Publisher: Philomel Books / Penguin Random House Audio
Published: February 1, 2022
Source: Print – Hardcopy via Publisher / Audio via library
Summary:
A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the number one New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray.
Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.
Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: Betray everyone and everything he loves – or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.
Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?
Master storyteller Ruta Sepetys is back with a historical thriller that examines the little-known history of a nation defined by silence, pain, and the unwavering conviction of the human spirit.
My thoughts:
Ruta Sepetys is an author I have been wanting to read for quite some time. I’ve heard that she is a crossover novelist, meaning that her books can be enjoyed equally by young adults and adults alike and if this newest one is anything to go by, I am all in – which is good considering I have recently bought a few of her backlist books already!
This book immediately grabbed me and I did not want to put it down until I finished it. I went back and forth between the audio and the print so that I didn’t have to stop and all I can say is that both formats are excellent. This was such a gripping, tense-filled read that kept me engaged all the way through. The use of the single point of view really gives this story such an immersive feel, while the short chapters propel the story along at a quick pace, allowing the tension and suspense to build at just the right moments. It’s such a powerful story and one that I know will stay with me for quite some time.
This book gives off all the feels – so much anxiety over what the characters are going through, anger towards the government, love for some of the characters and intense dislike for others. It’s so hard to believe that while this story is fiction, it is based on fact, on history that occurred not that long ago. I love reading historical fiction, but it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that some events that are now happening and are prime material for historical fiction have happened in my lifetime. This book is set in the late 1980s…I was 15 then…not that much younger than Cristian and yet I cannot imagine living the way he and his family were forced to, or even being made to spy on others as he was tricked into doing. It was so eye-opening that the people in Romania were living like this.
This book is not always an easy read but it is definitely one that should be read by everyone. It really showcases just how brave some are willing to be to stand up for what they believe in and I am so glad I read it. This really would make such a great bookclub pick because there is so much to unpack here and I am so glad my online bookclub, #bookfriendsbookclub, picked this as one of our February reads – I cannot wait to discuss it tonight!
Audio thoughts:
This book translated so well onto audio and the narrator, Edoardo Ballerini, was just excellent. He was able to convey the emotions and tension of the characters so aptly. I’m glad I listened to most of this – his pronunciations of the Romanian words kept me from stumbling over them.
