Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

14 reviews

arthomas's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Torture, Chronic illness, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, and War

rmfickfack's review

emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Police brutality, Gore, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Violence

emerald_reader's review

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Gaslighting, Confinement, Blood, Death, and Deportation

c_serpent's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was very well written. However, the first 60% were just <i>constant</i> fear, oppressive and claustrophobic observation, and paranoia. Honestly, it was almost impossible to get through.

When the actual revolution started, and everyone was being tortured and shot and dragged around by police and imprisoned, things were actually happening, and even if they were horrible things, it became possible to continue the story. Anything is better than just paranoid obsessing over whether or not your family and friends are betraying you. (They always, always are.)

This book was well written, and it was hard to get through, and I didn't enjoy it. I'm gonna give Sepetys another chance, because her writing is great. But boy howdy. Wow. I'm glad this book is done.

Three stars for Cristian and Liliana. Two stars have been removed because this book might have shortened my lifespan.

Total score: 3/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, War, Blood, and Genocide

kennyscoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Not my favorite book by this author but still stunning, sad, and raw just like her other novels. It pulls back the curtain of a country that the West continues to pass over during a horrible time in its past. 

The book becomes violent at 75% of the way through but the tense, stiflingly environment the characters live in is clear from the start. I thought the main character was good and gave a good POV to follow through the confusion and struggle of 1980's Romania. The plot twists/information reveals had me gasping several times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Death, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Excrement, Mass/school shootings, and Blood

kimveach's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a fascinating story of Romania in the late 1980s under the dictatorship of Ceausescu.  Under Ceausescu's system, many people became informers.  It was a country where no one could be trusted, including your friends and family.  We've heard about the orphanages, but this young adult story tells more about what happened to the rest of the people living there.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Genocide, War, Cancer, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

padawan17's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Confinement, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Antisemitism, Addiction, and Child death

nora_knight's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Ruta Sepetys writes some of the most beautiful and important books I've read, and this novel is no exception. Sepetys crafts a haunting yet inspiring story of Romanian suffering under communism and the incredible courage of their young people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Death, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Genocide and Terminal illness

an_everyday_penguin's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical trauma, War, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Death, Torture, and Murder

ashylibrarian's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Ruta Sepetys does it again with an amazingly crafted historical fiction, uncovering the hidden history of Romania. I wanted to cry, laugh, fight, and escape while reading. 

I reread this book for a work book discussion I host with one of our high schools, and it was even better the second time around. I Must Betray You is haunting, heartbreaking, and powerful. The characters all have such important parts to the plot and are each uniquely their own with their own secrets.

As a book discussion group, we were able to talk with a teacher who had been living in Romania under the communist regime as a teenager, and she said that this book is 100% accurate to the events that occurred. It was horrifying to hear that, but I am also always so impressed with the research, detail, emotion, and perspective that Sepetys puts into her novels. She easily remains one of my favorite authors of all time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Classism, Death, Murder, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence