Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Musím tě zradit by Ruta Sepetys

16 reviews

megatza's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Genre: historical fiction

Bucharest, Romania 1989

Cristian Florescu is a normal teenager , a dreamer who wants to go to university. Except a normal teenage boy in Romania in 1989 isn’t just mooning over teenage girls: he’s also watching over his shoulder, wondering who may be listening and reporting him to the government. He and his family live in a tiny apartment, and his parents wait in long lines for food and household goods after long shifts at work. When a government agent accuses him of treason for having an American dollar, Cristian makes a bargain to spy on the son of the American diplomat in exchange for medication for his ailing grandfather. No one outside of Romania knows how truly terrible the living conditions are. But there is unrest in the streets, and the country stands on the cusp of a revolution. 

This book is a brutal gut punch - graphic and heart wrenching, and important to read. The fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe happened within my own lifetime, and I have very vague memories of events in the early 90s. Having just spent two weeks in Poland and Hungary, this also hit a bittersweet chord for me. I spent several hours (and wished for more) at the Solidarity Museum and Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. In 1970, people lost their lives in a strike, and in 1980, the Solidarity Union began the decade long bloodless revolution to bring democracy to Poland. This is mentioned in half a sentence in I Must Betray You. In Hungary, dictatorship looked a little different, but the devastation of the Uprising in Budapest in the 60s had echoes around Eastern Europe as well. We think of those things as a distant past in a faraway land, but they really aren't.

Ruta Sepetys has a gift of bringing out the human side of terrible tragedies. This book is YA, because it centers around 17-year-olds, and she presents the story of the revolution in Romania through the eyes of a teenager. But it's dark and difficult because life was dark and difficult. There are sparks of hope, of course. Don't assume that because this is YA that it's dumbed down. Sepetys is meticulous in her research and depiction. Don't sleep on this, or any of her other work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jazzsonnet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Stalking

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

arthomas's review against another edition

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

dale_in_va's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Felt real and touching.  Kept you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.  Truly a YA book because it centers on a High Schooler...part of me wishes that there was more insight into the college age people of the era, but I guess I will have to read another book for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and War

mformato's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

An exciting and fast paced story. I had no predictions for anything because it was full of twists and turns. I enjoyed being able to see inside of history, Sepetys really cares about accuracy in her literature. To know that the living conditions of this story were real is heartbreaking. I also like how the story wraps around if you go back to the prologue after reading the end.

Not a full five stars because of personal reasons. I felt like there was a lot of telling rather than showing in the beginning. Also Cristian felt a little too American for the story. Plot points happened a bit too much out of convenience.

But overall I enjoyed the story and would recommend the book to someone who enjoys reading about revolutions, noir, and an undying spirit of hope in a hopeless land.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emerald_reader's review against another edition

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

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

mpbookreviews's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

mvilter's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and War

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Gaslighting

an_everyday_penguin's review against another edition

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