I Must Betray You

Written by Ruta Sepetys

Narrated by Ruta Sepetys and Edoardo Ballerini

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A gut-wrenching, startling historical thriller about a young man in communist Romania who dared to resist the spy network that devastated a nation, from the award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray.

* "Sepetys brilliantly blends a staggering amount of research with heart, craft, and insight in a way very few writers can. Compulsively readable and brilliant."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL

Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: either betray everyone and everything he loves, or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?

Master storyteller Ruta Sepetys is back with a historical thriller that examines the little-known history of a nation defined by silence, pain, and the unwavering conviction of the human spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9780593502280

Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys (Detroit, 1967) es una escritora americana especializada en el género histórico de ficción.

Reviews for I Must Betray You

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

n 1989 17 year old Christian lives under the iron fist of Nicolae Ceaușescu in Bucharest, Romania. His family and his friends’ families are often cold and hungry especially in the winters in their small concrete flats. But family and friends are everything, right? Why, then, is Christian’s mother angry at his grandfather for having cancer and why is there no medicine for leukemia?

Christian’s mother is a cleaning lady at the residence of the American ambassador. Christian agrees to make friends with the ambassador’s son and do some small reconnaissance spying at the residence in exchange for his grandfather’s medicine.

But once the line is crossed, Christian is asked for more and more spying assignments on his schoolmates, friends and family – each assignment presented with an iron fist with no way to refuse the request. As Christian becomes deeper in the web, he identifies that those around him are also spying on him – and Christian begins shutting them out of his life. But although he is truly surrounded by spies, he often has them misidentified.

As the rest of the Soviet Union falls, eventually it becomes Romania’s time for revolution. But who can be trusted? Who is speaking truth? Christian believes even his own family report his movements, but can that possibly be true? There seems to be no room for both freedom and safety.

This is promoted as a YA novel, but I found it an engrossing history of the time immediately preceding and the events during Ceausescu’s downfall. I’ll definitely be looking for more of Ruta Sepetys’ historical fiction.

[lacy_007 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such an interesting and well-written book about something I knew absolutely nothing about. When I read that this was going on in the '80s, I was taken aback. How could something that atrocious have been taking place not that long ago? It was a sad read but also inspiring. The people of Romania are fighters and they fought hard for their freedom. The author also lists several resources about this time period in Romania in the back of the book which I appreciate and plan to look into.

[evatkaplan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

EXCELLENT. audible. good writing, very informative

[foggidawn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's 1989, and life under Communist rule is all that 17-year-old Cristian Florescu has ever know -- but even he knows that there are some very wrong things happening in his home country, Romania. The food lines, the constant surveillance, the cold apartments in winter . . . his parents are silent shadows of themselves, his beloved sister grows thinner and thinner, and his grandfather is dying of cancer. When he's approached by a state agent and told that he's to become an informer on the son of the American ambassador, he agrees, but only if he can get medicine for his grandfather. As the Iron Curtain falls and countries around Romania gain their freedom, Cristian struggles with what he's been told to do, and longs to make a difference, to show the world what life in Romania is like.

This is a deeply impactful story, especially for those, like me, who remember the fall of the Berlin Wall and other events surrounding the fall of the Iron Curtain from childhood news stories, but don't have much real knowledge of what conditions were like in Romania under Ceaușescu. Sepetys' writing style is always strong, and the setting and characters are vivid as the plot moves toward revolution. Historical fiction fans, especially those interested in this period and region, will be rewarded to consider this book.

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After I read Rita Sepety's book, Salt to the Sea, I knew that I wanted to read every book she wrote! I was lucky enough to be working in my new library's sale room when my replacement came in with all of her books!!! I quickly bought this one, her newest and three others, Out of the Easy, Between Shades of Gray and The Fountains of Silence. This book is about Romania and the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. Something that I knew nothing about. This author is excellent at writing about a time in history that makes you want to read additional books to learn even more. Highly recommended.

[fionaanne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got this from the library and my elderly father tore through this before I had the time to read it; he does not usually read fiction so I knew this would be good and I was not disappointed.

[niquetteb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This young adult novel surrounds a teenage boy stuck in 1989 Romania at the height of the country's revolution. The drab and disparate setting is well described.

