Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Musím tě zradit by Ruta Sepetys

21 reviews

ana_maria5's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

quirkyaquarian's review against another edition

dark informative tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Not as good as Salt by the Sea, but I still learned a lot about Romania and was captivated enough to finish it in 4 hours. Characters could’ve been more fleshed out and some of their relationships were rushed. It also felt overly dramatic (but that’s fine for a YA book) and I genuinely disliked most of the characters unfortunately. The tension created was immaculate though and I enjoyed the varying writing formats. I’m very curious to know the truth contained in the files.

Cici was done so dirty though. Cristian is incredibly hypocritical and yet he never has to answer for it? It’s very clear she paid the price with her body and yet only a sentence is dedicated to acknowledging that trauma?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Excrement

theliteraryagenda's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Grief

Most of the gore and violence content comes in the last half of the book, once the revolution begins. It is easy to skim over if necessary.

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a good account of a teenager’s view of Soviet-era Romania. I didn’t know much about the time period and it was surreal learning what they went through. I like how the author clearly aims for authenticity and has a really thoughtful note at the end. It reminded me of why I love historical fiction and of it’s capacity to bring future change. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Torture, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

kimveach's review against another edition

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

oceanwriter's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I Must Betray You is the second book I've read by Ruta Sepetys and, my goodness, I was not disappointed.

Following seventeen-year-old Cristian, we are brought into the communist regime in Romania during the late 1980s. After being caught accepting a gift of American currency, he's forced to become an informer, mainly focusing on the American family his mother works for. He has to choose between friendship and his life as well as his family's.

The story has a strong focus on friendship and the difficulties of maintaining relationships in a place where nobody can trust anybody, even their own families. Cristian's grandfather speaks more openly about the corruption he's seen, causing extra worry about listening devices and agents breaking into their own. Cristian already suspects someone close to him has been informing on him given how much the agent who recruited him seems to know.

Through his American friends, Cristian is able to get an honest look at life in America rather than the lies the government has been feeding them. He realizes they have fridges full of food, wait in lines voluntarily, and is mystified by the existence Disneyland. What's more, is that he finds a photograph of Nicolae Ceaușescu visiting this place. Meanwhile, Romanians are being forced to suffer and live in isolation and fear. Cristian starts to think that maybe he can start to use his role as an informer to his advantage in an act of resistance.

This is an emotional, twisty, action-filled story about a time so overlooked in history. I thought I was well-versed in the Cold War, but this book has taught me otherwise. I never knew they suffered so much as a nation. The end of the book has a number of photographs and quotes from this time which added a lot of context to the story. And though it was fast-paced, it didn't miss a beat in terms of plot or being able to connect to the characters.

I loved this book as much as I loved The Fountains of Silence if not more. I'm looking forward to reading more from Ruta Sepetys. I'm officially hooked!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, and War

unforgivenparrot58's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism, Torture, Excrement, and Pregnancy

tays_books's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexual assault and Excrement

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark informative tense fast-paced

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

4.0

You can always tell that Ruta Sepetys does her research for any of her historical fiction novels. She also tends to highlight moments in history that aren't usually taught in schools, at least in the United States. I had no idea about the state of things in Romania in 1989, and Sepetys just has a writing style that pulls you in and keeps you invested until the very end.

Pretty much anything foreign was forbidden in Romania at this time, and the sense of being watched permeates throughout the majority of the novel. The reports between chapters throughout help to add to this idea that Romanian citizens were never quite sure who to trust; their neighbors, their family members, their friends could all be informants for the Ceaușescu regime. The reports also show how closely all of the citizens were being watched. Sepetys adds a bit of mystery to the story by having Christian try to figure out who informed on him. But in a society where everyone could be a suspect and you can't talk freely, it's not so easy to figure out.

This might be historical fiction, but it definitely has aspects of a thriller as well. I'd definitely recommend reading the author's note at the end because it also gives context for the novel and why Sepetys was inspired to write this particular story. 100% recommend this to any fans of YA historical fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

maddiet425's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Alcohol