Review: This Rebel Heart
This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke A Borzoi Book/Alfred A. Knopf (imprint of Random House), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sarah Blattner Buy at Bookshop.org Living with her Tante Ilona, a Holocaust survivor, in post-WWII Budapest, Hungary, Csilla Tisza’s life rests on the edge of a knife, cutting between the truths and lies about her parents’ deaths and the false exoneration for their crimes. Csilla must decide if she will stay in Hungary and fight or flee to safety. Constantly under surveillance by the ÁVH, the State Protection Authority, Csilla knows you can be “disappeared” for a range of suspicions. While being followed one morning, she finds safety in Azriel, a suspiciously friendly stranger who doesn’t quite sound like a Hungarian. Meeting Azriel is not by chance; however, because he is bound to Csilla and her friends as they light the flames of revolution. Several literary attributes stand out in This Rebel Heart . The Duna River is a magical protector of Csilla, calling