[smorton11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved I Must Betray You and am so glad that Ruta continues to write about young people dealing with tremendously terrifying, yet real, life circumstances. In I Must Betray You, she sheds light on Romania at the end of the 80s under a regime that has only one comparison in 2021 - North Korea. Cristian is a remarkable new hero to add to her pantheon of amazing characters.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ruta Sepetys is a master at taking often overlooked historical events and turning them into moving masterpieces of young adult fiction. They are fast paced, well researched, well written, and filled with characters that readers instantly connect to. I Must Betray You is about the last few months of the communist Romanian regime through the perspective of a teenaged boy. He is forced to turn spy on an ambassador's family to get lifesaving treatment for his grandfather who is dying of leukemia. It makes him ill - but he tries to keep the upper hand. At home he writes in his hidden notebook about the atrocities that go on everyday and are treated as normal. The way other people live in the world can't be real.... right? He knows Romanians have it bad, but he doesn't realize how bad until he sees what an American considers normal. Fresh fruit, Disneyland, color photos, refrigerators - those exist in real life and not just for millionaires. Christian's world is rocked by that realization and life will never be the same. I am a history major and I learned soo much about their history. This is wild to think that this was only three decades ago!!

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book gripped me. I felt like I learned a lot about Romania in the late 1980s. The book captured the feeling of being paranoid and not knowing just who was watching and spying on you. Cristian is approached at school with information that he has participated with contraband. He is given a deal to report on the US Ambassador in exchange for medicine for his ill grandfather. Their family like many of the everyday people in Romania is suffering, not enough to eat, having to wait in lines for hours each day for basic necessities.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm going against the trend when it comes to "I Must Betray You" but I don't think it lived up to the standard I was expecting after reading some of Ruta Sepetys' other novels. Ms Septys has certainly done her research and clearly captured the corruption, poverty, mistrust and desperation that was taking place in Romania in the 1980s, but I found the plot repetitive and slow.

I admired Christian's courage and what he endured after being arrested at the protest was truly horrific, but I never felt emotionally connected to him or any of the other characters. Overall, an interesting read but not one that I was really invested in.

[dara85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This carefully researched historical fiction is the story of Romania's fight for freedom, in the late 1980's. The author interviewed many people who lived through this period. At the time, Romania was ruled by communist leader Nicholae Ceausescu. His countrymen lacked food and electricity was intermittent and the people were cold. To get what they needed they bartered with packages of cigarettes. Many people were made to inform on their neighbors, friends and even their own family. They were ruled by fear. At the end of the novel Romania follows East Germany and other countries behind the Iron Curtain and begins a revolution at the cost of many citizens lives. The incidents in this book are true. The author created the characters for the story.

[deslivres5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ruta Sepetys weaves her magic again. YA historical fiction which opens our eyes to a not so well known history from the point of view of a teenaged protagonist. This time, we get to learn more about Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu in the late 1980s right before the Revolution. Full of heartbreaking glimpses of living under a cult-like totalitarian leader who had Romanian people living in horrid conditions, so many things forbidden and not trusting anyone because much of the populace was forced into keeping secret tabs on each other.

[hawaiianmermaid701 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another amazing story from Ruta Sepetys!! She has one if the most engaging voices in YA I've ever read. She has this amazing ability to make me care deeply about her characters immediately and then puts them ( and me) through the emotional ringer. I can tell that her stories are very well researched and make me want to explore more, and dig deeper into her time period she is writing about, while not seeming like she's lecturing you. Her characters are well developed and Christian was one of the most compelling characters I've ever read. I only wanted good things for him and I was terrified to finish the story, but desperate to see what happens next. I liked the inclusion of government case files about the characters, and the mystery trying to figure out which name was who based on the information we knew, or thought we knew. It kept me hooked from beginning to end, and I can't recommend it enough!

[lindsay_w_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really captures the tension of the time and the desperation of the Romanians under their ruthless leader. Meticulously researched and well-developed characters.

