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Sekret

(Sekret #1)

Lindsay Smith (Goodreads Author)

3.59 · Rating details · 2,055 ratings · 435 reviews

An empty mind is a safe mind.

Yulia knows she must hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive in Communist Russia. But if she sometimes manipulates the black market traders by reading their thoughts when she touches their skin, so what? Anything to help her survive.

Russia's powerful spy agency, the KGB, is recruiting young people with mind-reading capabilities f ...more

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Hardcover, 341 pages

Published April 1st 2014 by Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan Children's

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Jan 18, 2014 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, siblings, mental-illness, boring-main-character, twins-triplets-clones, tstl, psychic, boarding-school, action

This is the story about a Yulia, a girl with psychic powers whose family is kidnapped and held hostage by the KGB in exchange for her participation in their a secret (Sekret?) program involving young psychic agents in the communist USSR (Russia, 1963). I really cannot tell you any more about the plot other than that, not because I do not want to spoil it, but because I can't remember anything about the book that is relevant regarding the missions. There's something about a spaceship launch, some This is the story about a Yulia, a girl with psychic powers whose family is kidnapped and held hostage by the KGB in exchange for her participation in their a secret (Sekret?) program involving young psychic agents in the communist USSR (Russia, 1963). I really cannot tell you any more about the plot other than that, not because I do not want to spoil it, but because I can't remember anything about the book that is relevant regarding the missions. There's something about a spaceship launch, something about capturing fellow psychics, but I can't remember anything else that is worthy of being summarized because this book was so dry, so long, and so forgettable.

As a testament of how much the main character interests me, halfway through the book, I realized that I had forgotten Yulia's name.

There are a lot of inconsistencies within this book, one of which is a timeline inconsistency involving music. The book is set in 1963, Russia. There's a reference to a Beatles song that doesn't get released until 1964. There is a reference to "California Dreamin'," which doesn't get released until 1965. There is a reference to "California Girls," which doesn't get released until 1965. There is a reference to "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals, which doesn't get released until 1964. I know these songs because I love all of them and I listen to all of them. If you are going to make references to them in the book, get the fucking date right. I know I'm anal about details, but if you are going to write historical fiction, the timeline should be completely accurate.

Yes, the book is is filled to the brim with action, but it does not hold my interest. It is fast-paced at the expense of a relevant, compelling central plot. It is not over the top in romance, but the romance felt unnecessary and undeveloped, complete with a love triangle with a trope-filled brooding bad boy who should not be trusted.

“Listen.” He jerks his head over his shoulder, checking that we are more or less alone. “I know he’s got this moody, broody artist act down, and some girls go for that. Oh, look at the sad puppy. But it gets to be a drag, you know?”
“Not really,” I say stiffly.

Here is where the book did not work for me:

The Fucking Psychic Morons: Listen, if I had psychic powers like the people do in the book, I'd put them to a lot better use than these fucking idiots. They are seriously so unbelievably stupid.

Example: Yulia's family is kidnapped, she wants them back, she is constantly planning to escape. Ok, fine, but um, have we forgotten that THERE ARE MIND READERS IN THE HOUSE? Why are they not constantly reading her thoughts about escaping? Yulia learns a way to disguise her thoughts, but she is a new learner at this. Yulia cannot hide her thoughts 24/7, and rest assured, she thinks of nothing else but escape. So why are the mind-readers not doing anything about this?

Better yet, just fucking erase her memories! There is a type of psychic called a "scrubber." The scrubbers are skilled at "changing the very stream of someone’s thoughts— altering their memories, or creating a new reality around them.” WELL ALRIGHTY THEN. WHY DON'T YOU JUST FUCKING LOBOTOMIZE YULIA?! That would have been absolutely perfect. You erase her memories of her parents, you erase her personality, you create a mindless robotic soldier completely obedient to your will instead of allowing her to remain a stubborn, uncooperative, rebellious, sullen little twit of a teenaged girl.

Honestly, I just don't understand the absolute under-usage of the psychic powers within this book. Their powers are fucking wasted because there's an absolute lack of a brain to be shared within the group. And speaking of powers...

The Inconsistency in Psychic Powers: The premise started off well, there are various types of psychic powers. For example, some people are "scrubbers," as in they can erase memories, they can fix memories. Others can visualize things across distances. Fine, that works...except then it falls to pieces because the powers are so inconsistently used and sometimes, used not at all when they should be.

It felt that after the introductions of the characters and their powers, the usage of their powers were just largely lumped together into one general psychic category and everything else was made up haphazardly as the book progresses. I had so many questions, and I felt a lot of frustration towards this fact. For example, Yulia's power is to feel things through touch, she can detect memories, fragments of things that have touched that article.

Me, I’ve found how to focus thoughts and memories through touch, like steadying a radio antenna with your fingertips, the static sloughing off until a clear melody remains.

Except it doesn't always work that way. For some freaking reason, she is also able to communicate telepathically to one other select member of her group, as well, something which has never been mentioned as part of her power within the book.

Furthermore, the extent of her powers are conflicting and contrary. She feels things through touch, yet Yulia can somehow sense memories through AIR?

Brilliant pinks, blues, reds spin across the dance floor before us, and thoughts and smells spiral away in the dancers’ wake: sweat, eagerness, acrid perfume, regret. One thought is faint, but unmistakable to me— the hum of a brain that’s encountered a scrubber.

