Sekret Street Team: Meet the Characters

Yesterday I announced my role as a proud member of the Sekret Street Team, one of many teams the amazingly creative group at Fierce Reads has put together to help promote both their recent and upcoming releases. Each team was issued a set of challenges to be completed over the course of a week, and today I get to give those of you who have yet to read the book a quick introduction to main characters Yulia and Valentin. I'm also going to share a few pieces of Sekret-related artwork that feature quotes from the book, so I hope you all enjoy!

On Friday I'll be sharing my list of Sekret favorites: Favorite scene, favorite quote, favorite villain, etc., so be sure to check back for more Sekret fun!

CHARACTER PROFILE: YULIA

Name: Yulia Andreevna Chernina
Age: 17
Mother: Antonina
Father: Andre
Brother: Zhenya
Phsyical Traits: Dark hair and olive skin

Special Ability:

"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."

• • • • • • • • • • •

CHARACTER PROFILE: VALENTIN

Name: Valentin or Valya
Physical Traits: Black curly hair, glasses, leanly muscled
Loves: Music; particularly The Beatles

"Music is very important to you," I say. Stupidly, I know. Music is his soul, and all those afternoons I basked in his piano playing–he shared more of himself with me then than he could ever speak.

He nods. "It's a language for things we can't put into words."

Special Ability: Can easily slip inside the minds of others and alter their memories or create new ones.

• • • • • • • • • • •

"An empty mind is a safe mind" is a phrase Yulia's father repeated to her over and over again before she even knew of her own ability, and it becomes one she wraps around her like a warm blanket when she suddenly finds herself surrounded by those who can see or hear her every thought. Though this book is more serious in nature, there are a few lighter moments, particularly in the beginning when Yulia realizes just how tricky thoughts can be when you're suddenly aware they're no longer solely yours.

Below is one of the cuter moments when Yulia's thoughts get away from her:

But the more I look at Sergei, the more I'm compelled to think everything about him that I wouldn't want him to hear me think. Horrible things that I wouldn't think otherwise, if I weren't worried about him overhearing–

"It's all right." He smiles at me, and it feels like the sun's rays slipping around dense clouds. The sun? I'm comparing some smug boy's grin to the sun? Bozhe moi, Yulia. "The less you want to think of something, the harder it becomes to think of anything else."

"Wonderful," I mutter.

• • • • • • • • • • • 

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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