[zachmontana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exceptional book! Bought this for my 12 year old, who raved about it. Despite living thru the period of the story, I was not very familiar with Romania or Ceausescu, so I read it and found it a compelling read for adults too. This historical fiction really brings to life the evil, inhuman world these people lived in. The author is an amazing writer who does extensive homework and then builds stories that represent the lives many people lived with lots of philosophical thoughts and lessons which are timeless, like her use of Socrates quote: , as a lesson to the main character from his grandfather. That these kind of brutalities are still happening in our "modern civilized world" in places like Seria, North Korea, Russia, and now Ukraine are depressing to think about, but if we don't learn history and try to take lessons from it, we humans seem to continue to relive the same horrors.
To quote Ruta Sepetys: "when adversity is drawn out of the shadows and recognized, we ensure that human beings living under oppression - past and present-know they are not forgotten"

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Powerful story of the oppression of Romanian citizens under the rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu.

Set in 1989, the story follows the day-to-day life of 17-year-old Cristian Florescu. I never realized the extent to which paranoia and fear ruled their lives. You never knew who was an informant. Your best friend? Your sister? Your girlfriend? Ceaușescu first isolated Romania from the rest of the world. Then, by recruiting (often blackmailing) informants, he isolated citizens from each other. They knew their homes were bugged so were not even free in their own homes. I just could not imagine how confining it was to live as they did.

And while Ceaușescu and his family lived with wealth surrounding them, the Romanian citizens lacked food, electricity, all the things we take for granted.

Cristian plots to undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe. Can he do it? Cristian and his friends were true heroes. They risked their lives to let the world know what was going on in Romania. Cristian dreams of being a writer someday, but Romanians had little chance of fulfilling their dreams. I could easily feel the mental anguish the characters endured day after day. When the Revolution began, I was on edge, afraid to turn the page. Afraid to know what happened next.

I also got a better understanding of Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America. It was only through their broadcasts that the citizens of Romania learned that the Communist nations around them were crumbling.

The book is well written, and it is obvious that the author did a lot of research.

I received this book from The Book Club Cookbook for review, but all thoughts are my own.

[jenniferforjoy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Recommended: yes, it's Ruta
For Ruta's trademark history that's ignored by American schools (mine at least...), for a story of true events told in one possible existing story, for revolution and oppression and determination and risk, for a bite-history of Romania's not-so-distant past of becoming their own country again

Thoughts:
As are all of Ruta's young adult historical novels, this is very thoroughly researched in many different ways, from conversations with people who lived during the time to artifacts from it to written works about it and so much more. It really shows in the details of the story how Ruta learned about Romanian's lives. After finishing reading this, I really appreicated the notes at the back with details about references within the book. I was so curious about the woman who dubbed so many western films, and found a name to start my own research into her some more.

Even though the Romanian revolution was violent and the rampant fear and tension is evident, the story itself is not too painful. The hardest parts for me to read were when characters discussed the awful things done in the prisons, which would definitely need some sensitivity if reading this book in a classroom. Still, the story carries on forward, and just like life won't stop for horror in one's own life, neither does the story. To be honest, it was almost a bit strange that this book wasn't harder to read considering it's topic. The gravitas felt somewhat limited at times, and while that made it a less taxing read, the feeling of the situation is critical for me.

Much like Cristian, I had no idea who to trust. At times I was so overwhelmed that I thought wildly, WHAT IF EVERYONE IS A SPY! so I cannot even begin to think of how it felt to live in that time. I absolutely would have been the boy revealing his secrets in the classroom under stress. The atmosphere of the book is captured perfectly.

There's also a very quick pace to this book. Cristian is made an informer by probably page 5, so there's really not much waiting around for tension or mystery or suspense. As I somewhat mentioned earlier, the speed helps mitigate the pain of remembering that though this precise story is invented, the details really are not. This all happened, and so much more. For me, the reflection after the story is where I really set in to my emotions while thinking about all I'd learned.

One strange disconnect I had was that the narrator, Cristian, is seventeen years old. At no point in the story did I feel like he was seventeen; I usually had him in my mind as probably 14 or 15. There could be a few reasons for this, and ultimately none of them particularly matter since it didn't especially skew my reading of the story. There were a few moments where his immaturity seemed like an early teen instead of an almost-technically-adult, but people are stupid no matter what, right? He might have felt so young because I'm getting farther away from 17 every day. Maybe it's because in his lifetime, there was so much that he had never experienced, like eating fruit: so yes, of course he's going to seem young and inexperienced to me, an avid eater of kiwis.

If you've read any of Ruta Sepetys' other works, you'll find that this is very much in the same vein as her historical YA. And if you haven't yet, you're in for a nice discover.