And yet again:

I catch a flash of lightning in the crowd— feel it more than see it, ripping through my mind.

Yulia's powers are also inconsistent in that it is selective, sometimes it feels like she is unable to resist feeling things through her touch, other times it feels like she can choose to turn it off, which doesn't make any sense. Sometimes Yulia moans about her inability to escape feeling things through her psychic powers, because whenever she touches something, she senses memories and emotions from them, but then again, she doesn't mention anything about feeling anything through the multitude of people and things that she must touch every single day.

The premise of psychic powers is an interesting one, but in this book, it was badly and inconsistently executed.

The Training: Usually there is a lot of intense training involved when a group of teenaged soldiers, psychic or not, are utilized to be awesome secret soldiers by the state. There is. We just see almost nothing of it in the book. Yulia gets kidnapped. She goes into a few training exercises. BAM! It's a month later, and she goes on a mission. That's it?!

Yulia's Personality: To sum it up, Yulia is a typical teenaged girl, with psychic power. She is sullen. She is morose. She mopes. Yulia has to constantly be told to just snap the fuck out of it. There are some people who make the best out of a bad situation...they see the silver lining in the cloud, they make lemonade out of lemons. Yulia is not one of them. Her life in hiding before she was kidnapped was not good. There was not enough to eat. There was a lot of illness. There was a lot of black-market trades just so her family could get enough to barely survive. Yulia may have been kidnapped, but she's got it good. She has enough food, she knows that her family is safe, because the KGB will keep her family safe as long as she participates with them. It is a really, really nice life, with people who understand her. Yulia even recognizes this fact, but she goes against all sense of rationality to rebel against what, I don't even know.

“You were an idiot to try to give this up,” Misha says, and Masha nods. “Look around you— isn’t this a better life?

Let's see. Yulia has a chance to go to Moscow University and study what she has dreamt of her whole life. She has the ability to help her country (never mind that it is the USSR, it is still her country). And she...mopes. No, thank you.

She is also TSTL. She not only thinks about running away, she does run away, only to almost get herself killed. There is a way of running away successfully, it involves a lot of planning, a lot of backup strategies. Yulia's plans consist of 1. running away. That's it. Idiot.

The Setting: I read this book wanting to know more about the daily life, the daily struggles of living under the USSR in the 1960s. I didn't get much of that. There is mention of starvation, of rationing, but that's pretty much it. There is a LOT of name-dropping, like Nikita Khrushchev, Yuri Gagarin, constant references to Lenin, and an overemphasis on Communist murals, but the entire book is set in a closed boarding school type setting that felt rather constrictive and not at all illustrative of life under a harsh Communist regime.

A terribly disappointing book. If you want action and are willing to overlook inconsistencies, then go ahead. It wasn't for me.

Quotes were taken from an uncorrected galley proof subject to change in the final edition. ...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Wendy Darling rated it liked it

Shelves: macmillan, young-adult, 2014-publication, read-2014, april, paranormal-general, russia, historical-fantasy

I really liked the first third of this book, but strangely enough, after Yulia actually began going on missions (which is when things would typically start getting exciting), I somehow wasn't quite as engaged by what was going on.

I think this book would have been stronger with action sequences or espionage assignments that were choreographed in more detail, as well as if the characters were more complex. I also didn't really care one way or the next about the romance(s). Yes, (s.) I was pretty ...more

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Jan 13, 2014 Lauren rated it it was amazing

4.5 stars

Yulia has spent the past few years in hiding with her mom and brother. Formerly influential scientists for the Soviet Union, Yulia's parents were able to escape the party's control, though not without fracturing. Her father has been missing since they ran. Now Yulia and her remaining family members live a life of fugitives, always on the look out for the KGB or anyone willing (or desperate enough) to turn them in. So far Yulia's family has been successful at staying hidden, partially wi ...more

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Sep 06, 2017 Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, russia, history

A chilling look at a girl living in Soviet-era Russia, Sekret is almost impossible to put down. It's one of those books that really makes you think about the world around you.

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Jul 02, 2013 Lindsay Smith added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: i-wrote

Now with actual cover art!

Coming 04/15/2014!

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Jan 20, 2017 Katherine rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-fiction, love-triangle, supernatural, spechial-snowflake, dishonor-on-your-cow, mystery-thriller, dnf, instalove-express, romance, young-adult

”What do little children know of spy games, of the real power of the mind? They are too undisciplined. They are too free. Obedient minds, not rebellious teens, are needed to run the program, the Soviet Union.”

This book shows us not only why teenagers should never take part in government conspiracies, but quite possibly the real reason why the USSR crumbled to pieces (and that may not be an alternative fact).

