I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys is a book that really tugs on your heartstrings. It follows Cristian Florescu, a 17-year-old boy who lives in Romania when it was still behind the iron curtain. He lives in a Romania where you have no privacy and your loved ones could be spying on you and reporting back to higher authorities. A Romania where if you step out of line or break a single rule, you could be sent away forever.
The book’s good, with slight plot holes that aren’t detrimental to the enjoyment of reading it. I would give the novel 5 out of 5 stars. If the synopsis even just slightly interests you, please do give it a read and stick with it for around 10 chapters.
LONGER REVIEW
Ready Player One was an absolutely fantastic dystopian Sci-Fi read filled with countless references to old school videogames, movies, books, and media in general.
It’s 1989 and Christian Florescu lives in Romania under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. After the secret police blackmails Christian to be an informer and spy on Americans. In a society built by fear and mistrust, Christian wants to save his grandfather and wants to stay out of trouble so he agrees. Christian uses his connections with the Americans to spread the truth about Ceaușescu and shed light on Romanians living under his harsh rule. When the time to fight comes, Christian is one of the firsts to stand up.
4 teens, Liam, Jorja, Marcie, and Elayah, find a time capsule that was buried by their parents. They were expecting cool items from the 80’s, but instead they find a bloody knife and a confession to a murder. They are left to solve the murder on their own after no one believes them.
This teen comedy TV series was years ahead of its time and unappreciated when it aired in 1982-83, cancelled before the full first season could be finished. It’s a shame because it’s so smart and funny and different from anything else on TV at the time. It probably would have done better 15 or 20 years later, but it’s so endearingly ‘80s, I can’t imagine it at any other time and being so charming.
