I Must Betray You

By Ruta Sepetys

A young writer must choose between betrayal and rebellion in a crumbling communist regime.

4.4/5 Goodreads · 105,898 ratings

336 pages· 56,311 words· Est. 6.5 hour read

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Bookroo's summary

In 1989 Romania, Cristian dreams of writing but is coerced into spying by the secret police. Faced with a harrowing choice, he must either betray his loved ones or subvert a tyrannical regime. As the revolution looms, Cristian risks everything to reveal the truth and fight for freedom. Will his courage ignite change, or will the cost be too great?

From the publisher

A gut-wrenching, startling historical thriller about communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the #1 New York Times bestselling, 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.

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