Yulia Chernina is just your typical teenager living in Mother Russia. She lives with ...more

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Nov 01, 2013 KWinks rated it really liked it

This book is damn near perfect. In the Cold War, the second generation of a secret sect of the KGB who have been bred to have psychic powers are in training to be the next wave of spies. Enter Yulia, the daughter of geneticists, who is being held against her will in this school of the New World Order.
Here's what really, really works: Smith sets the scene so well that this world comes to life in vibrant color. The fact that there are some people with psychic abilities doing spy work in this worl This book is damn near perfect. In the Cold War, the second generation of a secret sect of the KGB who have been bred to have psychic powers are in training to be the next wave of spies. Enter Yulia, the daughter of geneticists, who is being held against her will in this school of the New World Order.
Here's what really, really works: Smith sets the scene so well that this world comes to life in vibrant color. The fact that there are some people with psychic abilities doing spy work in this world is as commonplace as bread lines. She mixes real historical events with this new storyline, calling in guest stars like Khrushchev and Gagarin and letting them walk around with her characters. The enemy here is, of course, the Americans and Smith really has us convinced that they might just be worse than the regime that is currently in charge of the Soviet Union. Brilliant.

I don't want to give anything away, but Yulia is one of THE strongest female characters I have read in a long time. Not once does a man jump in and save her. Her dedication is to her family (her mother and brother) FIRST, then to her own security. Her survival skills are high, and she is smart. Not just book smart, but smart.

What dragged for me: the love triangle. I get it. I really do, but it wore on me a little. Such a little thing, really, but I'm starting to think publishers will not publish a YA manuscript unless the author jams one in somewhere, and really with everything Yulia had going on- she really needed to deal with that too?

Back to the good: Smith realizes her readers are smart too. She doesn't spend a lot of time reexplaining things, or beating us over the head with messages. She drops hints (where DID Yulia's missing sweater go?), and allows us to pull it together on our own. I think anyone who picks up a book about the Cold War and psychic spies is unlikely to be the type to have a need for simplistic explanations or long descriptions of what everyone is wearing to the ball anyway, but it was to feel the respect come through the storytelling. ...more

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Oct 18, 2013 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read2013, netgalley, ebooks, around-the-world, location-russia, secret-agents-and-detectives

"We are an experiment... The second wave of what started under Stalin; young, untrained psychics... summoned forth to defeat the Nazi threat. But there is a component in the experiment that is eluding me...."

Yulia is forcably recruited into a youth psychic training facility for the KGB in the early 1960s, to aid in the efforts to beat the Americans in the Space Race. But it might also be for other reasons, and the most dangerous people are the other people with psychic powers surrounding her.

Gre ...more

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Oct 11, 2013 Whitley Birks rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014

For as much as I enjoyed various aspects of this novel, the whole thing simply…failed to come together for me. Which is a shame, because when broken down to its basic elements, I loved so much about this book. The premise is excellent; I love the idea of psychic KGB spies. I loved the idea of a Cold War USSR setting. I really loved the writing in this book; lyrical and smooth. I loved (most of) the characters and a lot of the details around their powers. But the plot that was supposed to tie all For as much as I enjoyed various aspects of this novel, the whole thing simply…failed to come together for me. Which is a shame, because when broken down to its basic elements, I loved so much about this book. The premise is excellent; I love the idea of psychic KGB spies. I loved the idea of a Cold War USSR setting. I really loved the writing in this book; lyrical and smooth. I loved (most of) the characters and a lot of the details around their powers. But the plot that was supposed to tie all of these things together…didn’t.

It almost felt like there was too much going on and not enough going on at the same time. There didn’t seem to be any unifying goal going on. We jumped around a lot from one subplot to the next, and while I didn’t have much trouble keeping them all straight, I also didn’t really care. “This is happening. Oh, and now this. I guess. Okay. What? Time for this other thing? Uh, sure, why not.” I didn’t have time to get invested in anything that was going on, and at times it felt like the characters had the same lackadaisical “whatever” approach to all the jumping around. “Going to look for spies at a party? I have no opinion or feelings on this matter at all. Off we go.” One of the subplots even spiraled off into the land of no-conclusion with none of the characters so much as blinking at it.

And while I did enjoy the setting, I feel like it was underutilized. The group was so self-contained that we didn’t get to see much of the society, or the teens interacting with it. Plus, one of the major themes of the book was Yulia wanting to be “free” and…without seeing how stifling their society is, that rings rather empty and meaningless. I spent a good portion of the book wondering what Yulia even considers “free.” She pities Sergie because…he wants to play hockey and if he works hard and does a good job they’ll let him play hockey. But that’s not “free.” Dafuq does she think freedom is if not wanting something, working towards that something, and then obtaining that something? Her driving goal at the start of the book is to see her brother cared for and go to university, and the “bad guys” of the novel offer her just that, but no, she wants to be “free.” Girl, what are you talking about?

And that’s an honest question. There was so much room in this book to explore that, because of course people were oppressed and repressed and there were all sorts of horrors in communist USSR and such, but we didn’t get to see them, all we got to see was this one group of kids getting their every desire handed to them while Yulia cried about not being free. The setting was tailor-made for someone wanting freedom, the book just sort of hit right next to that mark instead.

I also wasn’t pleased at the book’s treatment of Masha, a female character who is repeatedly demonized for being a “lapdog” and “trying too hard” to do well at this whole spy thing. She’s basically a female version of Sergie, but Sergie is pitied and “deserves freedom,” while Masha is all but called a bitch and Yulia cheers when she gets injured at the end. Classy.

