Believable characters in an unbelievably true historical setting

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kristiew Avatar

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I'm super excited to have won this in a Bookish giveaway! I have read a couple of Sepetys's books prior to this one and loved them.

I thought this was another strong story based on historical facts from Sepetys. She does a fabulous job of researching her stories and creating characters who could be real people. I love that her characters have believable thoughts and actions.

This story took place in Romania in 1989, during the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Our main character, Cristian, is blackmailed into becoming an informer. We follow Cristian as he decides what to tell and what not to tell. We are privy to some information that the secret police are receiving that Cristian does not know about because he is not the only informer. No one knows who they can trust and everyone is trying to stay alive without betraying their fellow countrymen. It makes for a very good story as the reader tries to figure out who is also informing and what will happen to each of the characters.

I really enjoyed getting to know Cristian and his friends and family. It is heartbreaking to know that there are so many people people that really lived through this and have stories that would be very similar.

Thank you to Bookish and Penguin Teen for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.