Insightful look into the struggles of people in communist Romania

I went into this book already having read Ruta Sepetys' books before and this one did not disappoint. At first the book was a little bit slow but it's understandable considering the scene had to be set, and communist Romania is something that is rarely written or even talked about. For knowing virtually nothing about communist Romania, the book was relatively easy to understand and I liked how little details were incorporated into the book (chapter numbers were in Romanian, the teachers at school were called "Comrade Instructor", etc.). It was really eye-opening to see how the Securitate could get literally anyone to help inform on others, even if it was through manipulative methods. I loved the ending of the book, and Bunu had to have been the best-developed character; he was my favorite. The central character is a teenager, Cristian, and it's a new perspective to see historical events such as the Romanian Revolution through, when a majority of books use older characters. Given the title, I assumed a betrayal would happen sooner or later, and oh boy, I was in for a roller coaster of emotions. The book was overall good, and I don't regret reading it, but I felt like once the action got going it happened quickly and the ending also came faster than I expected. I liked how the author showed the effects of oppression on each of the family members and how it caused tension in their family. I also loved how there were pictures included at the end of the book, they referenced events, places, and people mentioned in the book. The ups and downs that Cristian felt realistically affected his actions/life and the paranoia he felt consumed me too. Every time a new character was introduced I was considering the possibility of whether they were an informer or not. Overall, it was a well-done book, that helped me learn about the Romanian Revolution.