But I did really like the writing. That was a big part of making this book mostly-enjoyable for me, but there’s not anything else I can say except “the writing was really pretty.” I also enjoyed every scene where Sergie and Valentin played off each other. The love triangle there was completely unnecessary, but besides that, it was handled well. ...more

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Oct 19, 2013 Adelynne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shelf, my-otps, 2014-releases, net-galley, 2014-favorites, teens-with-psychic-powers, have-to-go-buy-hardcover

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I absolutely loved this book- the intrigue, the twists, the characters, the plot, EVERYTHING.

The main character, Yulia, a girl with the ability to see other people's memories, is everything a strong female protagonist should be. She's strong on the outside, and will do anything to protect her family. However, her family seems to be hiding a secret from her too... When she's captured and taken to a boarding school for other teens *I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I absolutely loved this book- the intrigue, the twists, the characters, the plot, EVERYTHING.

The main character, Yulia, a girl with the ability to see other people's memories, is everything a strong female protagonist should be. She's strong on the outside, and will do anything to protect her family. However, her family seems to be hiding a secret from her too... When she's captured and taken to a boarding school for other teens, or psychics like her, she is unwilling to cooperate at first. She dreams of escape, but feels oppressed with so many mind-readers around her; there's no place for thoughts of escaping. Now obviously, there's a bit of a love triangle, but nothing too bad. Yulia meets two very different boys: the warm and funny hockey player Sergei, and the mysterious piano player Valentin, AKA Valya. (I hate to admit this, but I had trouble discerning the gender of the characters through their names in the beginning- I'm obviously no Russian fanatic). However, as time passes, Yulia begins to trust one of them; but in a place surrounded by lies, she can't trust anyone. Betrayals come at her from all times throughout the book, but she stays strong. Although both Sergei and Valentin sometimes treat her like a helpless lamb, Yulia makes it clear that she doesn't need to be coddled. I personally loved this characteristic of Yulia- she will accept help, but she's strong enough to survive alone. The secondary characters were amazing too. Everyone had their own story- how they got there, their own backstory. I personally loved reading about Larissa and Ivan, they're such a cute couple!

The plot simply amazed me. At first, I was a bit skeptical of the overused "teens with special powers" theme, but Smith pulled it off really well. Yulia is constantly surrounded by deceit, and it keeps the readers guessing- Who can she trust? Who's the real enemy? The twist about the scrubber surprised me- it was completely unexpected. Of course, the antagonists are perfectly evil and despicable, and just seeing their names mentioned on the page made me want to shoot them right then and there. Personally, I loved the Russian setting; and Smith's writing really pulled me into the time of Khrushchev- the suspicion and fear that constantly enveloped the people's daily lives.

A little tidbit about the romance- THE FEELS! I loved Yulia and her love interest's (no spoilers!) little moments, they were all wonderful. I'm looking forward to seeing more developments on their relationship in the sequel, the first book had a lot going on so they didn't get too many scenes with each other. But every moment counted!

Only one thing bothered me- I felt that there should have been a bit more about the setting; how life was outside in the streets, ect. There was just so much going on that I felt that Smith didn't have enough room to fit in the smaller details.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, and I will definitely go out and buy it when it's released. April 1, you are on the top of my "must go visit local bookstore" list.
...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Dahlia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-own-in-hardcopy, one-four-kid-lit, russophile-must-read, fave-settings, histfic, 2014-releases, autographed, top-ten-paranormal

I'm sure this book is fantastic whether or not you're interested in Russian culture in history, but given that I am, and studied the language for three years, this was seriously EVERYTHING I could've asked for - crazy amounts of intrigue, suspense, history, beautiful setting descriptions, wonderful romance... I have to confess that I am not typically a fan of historical YA, but the second I finished SEKRET I literally yelled "More!" to my empty living room.

And now that I've exposed my insanity t ...more

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Nov 30, 2017 LEAH⇢ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: splash-of-romance, action-and-adventure, historical, intrigue, young-adult, super-human, read-2017, russia, supernatural

Sekret is full of intrigue, supernatural mind-reading, and even a little romance.

⇝Ratings Breakdown⇜

Plot: 4.5/5
Main Characters: 3.5/5
Secondary Characters: 3.5/5
The Feels: 3.8/5
Pacing: 3.8/5
Addictiveness: 3.5/5
Theme or Tone: 4.2/5
Flow (Writing Style): 3/5
Backdrop (World Building): 4/5
Originality:5/5
Book Cover: 5/5
Ending: 4/5 Cliffhanger: Yes.
Steam Factor 0-5: 1
Setting: Russia
Source: Kindle eBook (Library)
Total: 3.8/5 STARS - GRADE=B

⇝My Thoughts⇜

A completely different kind of read for me. ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Jenny Boyce rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley, favorite-books, kids-ya, fantasy, historical-fiction, russia

http://bookreviewsbyme2.wordpress.com...

This book is a really fantastic young-adult novel.

The plot in this book is absolutely fantastic. The action starts right at the beginning of the book and doesn't stop until the very end. There's one strong plot in this book, that of Yulia trying to survive, but there are also smaller sub-plots that deal with the Russian government and the race amongst countries to be the first into space.

There are some fantasy elements present in this book. When the mind- http://bookreviewsbyme2.wordpress.com...

This book is a really fantastic young-adult novel.

