Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Трябва да те предам by Ruta Sepetys

68 reviews

abby_reads_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.5


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tays_books's review against another edition

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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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hkropp77's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0


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gabrielab's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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emeraldelephant's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad 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


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jessgreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Title: I Must Betray You
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: Bucharest, Romania
Month Read: February 2022
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2022
Publisher:  Penguin
Pages: 336



TRIGGER WARNING- 
Murder / Illness / Genocide / Hunger / Abuse (there are more, but these are the bigger ones)




"WILL YOU REMEMBER ME? A boy with wings of hope.
Strapped to his back.
That never had a chance to open, denied Forever knowing,
What he could have become. What we all could have become."







No Spoiler Summary:
I Must Betray You is a historical fiction book about the Romanian Revolution in 1989. You follow Cristian, a 17 year old who is blackmailed into helping the Government against his will, and he decides that the only way in which he can survive this morally corrupt act is to burn it to the ground from the inside. 







Review:
I'm blown away by how good every book Ruta Sepetys writes is.  Every time I pick one up, I think that this can't be as good as the last novel, and every time I am speechless once I have finished because she has done it again. 


I went into this book barely knowing where Romania is, never mind having any slice of historical knowledge about the country. I think it is absolutely wild that school in the United States barely touches on the Iron Curtain, and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late 1900s. How several countries were filled with dying, starving, walled off communities similar to what I assume we're being told is happening in North Korea nowadays. 


This book is dark, but the moments of hope are such bright spots, and I think the love story subplot was absolutely necessary to keep you from being so incredibly sad the entire book. I think Cristian is SUCH a great character, and an amazing narrator for this novel, in particular, and I was also THRILLED to see Nick Van Dorn (a character in her previous novel, Fountains of Silence.) 


If you love, or even like, historical fiction- this is for you. If you want to know about a history you've likely never heard of, this is a great book to learn from. It's technically billed as YA, but her books can 100% be read by adults. This book is fantastic. I'd also listen to her on the podcast: The Book Review by the New York Times. It was a great 20m or so of listening to her talk about this book, and also touch upon some of her others.




See more reviews at:  https://jessgreads.wixsite.com




"Sorrow. Anger. An expanse of emptiness that takes form as a separate entity living inside of you. It digs, takes root, and dwells there. And somehow, you know that even if it worms its way out, there will be no relief. If it leaves, there will be nothing left but charred remains, like the inside of a house torched by fire."


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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring 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? No

4.0


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madsmcw_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.0

Ruta. Sepetys. This woman is an historical fiction queen. The thing I love about Sepetys is she takes moments in history that don't get a lot of attention and brings them to the forefront. Her books are so throughly researched that I feel she really does justice to the people who lived through these events.

 In "I Must Betray You" she tackles the lead up to the 1989 Romanian revolution told through the eyes of a teenage boy. You can feel the fear and paranoia, confusion at why they had so little when the rest of the world had so much, and the disbelief when you found out your closest friends and family were informing on you. This book is so good but I had to read it in small doses because of how uneasy it made me feel.

While this is technically a young adult book it doesn't read like it's intended for a young audience. If you enjoy historical fiction and like reading about lesser known times in history this is 100% the book for you. I can't wait for Ruta's book and to see what era she tackles next.

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library_kb's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Ruta Sepetys has done it again--created an absolutely immersive historical fiction story around a part of history I had never learned about before. This is definitely a hard story--if you aren't good with descriptions of violence and gore, it probably won't be for you, but if you can handle this hard topic, it is a must read. 

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juliacarp's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is absolutely my favorite book of hers that I have read. It was incredibly interesting, incredibly sad, and incredibly deep. I never really knew much of the subject matter, and I did end up looking more into it. I found the characters loveable and they had so much depth. I think that she did a really good job covering the topics and making the setting how she described. I already love her writing and I think it was even better than before.

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