator in those times was literally insane, as was his wife, they had like 3rd grade educations but were ruling the country under extreme communism and had other countries fooled that there was nothing wrong...
Like, all the neighborhoods were torn down, and concrete apartments were built in their places. The apartments were one bedroom, and one unit to a family, no matter how many people were in a family. Cristian lives with his sister, mom, dad, and grandfather in his one bedroom apartment. When the neighborhoods were leveled, all the pet dogs were abandoned, and now they roam in packs of strays, literally killing people? Like, it's pretty astounding to read.
There's all this stuff Cristian has never had before. A Coke, a Twinkie, a freaking banana... and this is in 1989! Like just imagining where American teenagers were at culturally at the same time is a wild comparison. Everything in Romania is about contraband - they trade all kinds of things, they collect cigarette packs and cartons to trade for everything - better medical help is literally bought with cigarettes. Cristian notes that people are pretty rich in Romanian currency, generally, but that doesn't matter because there is never anything on the store shelves. Every single day someone from the family home has to line up in the supply lines, but they never know what they are going to get - one dad Cristian's dad stands in line for hours and gets a can of beans, two years expired.
The actual plot of this book follows Cristian as he is forced to become an informant for the Romanian Securitate. They've got dirt on everyone and basically someone on every single corner is working for the corrupt government, because there's literally no way to NOT do what they say unless you want to like, die for real. Dan is the American kid he's forced to report on, but who he forms a pretty decent friendship with. Liliana is his crush he gets to know better. Luca is his best friend. But the worst part is, he can't trust any of them, because they could be informants, but he also has it in the back of his mind that they can't trust him, because he's an informant.
This book is mostly just informative, but in a really accessible way, but it's also about the power in numbers, the strength of the human spirit, but also the strength of a dictatorship and how simple it is for citizens to be worn down by oppressors even when from the outside you think it's preposterous that they'd allow such treatment.
There are plot twists, heartbreaking moments, and it's overall a great story and I think it would do great for a read in social studies or english class, but also just a read for anyone who likes to learn about other experiences, teen or adult.
A little more about that - Cristian is 17 in 1989 Romania. I didn't know anything about this?? But apparently their dictator in those times was literally insane, as was his wife, they had like 3rd grade educations but were ruling the country under extreme communism and had other countries fooled that there was nothing wrong...
Like, all the neighborhoods were torn down, and concrete apartments were built in their places. The apartments were one bedroom, and one unit to a family, no matter how many people were in a family. Cristian lives with his sister, mom, dad, and grandfather in his one bedroom apartment. When the neighborhoods were leveled, all the pet dogs were abandoned, and now they roam in packs of strays, literally killing people? Like, it's pretty astounding to read.
There's all this stuff Cristian has never had before. A Coke, a Twinkie, a freaking banana... and this is in 1989! Like just imagining where American teenagers were at culturally at the same time is a wild comparison. Everything in Romania is about contraband - they trade all kinds of things, they collect cigarette packs and cartons to trade for everything - better medical help is literally bought with cigarettes. Cristian notes that people are pretty rich in Romanian currency, generally, but that doesn't matter because there is never anything on the store shelves. Every single day someone from the family home has to line up in the supply lines, but they never know what they are going to get - one dad Cristian's dad stands in line for hours and gets a can of beans, two years expired.
The actual plot of this book follows Cristian as he is forced to become an informant for the Romanian Securitate. They've got dirt on everyone and basically someone on every single corner is working for the corrupt government, because there's literally no way to NOT do what they say unless you want to like, die for real. Dan is the American kid he's forced to report on, but who he forms a pretty decent friendship with. Liliana is his crush he gets to know better. Luca is his best friend. But the worst part is, he can't trust any of them, because they could be informants, but he also has it in the back of his mind that they can't trust him, because he's an informant.
This book is mostly just informative, but in a really accessible way, but it's also about the power in numbers, the strength of the human spirit, but also the strength of a dictatorship and how simple it is for citizens to be worn down by oppressors even when from the outside you think it's preposterous that they'd allow such treatment.
There are plot twists, heartbreaking moments, and it's overall a great story and I think it would do great for a read in social studies or english class, but also just a read for anyone who likes to learn about other experiences, teen or adult.