The plot in this book is absolutely fantastic. The action starts right at the beginning of the book and doesn't stop until the very end. There's one strong plot in this book, that of Yulia trying to survive, but there are also smaller sub-plots that deal with the Russian government and the race amongst countries to be the first into space.

There are some fantasy elements present in this book. When the mind-reading element was first introduced into the story (right at the beginning) I didn't quite know what to make of it, but it was presented in such a realistic and believable way that I found myself able to go along with it. Things got a little harder for me to go along with once the other characters with abilities were introduced, but they were presented in such a believable manner that I was able to keep reading and truly enjoy what the mind-reading aspects brought to the story (they're basically the basis of the entire story).

I truly enjoyed the history that was present in this book. While the fantastical elements of this story are really the focus of this story, there is still a lot of information in this book that deals with history. A lot of emphasis is placed on the hardships faced in communist Russia, like having to wait 8 years to visit the doctor. Having never previously learned much about life in communist Russia, other than things were tough and communism doesn't really work, this book did a wonderful job of exposing me to the facts of what life was like during that time period.

I also really enjoyed all the characters in this book, especially the main character, Yulia. The characters are all very realistic and display real and relatable emotions towards situations and each other. The relationships that the characters all had with each other were also very realistic. While there was some romance between the characters, the relationships seemed very realistic and were not like your typical young-adult story romances.

The writing in this book was really pleasant. The author does a fantastic job of bringing the world and the characters to life. She also does a fantastic job of describing things without over-describing anything and dulling the story. While there wasn't anything about her writing that was truly exceptional, it was still very easy and enjoyable to read.

Overall, I would have to say that I truly enjoyed reading this book. I will definitely be on the lookout for this authors name in the future, so I can enjoy any other books that she writes.

I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley. ...more

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Oct 08, 2013 Sam rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-reviews, books-i-own, e-reads

4.5

I am a huge fan of books that take place in Russia or use Russian history as a backdrop. I also love spy and espionage story, so Sekret won me over with its premise alone. Turns out, there was also an excellent novel hidden in this book!

Although this is Smith's debut, this is one of those books where you can't tell it's in fact, a debut. The writing is tight, tension filled, and memorizing. I found I had a hard time putting Sekret down every time I started it, because I had to know what was h ...more

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Sep 01, 2013 Erica rated it it was amazing

Oh my y'all. You know those books where you start reading them and you just know you are going to love what is inside? Sekret was one of those books. I started reading and I fell absolutely in love with the magic of Lindsay Smith's prose and the intensity of the story.

The stakes are high in Sekret from the get go. I mean, the first line of the book is, " My rules for the black market are simple." From that moment on, things just escalate to an ultimate high.

I loved the setting! Loved. It offere ...more

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Jun 24, 2013 Steph Sinclair marked it as inventory

Shelves: historical-fiction, macmillan, april, young-adult, print-arc, thriller, 2014-release, sent-to-cb-reviewer

Want to win an ARC of Sekret? Head on over to Cuddlebuggery for a chance to win! ...more

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Oct 29, 2013 Bailee rated it it was amazing

Let me fan girl for a moment because I really love this novel! It has so many factors that I adore in a story and I just can't believe how flawlessly it comes together. I love the paranormal aspect and the historical aspect that I adore. It brings to life two of my favorite genres into one story. It's amazing.

The story of Sekret is one of complex interweaving of many different concepts that somehow flow together in a very beautiful way. Yulia, the main character, is the type of main character t Let me fan girl for a moment because I really love this novel! It has so many factors that I adore in a story and I just can't believe how flawlessly it comes together. I love the paranormal aspect and the historical aspect that I adore. It brings to life two of my favorite genres into one story. It's amazing.

The story of Sekret is one of complex interweaving of many different concepts that somehow flow together in a very beautiful way. Yulia, the main character, is the type of main character that the reader will either want to hold as her world crumbles or shake as she makes decisions that you don't like. Her world has been one of secrets and lies, which quickly becomes very evident as the KGB kidnap her and force her to become something that she never wanted to be - a spy. A soldier simply because she has powers beyond what a normal person has. She can touch an object - a person - and pull memories and emotions from it, creating an idea of what occurred in the past and that makes it easier to guess what is going to happen in the future. The other people she is working with all have their own secrets and their own motives. So she must ask herself the question, who can she trust - if she can trust anyone? Lindsay's novel is written so beautiful that I was immediately pulled in to the world of Yulia and I never wanted to leave. It fit all of my desires for an awesome young adult novel, which is why I am fangirling so much about this!

Yulia actually surprised me. I wasn't sure I would like her when I first began to read the novel because she came off a little different than the average novel heroine. As she continued to grow throughout the first chapter, I found myself attached to this rough around the edges girl who has a great amount of loyalty to her family. She would literally do anything for her family and I admire her greatly for that. She became such an amazing young woman that it honestly held my attention for such a long time afterwards. I now find her as a strong, confident, a ration rat that had everything taken for her and yet she managed to prove she was more than just a girl that defined herself by her situation. No, she defined herself by her family. She may keep to herself and perhaps she doesn't trust easily but she is so much more beneath her facade and after the midway point through the book, she truly becomes a character to admire. I love her. By far one of my favorite main characters I have read.

