Reviews with content warning for Torture - Трябва да те предам

One of the best books I’ve read since a while. I set up my own expectations towards it pretty high based on the reviews and I was certainly not disappointed. Although throughout the entire book we read about sufferings of entire nation the writing and very short chapters make it so much more digestible to get through. Personally, I love almost lyrical style of the author and the way narration just flows naturally. The characters are lovable, each in their own little ways, and especially Cristian as a main character stay very authentic in his thoughts throughout the entire story.

Even though in the end I hoped for more depth of the plot and descriptions of daily lives in the oppressive system I think the way it was described was just enough from the main character’s point of view at 17 years old. The last few chapters gave just the perfect closure to the entire story and made me want to read more books of that specific genre (and definitely more of Ruta Sepetys’ books!).

Content Warnings

jberg216's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. This book was heartbreaking and beautiful. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know about the horrors in Romania before reading this. I knew they were behind the Iron Curtain but did not know how terrible the regime was. The authors note stated that 1 in 10 Romanians were informers at that time. I can’t imagine the terror of not knowing who to trust, including family members, classmates, or neighbors.

My sister grew up during this time and it’s harrowing to know as she was living a privileged American childhood, these things were happening not so far away in Europe.

Even though the book is fiction it’s amazing to see how the young people kept the spirit of hope and revolution to change their country. It sounds like it was a long road but things are better today.

I thank the author for telling this story. I look forward to reading more of her work and learning more about this time in (fairly recent) Romanian history.

TW- murder, genocide, dictatorship, torture

Content Warnings

iris_bookmonster's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative tense medium-paced

Content Warnings

nbeckham's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

Really interesting read about a topic I knew nothing about. I think it really works as a YA. I do think the ending was kind of rushed? And too many of the chapters end with some version of “if only I knew then what I know now” that was overused a bit. Overall showed the daily oppression of the Romanian regime in the late 80s and what a big deal the Iron Curtain falling was. I think this would be a great book for a high school world history class. Invites a lot of discussion.

Content Warnings

mdinkle1's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

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

4.25

Content Warnings

More...