At 30% I'm not sure I want to finish this book, definitely not the series, I'm not caring about the main character yet.

At 70% I found an error: Kennedy's assassination wasn't filmed in color by TV news stations, and I'm pretty sure the Soviets would not have had footage an hour after it happened.

Soviet psychics versus American psychics, genetic manipulation, sort of more of a breeding program.
The romance is downplayed enough that when Yulia is told that one boy loves her it was almost as much of a surprise to me as it was to her. I expected it, but the buildup was pretty tame. I had this most of the school year, with not one person checking it out. It's not Gateway material to me.

Slow. Ancient history for my students. This hasn't been checked out yet this year. Start of a series but can stand alone. ( )

Exciting story, interesting characters and a very vivid depiction of Kruschev's Russia ( )

Sekret by Lindsay Smith has it all…intrigue, psychic powers, espionage, history, and romance. The book is set in 1960’s Russia. The main character is seventeen-year-old Yulia Andreevna Chernina who has the psychic ability to reveal things about other people through touch. The book starts at full speed when Yulia is forcibly taken away from her family. She is removed to a school where she and other young people who have psychic abilities are trained to be spies while using their unusual gifts. She and the others are being forced to become part of a deadly international incident. Yulia has to determine which of these young people she can trust and she soon must make a decision as to whether she will use her talents to advance a cause that she doesn’t support.

This book is interesting in that it is based on some factual and historical background. According to the author here has been some experimentation with psychic abilities both in Russia and the United States. Some of the events also took place in Russia during the time of the novel. The fictional accounting using young people from Russia with psychic talents offers the targeted audience a unique reading experience. And it is written in such a way that understanding the culture does not become a barrier to enjoying the book. There is a nice mix of characters with a little bit of romance and some conflict to hold the reader’s interest.

ARC Ebook provided by NetGalley


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Premise is cool as hell, but execution was très boring. Just meh.

Also, there was a lot of confusion on my behalf on how their powers worked. I don't think it ever was clear to me.

The end was a bit like jumping off a cliff, and not in the fun, adrenaline-filled away.

Took too long for me to read and it shouldn't have. ( )

Premise is cool as hell, but execution was très boring. Just meh.

Also, there was a lot of confusion on my behalf on how their powers worked. I don't think it ever was clear to me.

The end was a bit like jumping off a cliff, and not in the fun, adrenaline-filled away.

Took too long for me to read and it shouldn't have. ( )