Her family is certainly a complex unit of people that have more secrets than perhaps any government in existence. But you know what, they can have these secrets because they know about the special powers that apparently have appeared in Russia during the Cold War. They worked on this intense project in regards to that and quickly became disenchanted with the government they were working for, I believe. All of secrets I am sure will eventually cause some form of chaos and eventually it will explode in the worse sort of way. Yet they are loyal to each other despite each person's ulterior motives. Her brother is amazing and he has a disability that makes him more different than anyone else. His world is different than what everyone else sees. He hears music, he finds comfort in repetition, and he sees in brilliant colors. I loved him almost as much as I loved Yulia.

There, I suppose, are two love interest for my lovely Yulia. First is Sergei who is the typical manly boy that loves hockey and is very outgoing. He is comfortable with the idea of being a spy because he knows that they are being taken care of by the government and that eventually if he obeys, he can live the life he wants and occasionally compromise what he should believe is right or wrong. However, from the moment he meets Yulia, you can see that he likes her and that he will do anything to protect her. So that is love interest number one. Love interest number to is my personal favorite, Valentin. He is the brooding musician type that prefers to stick to his thoughts and to himself. The way he carries himself shows that he feels a great deal of guilt, sadness, and self hatred but escape is impossible when it comes to the KGB program. They will find him if he attempts to escape and most of the occupants in the program learn that first hand. He slowly warms up to Yulia and the whole time I was just dying for him to make a move or prove that he was romantically interested in her. Trust me when I say I wasn't disappointed in the romantic aspect for this novel. But I won't tell you who wins the girl or... kisses the girl. You'll have to read and see!

Larissa is perhaps the one female character outside of Yulia that I actually grew to like and perhaps adore. Little by little she moved from the girl that appeared on random pages to the girl that I knew would be the type of friend the main character needed. Even though she had her secrets and her motives for her actions, there was a certain purity about her that I found admirable. That even though she was trapped in this situation she somehow manages to leave some parts of her untouched. Her power is amazing, which I won't reveal, and if I had it, I would totally use it to my advantage but she maintains the stance that she will not or perhaps cannot change the inevitable outcome of what her power provides her.

I love, love, love this novel and I feel horrible posting this review so early before the release but I felt you needed to know how awesome this book truly is.

** This book was received from the publisher via NetGalley. None of the review was influenced by the author or the publisher. This is a completely original review. The thoughts and feelings of the reviewer are entirely her own and have no ties to the publisher.** ...more

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May 28, 2019 Susan (susayq ~) rated it liked it

Shelves: ebooks, historical-romance

I'm trying to clean up my TBR and Netgalley and get reviews posted ;)

So, I read this a while back and from what I remember I enjoyed it. Loved the premise of KGB Russia, action abounded, and the physic aspect was really cool.

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Jul 28, 2015 Lyd's Archive (7/'15 to 6/'18) rated it it was ok

Shelves: cliche-romance, confusing, same-trailer-different-park, tsarina-s-daughter-disorder, but-no, are-you-kidding-me

I was initially excited to start this one. I had read it last summer but remembered just about nothing of the story line, save the main spoiler. I did not mean to dislike it so much. However, it was more of a boilerplate dystopian than a historical fiction with supernatural elements

Trope Check
*Mary-Sue learns she is special
*mind-reading powers
*brooding bad boy
*supposedly strong heroine who is about as badass as a banana

Full Rant
I really did like the concept, especially Valentin. It was interesti ...more

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Sep 20, 2013 Kelly rated it it was amazing

Imagine living in a country where you had to watch your every move, making sure you kept your thoughts hidden and your actions as inconspicuous as possible. Now add psychic abilities where certain people can read your every thought, see your every memory and exactly where you are at any time, see your future and the decisions you'll make, completely erase your mind by taking all of your memories, and make you do whatever they want. Sounds frightening doesn't it?

This is Yulia's reality. She has b Imagine living in a country where you had to watch your every move, making sure you kept your thoughts hidden and your actions as inconspicuous as possible. Now add psychic abilities where certain people can read your every thought, see your every memory and exactly where you are at any time, see your future and the decisions you'll make, completely erase your mind by taking all of your memories, and make you do whatever they want. Sounds frightening doesn't it?

This is Yulia's reality. She has been captured by the KGB to live with these psychic people and train her own ability to use it against the U.S. The worst part of the whole situation is that they also have her mother and brother and the only way to keep them safe is to comply with the KGBs orders. Only she can't get the images of running away and freedom out of her head, and her captors as well as the other psychics in training know it. They can read her mind like an open book. Even so, this doesn't stop her from trying.

I cannot even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this book. I could not stop reading it. In fact, I almost burnt my pizza because I was so absorbed in the story. There's mystery, espionage, murder, betrayals... it's a complete thrill ride and I loved every minute of it. It was a little chaotic because you had no idea who among them was actually trustworthy, if any of them. She is continuously putting her faith in people only to be let down but something they've done whether past or present. I really have to commend Lindsay Smith for her vast knowledge of this time period in Russia and the paranoia that ran rampant throughout the country. I was genius to add another layer to that paranoia by adding psychological abilities as another threat.