Thank you to Bookishfirst for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review!

[terran_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an extremely well-researched book about what life was like in Romania in the 1980s under Communist rule. I particularly liked that it is told by Cristian Florescu, a 17-year-old Romanian student. He is forced to become a spy in order to obtain medicine for his ill grandfather, but he also works to avoid helping the government for which he is spying. The living conditions and the distrust among Romanian citizens is appalling, and I appreciate the detail that the author supplies. Even though this took place 40 years ago, we should be aware of how people suffered and are suffering still elsewhere in the world. An epilog provides additional factual information about Romania and some of the ways Radio Free Europe and ex-pat Romanians kept citizens informed about world events.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OMG! Ruta has done it again! Ruta Sepetys allows us to live in history, which is the best way to learn it. Romania becomes so real and brings tears and heartache to the reader as we see how humanity suffers from power. I highly recommend listening to the excellent reader, which is how I experienced the novel. I remember the Cold War and how we feared Russia in regards to nuclear war. I also remember 1989 when freedom came to so many repressed people who didn't know what freedom even meant. I think it's important to read, to know what power can do to a society, especially considering what is happening with Ukraine right now.

Cristian lives in Romania, one of the most repressed societies during the Cold War, led by Nicolae Ceaușescu. Fear. That emotion rules every moment. Know you are being watched. Know you are being informed upon. Know you have no safety. Cristian would like to be a writer, but writing the truth can mean death. He hides his notebook that possesses jokes, truth, and thoughtful pondering about life in Romania. Hide. How? Everyone informs. You have to be clever. It's 1989, Cristian lives with his parents, his sister, and his grandfather in a small apartment. Because Romania is Communist, everyone equally has nothing. The apartments are drab and small. There's no money. Discretionary spending does not exist. Life means going to work and standing in line. You could stand in line for three hours for one can of out-dated food. Everyone is equally hungry. Christian's father says little; he's beaten down by life. Cristian's sister worries constantly, telling Cristian to trust no one. She works, experiencing the degradation of being female in a country that values females as creating future good Communists only. Cristian's mother epitomizes the word fear. She hates the radio playing Free Radio Europe; she constantly tells the family to be quiet--someone will hear their jokes; she cautions them constantly. Cristian's grandfather fears nothing. He finds himself dying but has never been silenced. He makes, what the government would say, are inappropriate and treasonous jokes. He wants Cristian to believe in more--to believe that one day, freedom can exist.

The novel opens in November of 1989. Cristian's name is called; the secret police want to see him. He has committed a crime. He traded with a foreigner and received a $1 bill. He will be tried and convicted........unless he agrees to be an informer. Cristian's mother works for an American diplomat. As Cristian often walks his mother home, he needs to find a way to become friends with the diplomat's son and learn what the Americans are doing. Cristian discovers a whole new world. This American exudes friendliness and has no concept of fear. He recognizes that they are watched and microphones are everywhere yet doesn't quite realize the extent. Cristian learns about America and sees the library that anyone can go to. No one in Romania would go--you would be reported and be in trouble. Force rules Romania. Seeing what exists outside the country would be illegal. One other event happens to set off the story. The girl Cristian has a crush on starts hanging out with him.

Between the chapters about Cristian and what's going on with you, you get the security reports written by the secret police after Cristian's meetings. You discover what Cristian doesn't know about the extent of the surveillance being done on him, which increases the suspense.

As November flows into December, life becomes its most dangerous. Listening to Radio Free Europe, they learn that countries are slowly becoming independent, leaving Communist Russia. Could Romania be next? How do you overthrow a leader who has informants literally everywhere, where force and fear demand compliance? The suspense builds as informants narrow Cristian's life more and more. Can he hide his notebook? Can he be someone who helps liberate Romania? Can his death create life for his country and those he loves?

I loved this novel. It brought tears to my eyes so many times because I remember the joy of countries finding their own identities and leaving Russia and backward-ness behind, embracing freedoms they didn't know existed. I remember Ceausescu. To know how bad their lives were breaks your heart. Ruta makes this history so real with her outstanding research. Read this novel; live this world for a few hours and realize that a free society is fragile. Fear. Control. They are enemies to freedom. The note at the end of the novel answers questions you may have about the characters. Don't stop here--read all of her novels to learn "first hand" about history.

