City News

     I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, is a historical fiction book. The book centers around Christian, a seventeen year old boy who lives in Romania. This book takes place in 1989, and tells the story of how Romania was finally liberated from communism. We learn about Christian’s home life, and how hard everything is being government property. From waiting outside in the cold for hours to receive 2 jars of expired beans to unreliable electricity in his family’s apartment, the poor standard of living in Romania is evident.  Christian’s family is very split- his grandpa, or Bunu, is anti-communist and wants to speak out against the horrors of living as a government's pawn. On the other hand, his mom is so scared to speak out, she follows all the rules and doesn’t allow for hope of a world without communism. Christian’s older sister named Cici stays in her lane, but something starts to become off with her throughout the book. At home, Christian is very limited on what he can say. In Romania at the time there was no free speech, and each apartment was tapped with government bugs to listen in. Each Romanian citizen had a government official who would spy on them and then report what they were saying to the government. When Christian gets his hands on a U.S. dollar bill, this creates trouble for him, because the government officials see all. He gets called in during school, and the official strikes him up a deal, to become an “informer” or suffer the consequences. Christian knows how much power these officials have, so agrees to become an “informer” and become a spy for the communist regime. Christian’s mom works as a house cleaner for the Van Dorn, the U.S. ambassadors for Romania, and Christian is sent to spy on their son, Dan. Christian is left with a very difficult choice to either betray everyone he loves and is close to, or find a creative way to undermine one of the most evil communist dictators in Eastern Europe. 

     I could not put this book down, and ended up reading it in a day! Ruta Sepetys is an amazing author who figures out the perfect way to blend the historical and tragic side with romance and adventure to keep the reader engaged. She does a great job of not sugar coating the horrific events that happened during this time period, but keeps it light enough to be able to love reading the book. I learned so much from this book and I think this is a great read for teenagers and adults. 

     I am rating this book a 10/10. I thought that this book was perfectly written. It was so cool to have read a book through someone’s eyes and that would describe what a day to day life was in a communist country. I fell in love with all the characters that were fighting for what was right. There were so many different plot twists that happened throughout the book and kept me intrigued and wanting to know what was next. I totally recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, a touch of romance, and high stake adventures!

Check out I must betray you from NBPL!