I really liked Yulia, our main character. She fought the system even when it was pretty much impossible. She refused to give up hope that freedom could be obtained and she certainly couldn't be happy living a life following the rules of the KGB, even if that meant getting everything she could want. It was a false freedom and that wasn't what Yulia wanted. Her ability allowed her to read the minds of other people by a simple touch, delving into their memories and learning anything she could possibly want to know. This also worked with objects. She could touch any object in the world and learn anything she could possibly want to know surrounding that object: who had touched it, how they were feeling, what was happening at that time.. the list goes on and on.

As far as the plot goes, it went at a steady pace, often taking you on a wild goose chase making you feel a little chaotic. It was difficult to see just what the KGB was going to ask Yulia to do next. Even though I figured out the direction the book was heading from the very beginning it wasn't easy to know what was going to happen leading up to it. I also had a pretty good guess about another major plot point but I wasn't entirely certain and I'm glad that I turned out to be correct in my assumption. I'm also thrilled with some of the characters and their actions but that's all I'll say about that. I don't want to delve too much into the events that transpire.

If you're a lover of historical fiction and you also enjoy a good paranormal I urge you to pick up Sekret. You've got history, suspense, paranormal abilities, even a little romance. So many amazing elements all in one book. I can't wait to read the next installment and this one hasn't even been released yet! ...more

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Dec 02, 2013 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2013

It doesn't happen very often when I fall madly in love with a story, its characters, and absolutely everything about it. This is the case for Lindsay Smith's Sekret. How could you not love a story with KGB spies, political conspiracies, and powers beyond your imagination?(view spoiler) It doesn't happen very often when I fall madly in love with a story, its characters, and absolutely everything about it. This is the case for Lindsay Smith's Sekret. How could you not love a story with KGB spies, political conspiracies, and powers beyond your imagination?(view spoiler)[

Desperation only leaves you exposed. Both hands on the neck of your bag, but don't be obvious about it. Never reveal your sources. And always, always trust the heat on your spine that haunts you when someone is watching.

Yulia is young, skilled, and constantly has to hide within Communist Russia. But her freedom doesn't last long and is captured by the KGB. Her parents formerly worked for the KGB, but when they escaped, the whole family became enemies. The KGB will force Yulia to use her talents for their purposes, regardless if she wants to or not. They own her, using her family as leverage, and Yulia can't think of anything but escape.

I fell in love with Sekret as soon as Smith wrote "Moscow, September 1963." This world that has been created around real events is wonderful. She brought a new and fresh look to the Space Race and the Cold War. Not many stories go backward to bring a dystopia, but I'm glad this one did. Smith wrote a harsh reality for her characters. Not once did I feel like there will be a happy ever after, and maybe there won't be. Regardless of the ending, I was hooked to the raw intensity in each word written across the page. I felt despair, anger, and at times triumph.

"She thought she could cultivate her powers on her own, without our assistance. She hungered for more and more, when she wasn't ready. This is the fate of all of those who do not learn control. She did not listen to our rules."

Sekret has many characters worth mentioning, but I won't spoil it for you. Each one play an important part to this story, and each one filled with depth and substance. Yulia is strong, real, and tangible. Never once would I have categorized her to be a princess or a damsel in distress. Yulia would kick ass when she wanted to, and believe me, you'll see it happen. But most importantly, Yulia never lost focus of who she was and what her goal was. Yulia is a heroine worth remembering.

Aside from Yulia, Sekret has the guys you would cheer for and the ones you would hate. And then just when you think you've fallen in love, Smith takes it all apart and keeps you guessing. There is a lot of tension and action, you won't know where to stop. You'll constantly want to read "one more" page until the sun rises. And who would blame you? Sekret is engaging to the mind and the soul.

Sekret brings something different to the already vast collection of Young Adult titles. As a debut novel, Sekret comes out with a bang. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Oct 17, 2013 Megs rated it really liked it

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 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!

...more

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Oct 18, 2013 Sandy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sekret, by Lindsay Smith, is a terrifying and thrilling mind trip. Smith brings the Soviet Union in the early 1960s to chilling life with KGB thugs, ration rats and black market bartering. Amidst the Cold War and space race between the U.S. and Russia, our protagonist Yulia becomes a pawn in a deadly intelligence game between the CIA and KGB. Against her will, she participates in covert missions with other young psychics, like herself. Yulia’s struggle for freedom and to discover the truth about ...more

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Feb 21, 2014 Grace P rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, signed, arc, reviewed

THIS BOOK.

The main character is recruited/abducted by the KGB as part of the psychic mission they have going on to try to beat the USA during the Cold War. It is set in 1963-ish in Soviet Russia. The fact that it is fiction set in an era that actually happened is fascinating.

This story is always making you think, and has mystery elements on every page. There is a wide range of character from sweet to downright scary. The affects of the psychic powers the characters possess can be a little hard ...more

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Nov 03, 2013 Monica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction, nook-books, netgalley

Yulia doesn't know how she came by her gift, she only knows she can use it to her advantage when selling goods on the black market in the USSR. She's a fantastic protagonist, telling us of her troubles and how she tries to fix them.

This is a colorful cast of characters, ranging from a wanna-be dictator with rage issues, to the hot Russian boy with the ability to see places remotely and a dream to play professional hockey, to the girl who can see all the possible futures and help or hinder ever ...more

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Feb 12, 2014 Dark Faerie Tales rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed-by-bridget

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A slow start, but overall a very unique read full of suspense, romance and a wonderful setting.

