I have yet to be disappointed by a Ruta Sepetys novel. I'm always in awe of the way that she can find little known periods of history and make them come alive.
I Must Betray You is set in Romania in the 1980s. Unlike most of the other books I have read by Sepetys, this one was set during my lifetime. I also grew up in the 80s, so I was constantly comparing what my childhood was like versus what it was like for these kids in Romania. And wow, it's just crazy that this was going on in Romania while I was living my free and happy childhood in the United States.
This story is told from the point of view of Cristian, a young man who has been blackmailed to be an "informer" for the communists and spy on the son of an American ambassador. Cristian does not want to do this, but he has no choice. He never has a choice in anything that he does, and the same goes for every other person living in Romania at the time. The book really paints a clear picture of the atrocious conditions the Romanians were living under with extreme limitations to their personal rights and freedoms.
Sepetys writes with such clarity and purpose. She dives into these hard stories and doesn't shy away from the truth of what happened but still makes them easy to read and devour. I thought this one had a little less action than some of her other books. Much of the book is setting up the conditions in Romania and how these people were forced to live, but I found it to be equal parts fascinating and horrifying. I'm so grateful for the chance to read this and gain a better understanding of a part of history that I knew nothing about.
I Must Betray You is set in Romania in the 1980s. Unlike most of the other books I have read by Sepetys, this one was set during my lifetime. I also grew up in the 80s, so I was constantly comparing what my childhood was like versus what it was like for these kids in Romania. And wow, it's just crazy that this was going on in Romania while I was living my free and happy childhood in the United States.
This story is told from the point of view of Cristian, a young man who has been blackmailed to be an "informer" for the communists and spy on the son of an American ambassador. Cristian does not want to do this, but he has no choice. He never has a choice in anything that he does, and the same goes for every other person living in Romania at the time. The book really paints a clear picture of the atrocious conditions the Romanians were living under with extreme limitations to their personal rights and freedoms.
Sepetys writes with such clarity and purpose. She dives into these hard stories and doesn't shy away from the truth of what happened but still makes them easy to read and devour. I thought this one had a little less action than some of her other books. Much of the book is setting up the conditions in Romania and how these people were forced to live, but I found it to be equal parts fascinating and horrifying. I'm so grateful for the chance to read this and gain a better understanding of a part of history that I knew nothing about.