Due to be released in February 2022, I Must Betray You takes readers into the life of 17-year-old Cristian Florescu, who must become an informer to save a life of a family member. Guilt and paranoia consume him as he tries to find a balance between providing sufficient information to the agents, and protecting his friends and family. As the Communist regimes are overthrown in neighboring countries, Cristian hopes that he can hold on and that a revolution will soon begin in Romania.

Sepetys masterfully captures the tension and fear that Romanians felt. Their inability to trust anyone was conveyed through the number of characters that are discovered to be informers. It's also evident through the inclusion of excerpts from Cristian's files. These are notes that an agent wrote after their meeting. During their meetings, Cristian often feels confident and that he is gaining the upper hand on the agent. However, the files serve as dramatic irony to show how mistaken Cristian is.

The only criticism I have of the book is the perspective in which it is written. It is written as if Cristian is recounting his past, and there are many parts that start with "If only I knew..." or "I just didn't know it yet." All of this seemed unnecessary to me. The events and dialogue created enough suspense and dread on their own. I felt that by doing this, a reader's ability to make predictions was vastly underestimated, and they almost seemed to interrupt the story more than anything.

Despite this minor complaint, I Must Betray You will be an excellent addition to a secondary classroom library. I will recommend it to my students in 8th grade and up, especially those who are interested in historical fiction or dystopian fiction - since the oppression was so extreme and the need for freedom so severe, students interested in the latter genre might be interested in this book too.

Note: There are graphic scenes in the book that might trigger readers who have experienced physical or gun-related trauma.

Ruta Sepetys does such an amazing job drawing attention to historical episodes that aren't part of the traditional narrative taught in history classes: in this case, Romania during the fall of the Iron Curtain. This is what people are afraid of when they say they are afraid of communism: a world that resembles a dystopia as much as anything written as fantasy. She is a must-read author of YA historical fiction, and I recommend her titles to adults as much as I recommend them to kids.

That said, as I read it I kept thinking that this title felt like her most accessible for younger YA readers. While necessarily violent, the romance is subdued compared to some of Sepetys' other stories, and the 17 year old male protagonist will help the cross-gender appeal for middle-school aged fans of Alan Gratz and Jennifer Nielsen.

Ruta Sepetys is an incredible story teller. When I got the chance to read an ARC of this, I knew I had to stop everything and read it (shout out to my husband for happily spending four hours with me in the hotel common space to read this). Her knack for finding these untold stories and creating characters and plots that intertwine historical facts - it’s just astounding.

This story is quick - it is go, go, go and intense from the start. Readers are kept on the edge the whole time: who do we trust, what will the government find out, will anyone be safe. The twists and turns pull you back and forth from loving to worry to hating to stressing and everything in between.


There are many horrifying moments of abuse - physical and emotional. Sepetys does an excellent job of balancing each and illustrating how the atrocities committed continue to haunt people today.

ruta sepytys has done it again. i have never read a book as well researched as rutas. she is a phenomenal writer and an unmatched story teller. i would read her grocery list.

Review to be posted on alisoninbookland.com on January 10
-------

I love a good dystopian novel. If you handed me I Must Betray You without reading this summary, I would have easily believed this was some alternate reality to ours where it's our world just slightly different. A world where secrets are all around. You can't trust anyone including family. You can't speak freely. Eyes are literally every where. It's chilling to read. It's an even darker revelation to realize that this was once reality in a not-so-distant past.

Sepetys paints this world fully for the reader. I'm the type of reader that puts myself in the protagonist's shoes (or sometimes another character) when reading. When starting this book, I thought about what it would take for Cristian (and by extension me) to betray friends and family. It's easy to say "oh, I wouldn't betray my loved ones." Once the scene is set in the novel, you quickly see he was backed into a corner with absolutely no choice. There is no choice. There is no freedom. You feel it completely.

Sepetys always does an amazing job of painting a picture of a time period. I particularly enjoy that she focuses on time periods that aren't as well known. American schools don't do a great job showing the history of the rest of the world. We might know the basics but that's it. We're taught that Communism is a Bad Thing but I don't think we're really taught the full extent of why it's a bad thing and what that means for those living in that world.I Must Betray You illustrates it a very raw way for me as a reader. It's a tough read but so worth it (I choked up towards the end).

I could definitely see I Must Betray You being added to a high school history class curriculum when discussing Communism and/or Revolutions. Highly recommended reading!

I very much love, respect, and admire the amount of research Ruta Sepetys puts in to her books. I love that she writes stories about historical moments that many people don't know much about. This isn't my favorite one of her books, but she is overall such a good, good writer.

Sepetys is so brilliant at weaving stories about “unknown” pieces of history that I knew I would have to finish it in one sitting. Recent Romanian history should not be unknown, but I'm so glad we have authors like Sepetys to bring this story of defiance and bravery in the face of authoritarian governments to light. I literally did not move from my chair once I picked up this book. Did. Not. Move. until I finished. Positively brilliant and essential.

This is a historical fiction piece, to envision youth going through this and the bravery it took to speak up when the consequences were brutal and could result in loss of life, friends and family motivates young and old alike to speak up to create change. Cristian ends up as an informant because someone in his life rats on him, and there are many possible candidates. The oppressive feeling of surveillance leaps off the pages as he starts down the path of informant, while also trying to find out who informed on him, and trying not to inform too much. However, another character is dealing much more heavily with the role of citizen informant, double dealing, and sexual assault by handlers and we only get the barest glimpse of their struggle.

I was captivated with Cristian’s story and the young people who took the lead in trying to create change in Romania in the 80’s. Although this is a historical fiction piece, to envision youth going through this and the bravery it took to speak up when the consequences were brutal and could result in loss of life, friends and family motivates young and old alike to speak up to create change. Highly recommend! Thank you, NeGalley for sharing an Advance Read Copy with me!