Sunday, May 11, 2014

Sekret Street Team: A Look at Russia

http://www.amazon.com/Sekret-Lindsay-Smith/dp/1596438924/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390164358&sr=1-1&keywords=1596438924

To help celebrate some of their recent and upcoming releases, the amazing team at Fierce Reads has put together a number of street teams for each book, all tasked with a variety of interesting challenges to complete in whatever way they see fit. I'm a proud member of Team Sekret, so today and a couple of days next week I'll be posting character profiles, favorite quotes and scenes, and a few pieces of Sekret-related artwork to hopefully get those of you who have yet to read Sekret by Lindsay Smith excited to do so!

One of the interesting aspects of this story for me was the Russian setting, in part because I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Russia last fall. Even though I never made it to Moscow where the book takes place, it was still fascinating for me to picture the places where events unfolded having experienced the beauty and opulence of Russia firsthand.

I thought it might be fun to give you guys a quick taste of some of what Russia has to offer, so below are a few pictures from my trip that really show the old-world grandeur of it. All my pictures are from St. Petersburg rather than Moscow–forgive me for that, I'm a bit OCD about copyright issues so I didn't want to grab any pictures of Moscow that didn't belong to me–but I hope they give you a feel for bits and pieces of main character Yulia's world nonetheless!

RUSSIA
(click to enlarge)



Russia was extraordinary, with some of the most beautiful artwork and architecture I've ever seen, so I hope you keep some of these images in your minds when you pick up Sekret!

One of street team challenges was to create a playlist for the book, but in all honesty, I'm absolutely miserable at that sort of thing, so despite the fact that music plays a huge role in the story and a playlist would probably be easy enough to put together, I'm just going to own up to this failure. One of my favorite moments of our time in St. Petersburg though was hearing a men's chorus utilize the astounding acoustics in one of the pavilions at Catherine's Palace to sing a traditional Russian folk song for the tourists.

The below video is courtesy of K Barber on You Tube and features the exact group we saw when we were there, so I wanted to share it. Please ignore all the people taking pictures and flapping their hands about, it's obviously not a professional video, but I thought the sound quality was pretty nice. I hope you all enjoy, and stay tuned for more Sekret goodies this week!



• • • • • • • • • • • 

SEKRET


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.


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23 comments:

  1. Ooooh, what beautiful shots! I really need to keep Sekret on my radar and hopefully will get to read it soon-ish!
    Great post, Jenny! And what a fantastic video!

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    1. Thank you Pili! It was easy to take beautiful pictures there, everywhere we went was just gorgeous:) Hope you give Sekret a try!

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  2. Ooh, I'd love to visit Russia some day. It's a nation with so much controversial history, but the pictures you took look absolutely breath-taking. Plus, you actually got to listen to those performers live? Woooow! Thanks for sharing, Jenny!

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    1. Yes! They spent the day in the grotto and anytime a group gathered, they would perform. It sounded absolutely amazing:)

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  3. I thought the blurb it had a Hana-esque feel to it till I saw the word psychic . This looks very interesting :)

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    1. It definitely is a very interesting read, I hope you give it a try!

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  4. The pictures are stunning and the vocalists are amazing. What a great way to set the mood for this upcoming book. Well done Jenny!

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  5. Sekret sounds fascinating with its Moscow setting, promise of intrigue and psychic operatives of the infamous KGB - a must read for me.
    Jenny's truly magnificent pictures and the video of the vocalists in St. Petersburg let me relive briefly an incredibly special and absolutely beautiful visit for a few days in Russia. Thank you the memory Jenny!!!
    Pam

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    1. You're welcome Mom:) Definitely one of the many highlights of our trip!

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  6. Whoa. Gorgeous. I must visit some day.

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    1. YES! It was stunning. I would love to go back and visit Moscow since we never made it there:)

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  7. I need to read this book! Can't wait to see all the fun posts. :)

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    1. YAY! I'd love to know what you think if you read it Ali!

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  8. Oooh, so jealous. My husband knows Russian, so now I really want to go to Moscow and St. Petersburg. And let's face it, who doesn't want to sing the soundtrack to Anastasia when you think about Russia?!

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  9. Wow- I forgot you went there last fall. Incredible photos! It must have been such a cool experience….it's definitely on my bucket list!!

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  10. SO pretty!! Is St. Petersburg older than Moscow? Russia's on my list to visit. The Orthodox churches are so amazing. (And, yeah, I suck at playlists, too. It takes me forever to create one!)

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  11. Wow, that singing is amazing! I would LOVE to visit Russia! One day...

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  12. I am so jealous about your trip to Russia! I'd love to see all those places one day. It is a country filled with such beauty and also hardship and pain. Such a fascinating combination. Those photos you shared are gorgeous! I'm a failure at playlists as well. That question gives me the hives. I like to see others but I don't think about books that way. Great post!

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  13. Great post, Jenny! I've had this on my wishlist ever since it came out, and I am SO jealous that you got to go to Russia even if you didn't make it to Moscow ;)

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  14. Great post and loved this book. Super excited for the next one.

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