So while Cristian is processing everyday life as a teenager, his narrative about civilians being under constant surveillance, poverty, propaganda, and torture, is filled with emotion. This story's historical and social accuracy is incredible – and the author’s ability to combine the narratives of witnesses, survivors, and experts is exceptional. In I Must Betray You, Sepetys gives an account of the events from the fictional perspective of 17-year-old Cristian.

Survivors were left with physical, mental, and emotional trauma. And while dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu died on Christmas Day of the same year, it left 1000 Romanians dead, including 100 children. While other countries in the Warsaw Pact used civil resistance to overcome Communism, Romania’s revolution was marked by violence and ended horrifically and brutally. Set in Romania in 1989, this compelling novel tells the story of the last country in the Eastern Bloc to escape the grip of Communism. That was until I read Ruta Sepetys historical novel I Must Betray You. In reality, the fall of the USSR happened when I was one – but as a fourth-generation Australian born of English descent, this was intangible to me. While I didn’t love how the book ended, once reading the author’s note and history in the back of the book (don’t forget to do that!!) it all made sense as the type of writing choice I Must Betray You needed.In this novelisation, New York Times best-selling author Ruta Sepetys recounts recent history about the 1989 Romanian Revolution.Īs a child of the 1990s, the Cold War seemed distant to me. The intensity of the second half unleashed the betrayals, the riots and moments of clarity. I would have loved a bit more character development for everyone to really feel attached to them. His touching inner monologue of wanting more and suffering because of it, but then finally being able to reach a path that would lead to hope. I liked Cristian as a main character and his heartfelt desire to do right by his family and also do right by himself. The short chapters kept the book moving steadily as the tension increased on a country tired of being held back. The visceral depictions of fear and oppression was at times hard to read. They continually inspire me to look up more information and learn even more about the subject.Ī bit slow paced in the first half as we watched Cristian go through the day-to-day life of what it was like in communist Romania. I also love that most of her books are from more niche areas of history that I don’t know a lot about. One of my favorite things about Sepetys as a writer is her clear effort in researching the history of whatever book she’s writing. Thank you to publisher, PenguinTeen for an eARC.

I must betray you chapter summaries