Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Review: Sekret

Info:
Title: Sekret
Author: Lindsay Smith
Series: Sekret #1
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: April 1, 2014
Source: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

An empty mind is a safe mind.
 
Yulia's father always taught her to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive the harsh realities of Soviet Russia. But when she's captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she's thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power. Yulia quickly realizes she can trust no one--not her KGB superiors or the other operatives vying for her attention--and must rely on her own wits and skills to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.

Review:
 Russia, espionage and psychics? I'm in! Needless to say, I had high hopes going into this book and thankfully, it lived up to them!

Yulia is a tough girl. She has to be! Her family has fallen out of favour with the Party and now barely scrape by, living hand-to-mouth off of the black market. But Yulia has a trick that's helping her family survive: she's psychic. Unfortunately, this gift becomes her curse once she is forcibly recruited to a special KGB centre for young psychics. It's kind of like X-men. If all the X-men were various psychics in Cold War USSR and Professor X was a danger psychopath who could rip out your memories.

I had a lot of respect for Yulia. She's tough as nails and devoted to doing what she can to keep her mother and brother (who I'm pretty certain falls until the Autism spectrum) safe. Unfortunately, life in Communist Moscow doesn't make this easy for her. Yulia is not the kind of person who is content being controlled. She fights back as much as possible.

A lot of the story goes on inside Yulia's head, so we only get to view the secondary characters as they relate to her. That didn't stop me from wanting to slap some (Masha), cower in fear from some (Rostov) and give suspicious glares to others (pretty much everyone else).

I completely fell in love with the setting of this one. It's crazy how a historical location could feel so much like a dystopian read. I've always enjoyed learning about history (even though it was my worst class in school) and I love reading stories set in different places. I would love to visit Russia one day!

The only thing I didn't totally love on this one was the romance. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, I just think I would have enjoyed the story a little bit more without it. But I'm not a romance person, so I'm sure this is entirely personal preference. I just know that I kind of rushed through the romance-y bits because I was desperate to get back to the spying bits! However, the romance was very limited, so there wasn't much rushing necessary.

I'd definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, Russia, espionage or cool psychic phenomena. Definitely worth a read!



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7 comments:

  1. While the romance might have missed its mark for you Megan the rest of the tale sounds fantastic. I mean who doesn't like Russia, espionage and psychics? LOL Fantastic review!

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  2. I'm reading this now and I'm about third of the way in, but I'm havint such a had time with it for some reason! I've been reading it for nearly a month, which is just ridiculous! I suppose I'll have to push through it to get to the really good parts.
    I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as you did, even though you were unhappy with the romance. It gives me some hope. :)
    Great review!

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  3. I'm with you--spys and psychics, I'm in! I've seen this book several times, but this is the first time I stopped and actually read the blurb. That combined with your review, and I have yet another book I HAVE to read, LOL. Great review!

    Jessica @ Rabid Reads

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  4. What a fantastic review, I think this book is definitely up my alley with the historical fiction and the hint of paranormal with the psychic stuff. I will have to check this out, thanks Megan!

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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  5. This sounds great! I love when books make me want to learn history. I totally get the part about romance. Some book aren't meant to have any kind of romance in them. Great review.
    Bethzaida @ Bookittyblog

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  6. This sounds like a good read. This is the first I am hearing about it for some reason so I am so glad you posted about it.

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  7. EEP! YOU LIKED IT! I've seen a lot of eh reviews and was a bit worried since it sounded so amazing! May very well have to pick it up now ;P

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