[theloislevel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A few tropes of the modern YA genre might pluck your nerves, but this book is still well written and mostly believable. It certainly gives me a view of what people who are literally my age (I was 22 in 1989) were going through, and I was riveted.

[surlysal_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautifully written historical fiction about the brutal period of communism in Romania. I knew very little about the Romanian revolution and was captivated once again by Ruta Sepetys’ storytelling. You might not be able to trust anyone in I Must Betray You but you can trust Ruta to craft something remarkable.

[clp412 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fantastic author and I loved learning about 1989 in Romania. A fantastic book.

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I Must Betray You, Ruta Sepetys, author; Edoardo Ballerini, narrator
This author has a knack for bringing interesting history, not often widely known, to the young adult audience. She writes with a style that is easy for them to identify with and enjoy, as they learn about different cultures and ways of life. This story is brutal, however, and probably needs to be read with appropriate guidance. Romanians lived through almost two and a half decades of a dictatorship that robbed them of their ability to think, speak or move about freely. They were under the yoke of the rule of sadistic monsters who lived high on the hog while the citizens scrounged for their basic needs and feared for their lives almost every day because of the ruthless, draconian rules. The world leaders, as they did during the Holocaust, chose to overlook, or turn a blind eye to simply not see what was really occurring in Romania. The reality they believed they witnessed and the leaders they welcomed, did not reveal anything, whatsoever, that had anything to do with the real brutal life there or the suffering of its people. Creature comforts were unavailable. Food was scarce. Enemies were everywhere, driven to terrible behavior by a drastic need to get something to help them to survive. Betrayal became commonplace for all.
Using a teenager able to think for himself because of the encouragement of his free thinking, independent grandfather, who became a victim of this horrific dictatorship, the author reveals the artificial shroud surrounding every citizen of the country, as almost everyone had eyes on everyone else. It was impossible, however, to protect oneself. Because of the awful conditions, people, friends, family members, betrayed each other to gain some benefit, so small that it could be for a pack of Kent cigarettes that could be used to bribe corrupt, sadistic officials in order to get some extra access, even for a bit of cooking oil or something so important like lifesaving drugs. Women were used as baby machines, men were work horses, children were brainwashed with propaganda, but fear is what conquered an entire population. People were arrested, people disappeared, people were beaten and tortured and there was no one to turn to for help. From the time the vicious, uneducated Ceausescu’s and their followers took over, until their executions, life was brutally and shamefully almost unsurvivable in Romania, and largely unknown to the rest of the world.
The story is told through the eyes of Cristian, a 17-year-old who has never known any other life than that under the Ceausescu’s. When he is suddenly called to the principal’s office and questioned by the Securitate, he is forced to become an informer, partly to save his grandfather from his life-threatening illness, and partly to save himself and his family from punishment. It is almost impossible to obey all the rules, so most people secretly disobey some. He has been turned in for possessing a foreign stamp and an American dollar. He does not realize how many informers there are in his country, nor does he understand that almost everything he and his family does is written down in a file and stored to be used to coerce them into obedience. They have no secrets. He has no idea who is really watching him, but he knows that someone has betrayed him. Whom can he trust? It turns out that he can trust almost no one, and almost everything he does is illegal.
In a country that has no heat in the winter, little food, erratic electricity, starving dogs that attack humans for sustenance, and no exposure to the outside world to compare their lives with the lives of others, Cristian suddenly learns about life elsewhere when he meets the son of the American family his mom works for as housekeeper. Now he learns about the secret police in his own country and all that he has to fear and do to stay safe.
When the Romanian Revolution finally takes place, it overwhelms the establishment, as the citizens, students and military finally rise up to face the demons who lived in the castle while they lived the life of cavemen. Still, supporters of the government held on even after the Ceausescu’s were gone, and for years after, corrupt elements of society ruled the country and its people so they continued to suffer.

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Trigger Warnings: blackmailing, manipulation, revolution, shooting, police brutality, government oppression

Set in late 1989 communist Romania, 17-year-old Cristian is forced to become an informer by the secret police in exchange to help his family. While he deals with the guilt and paranoia of being an informer, Cristian also risks everything to let the world know what is happening in Romania. But what is the cost of the revolution?