Opening Sentence: My rules for the black market are simple.

The Review:

It is the year 1963 in the communist country of Russia. Yulia has been in hiding for the last three years with her mother and handicap brother. Her parents were once very prominent members of the government, but now they are considered traitors. They have been successful in staying ...more

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May 08, 2015 Britt rated it it was amazing

"You'll be here longer than you like, you know. But not so long that you'll lose yourself. I'm confident you'll find your way."

4.75 stars!

A psychic espionage novel set in Cold War era Russia? Consider me intrigued. Sekret perfectly blends history with paranormal elements to create a fictitious story that feels as if it could have actually happened in the Soviet Union in 1963.

It has been a while since the first book in a debut series has gotten me this excited. I am enamored by Lindsey Smith's st "You'll be here longer than you like, you know. But not so long that you'll lose yourself. I'm confident you'll find your way."

4.75 stars!

A psychic espionage novel set in Cold War era Russia? Consider me intrigued. Sekret perfectly blends history with paranormal elements to create a fictitious story that feels as if it could have actually happened in the Soviet Union in 1963.

It has been a while since the first book in a debut series has gotten me this excited. I am enamored by Lindsey Smith's storytelling and the extent of research that was invested into making this book such a vivid representation of Communist Russia. The descriptions in this book allow for a perfect mental picture of the events as they play out. Sekret is a fresh breath of air in the Young Adult genre... it blends several YA tropes with innovative new ideas in order to create a book that is crisp and unique.

Yulia is recruited by the KGB when it is discovered that she can read the minds of the people she touches. The KGB is using teenage spies, second generation psychics, to protect the Soviet space program from American spies. Yulia, the daughter of a geneticist and biologist, is a smart, determined protagonist who uses her abilities and common sense to reason and solve problems. Yulia's first priority is to protect her family, which is a concept that plays a vital role in this novel, but then spends the rest of the novel attempting to escape the KGB. Naturally, action and deception ensue.

Sekret is crafted like a puzzle; all the pieces are given to you, jumbled up in the beginning, but by the end of the book the picture is perfectly clear. Because of this, the first 100 pages or so can be confusing because of the massive amount of information given and characters introduced in a small time frame. Don't let this turn you away: everything starts to make sense as the novel progresses. Characters become unique and differentiable, questions are answered, and the plot becomes clear. I appreciate that this book is written with an intelligent audience in mind. Smith assumes her readers have a common knowledge about Communist Russia, and that if they don't know something, they will look it up (what a concept). Smith also does not feel the need to reiterate plot points and is able to drop subtle foreshadowing hints without giving the twists away, which is something that many YA authors have failed to master. I guessed one of the plot twists (yay!) but it was because I actually used my brain to figure it out, not because it was spelled out in the text.

Disclaimer: There is a love triangle, but it is not overbearing. It almost doesn't even feel like a love triangle because it is obvious who Yulia wants to be with and there is evident chemistry between her and that specific character. The romance is really sweet and extremely interesting with the psychic dynamic, but definitely takes second stage to the plot. I really like Yulia's love interest and the complexity of his character. In fact, all the characters are wonderful and complex and add to the story in some way, even if it doesn't seem like they will from the beginning.

Overall, Sekret is a fantastically written novel that is engrossing, thrilling, and deceptive. This book will require you to think, but if you are willing to put in the effort, I believe you will find it extremely enjoyable! I highly recommend Sekret and am looking forward to reading Skandal as soon as I can get my hands on a copy! ...more

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Oct 12, 2013 Carrie Mansfield rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

Note: I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for a fair review.

Teens with abilities in boarding school. It's a fairly popular sub-genre for Young Adult lit (Harry Potter, Hex Hall, Vampire Academy, etc.) and it makes sense: it's automatically exotic because most of us never go to a true boarding school. And by setting them in a boarding school, you can set the story outside the world that we all know. And because it's outside the world we know, it's an easy way to get in your witches, you ...more

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Oct 07, 2013 Aneta Bak rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, arc

"An empty mind is a safe mind."

Yulia and her family are on the run! Hiding from the KGB forces in Russia, and treating poor injured people with smuggled drugs. Its not long before Yulia and her family are captured. Their father is on the run, her mother is brainwashed and forced to work, and her brother is put in a mental home. Yulia is stuck in an old building running the Psychic Program. Yulia and the rest of the household poses the power to read others minds, whether by touch, seeing into t ...more

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Aug 12, 2014 Rachel rated it liked it

1960's Russia. The KGB, a spy agency is recruiting kids with rare mind powers. Yulia is one who gets selected. She has to cooperate to in order to keep her loved ones save.

When I read the plot I knew I was going to love this book and I think I would've if it wasn't for the writing style of this book. I was extremely confused when I read the last page of this book and it wasn't because of all the historical information and setting. I felt like everything that happened was very abrupt and I didn' ...more

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About Lindsay Smith

Lindsay Smith

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Lindsay is the author of multiple novels for young adults, including Sekret and A Darkly Beating Heart, as well as the comic series Black Swan. She is the showrunner and lead writer for Serial Box's The Witch Who Came In From the Cold, a Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2017. Her short stories and comics have appeared in the anthologies A Tyranny of Petticoats, Strange Romance Vol. 3, and Toil & Tr ...more