First Five Star YA Read of 2022: I Must Betray You

Ruta Sepetys' name is synonymous with high quality historical fiction.  I have read everything she's written and never been disappointed.  And with each new book, I always feel as though her newest release is her best.

This time is no exception.

 Romania 1989 under Communist rule.  Cristian is seventeen and has seen glimpses of countries that are free, wondering if life in these places is as good as the pictures make it seem.  Romania's leader, Nicolae Ceausecu has only a third grade education, snf he has managed to live in grandeur while his countrymen barely survive.  He has created an environment of distrust and fear, and Cristian is targeted by the government to inform on the son of the American ambassador who is mother cleans for.  Cristian feels guilty about this, but does it because he is promised medicine for his grandfather who has leukemia.  

Cristian is willing to risk everything to expose the regime and even joins the revolution when it begins. 

I loved the 1989 setting, and the intimate portrait of life in Romania is so unlike my own teenage years in the United States.  Cristian drinks a Coca Cola with Liliana, a girl he likes, a hard to find treat that the two of them have never tried before.  When Dan, the ambassador's son, watches a video his friends in the US have sent him Cristian can't help but notice the refrigerator stuffed full of food - something that Romanian's have never experienced.  The fruit bowl in the video is full of bananas, something Cristian has never even had the chance to taste.  This book is full of the small observations of daily life under Communist rule.  

I loved this book and ended up reading it in just one sitting.  I will be recommending it to everyone who enjoys historical fiction or grew up in the 80s.  I'm already wishing for another book by Sepetys. She never disappoints.