As usual, another section of history I didn’t really know anything about until Ruta Sepetys wrote a book about it and now I’ll be doing a ton of research about it this weekend. I was in middle school and high school in the 2000s, so I kind of understand why I probably never really learned much about this if they didn’t unseal files for 15 years… though I do remember learning about Nadia Comăneci leaving the country? But I don’t remember Nicolae Ceaușescu or the horrors of his regime.

Rita Sepetys is one of my favorite authors - if she writes it, I know I’m going to read it, get immersed in a new part of history I probably wasn’t aware of, and learn something new. I know Sepetys does a ton of research on each of her books, and this one is no different. She lets you know it is a work of fiction, but that a ton of research went into the novel and then she lists resources at the end of the book. Knowing how much research was done for this and matching it with a narrator who captivates the readers - I couldn’t put this book down.

The chapters were mostly short and a quick read, but that matched with the franticness of Cristian’s life. You slowly see his eyes opening to the fact that what his country is doing to him and his countrymen is not right and how much they had been lied to to keep them in line. You felt the same suspension he felt as he tried to figure out who he could really trust.

Please read this book (and other titles by Sepetys as well) and learn about an aspect of history that most likely wasn’t taught much in school in a way that’s well written and well researched.

[ang709 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys became a must-read author for me. The way she brings history to life captivates me, and I love the way she highlights lesser-known aspects of history. Consequently, I had high expectations for this book. It didn't disappoint!

This novel was tense and heartbreaking, and I couldn't put it down. Cristian could have been any seventeen-year-old, thinking ahead to university and crushing on the girl next door. Unlike most teenagers, though, he spent hours each day in line just waiting for scraps of food. He dreamed of tasting a banana. Because of the cold in winter, he didn't take his coat off, even inside the house. He lived in a climate of fear, distrust, and paranoia where he himself was forced to become an informer. Worst of all, he had no hope for a better future. Even so, things were beginning to change in other Communist countries, and Cristian was determined that those changes should come to Romania too.

This was a suspenseful read, often sad, but sometimes triumphant. I highly recommend it.

[techeditor_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At a neighborhood picnic last summer, one of my neighbors introduced himself in his accented voice and said that he's from Romania. "Have you heard of it?" he asked.

I was surprised he asked me that and said, "Of course!"

He told me that most people he talked to in the United States didn't know that Romania exists, let alone its history.

And that is why Ruta Sepetys wrote I MUST BETRAY YOU. People need to know about Romania and its little-known history, in particular 1989, when, after many years of Communist rule and Stalin-like repression, its citizens finally revolted and overthrew Ceau?escu.

But I MUST BETRAY YOU is historical fiction. It is about a 17-year-old boy, Cristian, who lives in Communist Romania and takes part in the revolution. While Cristian is fiction, the history is fact.

Cristian lives with his family in a concrete apartment block, where the Communist rulers have decided they and their neighbors should live. Communist rulers make all decisions; there is no freedom. There is also very little heat and electricity. And no one can trust anyone, not even their own family members.

Just before Christmas 1989 Cristian hears that others are revolting, and he joins them. Many years later, when archives are accessible, he learns hard facts about his family, facts they felt were necessary for their safety under Communism.

Although I MUST BETRAY YOU is classified as a young adult novel, Sepetys is known as a crossover author. That is, adults as well as young adults read and enjoy her books.

As an adult, I can honestly say, I found this book both interesting and unputdownable. And that, from me, says a lot. I have not enjoyed young adult books since I was 13. I resisted reading Sepetys's other books for that reason, but now I will.

I won this book from bookishfirst.com.

[anniekmd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4.5 stars. Life under a tyrant dictator!
This is a well-written young adult book set in Bucharest 1989, leading up to the Romanian Revolution. It follows Christian, a 17-year-old high school student as he tries to deal with the difficulties of living in a repressive society under communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. With the Securitate (secret police) watching him and informants everywhere, no one can be trusted. No one. We see how this strains Christian's relationships with his friends and family.
Though not a teenager myself, I was immediately drawn in to and engaged in the story. It was very interesting (and heart-breaking) to learn what life was like for ordinary Romanian citizens. The book wasn’t overly political, and I got through it quickly. Highly recommended.
Thank you to the author and publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.