Lindsay Smith

Follows a group of psychic teenagers in 1960s Soviet Russia who are forced to use their powers to spy for the KGB.

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ashley hopkins

Psychic, espionage, powers, abilities these are the words that basically sold the book to me.

Laura

First, I have to laugh at the Elizabeth Wein review on the back of the book calling this a dystopian, though I admit that a popular historical fiction author- and one that I not only like but also recommend to people- calling a book that takes place in the USSR in the 60s a dystopian is a little depressing. This isn't a dystopian. I guess it can be considered a historical fantasy, or maybe historical science fiction, take your pick. It reminded me a bit of The Girl Who Could Fly (one of my favorite books as a child) crossed with a 60s Cold War spy novel. 

I enjoyed the writing, for the most part. Some parts were nicer than others, and it could use some polish, but I can see the writing turning into something really nice with the next book.

But I admit, most of the Cold War spy novel vibes I got came from the plot itself, though I did wish that carried over to the writing, since I probably would have gotten much more atmosphere and would have loved it much more easily. In that respect, this novel suffers from its first person perspective. I personally would have gone with a third person/omniscient perspective. I was hoping for something kind of like the Covert Front flash game series that Mateusz Skutnik makes. 

I mean, Yulia was an all right main character. I was able to get on board with her and Valentin- though he did sound too good to be true-, and wasn't too bothered by the love triangle (by the way, I don't really understand most people's burning hatred for love triangles, since I was never that bothered by them. I suppose it's one of those things that people find trendy to hate, like the word moist). It was too obvious who Yulia would end up with, and most of the drama in that respect was just annoying. I did like how Sergei wasn't made into a villain, though. 

The most developed characters were Yulia, Valentin, the Hound, and Sergei. Masha and Misha were as interchangeable as they come, Larissa had some glimmers of interesting features, and I kept forgetting Ivan existed. Krusenko was interesting, but not fully developed, and Rostov read like a parody of a villain from a anticommunist American cowboy show from the fifties, like something Bill Bryson would have made fun of in The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. 

Continue reading this review on my blog here: http://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/20...

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