I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys
I am Thijs. I enjoy reading (maybe a little too much) and being outdoors. I have a younger brother and my favorite dessert is root beer floats.
The book I Must Betray You really opened up a lot for me. It brought a ton of awareness to a country I knew so little about. I never knew so much intriguing history about an Eastern European Country that many people pass by for the famous Western Europe.
Romania, in some of its darkest moments, is where a boy named Christiano grows up, under the watch of the ruthless dictator. Christiano writes in his journal wondering, “Why is communism so great but, we are not permitted to leave?” and “Does everybody have to wait for hours for food but, maybe not get anything at all?”, as well as, “In America do they live in fear of being reported because they live in fear of being reported because they are making a joke about their leader and then be executed?” and “Do they send kids eight years old to prison for the worst crimes just because they thought they were being treated wrongfully?” If not then why does Romania? Christiano has to navigate this world while not even being allowed to trust his own family!
The book follows Christiano through the worst of the 1980s to the Romanian Revolution as he struggles to find hope of a better life. This non-fiction memoir made a big impact on me. How ruthless their leader was, but not only that he was so cunning that he made every country believe that conditions were great. He made his citizens fear each other preventing them to band together and trigger an uprising. He would take his family on trips to Disneyland while most people in his country did not even have fresh fruit. It surprised me how greedy people can become. I would recommend this book to anyone. I think you would learn a lot and really enjoy it.
