Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Трябва да те предам by Ruta Sepetys

21 reviews

mattythebookworm22's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

padawan17's review against another edition

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

autumnal_moon's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, War, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Violence

ashylibrarian'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? 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

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

dark informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and War

Minor: Antisemitism, Deportation, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

kristeo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Torture, Emotional abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, and Death

shesreadthat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Genocide, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Antisemitism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Violence, War, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Gun violence

jessgreads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Stalking, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Child death, Torture, Grief, Death, Confinement, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infertility

britt281's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, and War

kimb2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a work of fiction, but really details the horrors the people of Romania had to endure under the Ceaucescu regime.  It shines a light on the human condition.

Imagine living in a place where no one can trust anyone because anyone can be an informant.  Imagine living in a place where the electricity in randomly cut off, where people work on stop and if they aren’t working, they are standing in line for rationed items.  This isn’t in WWII, this is in the 1980’s!

The story outlines the plight of the Romanian people and in particular the young people in the lead up to and during the 1989 revolution.  This book was so eye opening, gripping, raw and chilling.  I couldn’t put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence