Charisma

by Jeanne Ryan

Tacoma, Washington, high school junior Aislyn's extreme shyness has crippled her socially and cost her a college scholarship, so she jumps at the chance to try an illegal gene therapy, but although she is finally able to date her long-term crush, Jack, the therapy becomes a contagious disease that can be fatal.

• ISBN13: 9780803739666
• Publish Date: 3 March 2015
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Dial Books for Young Readers,US
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Charisma is definitely something different! It takes a controversial subject, educates readers on it without feeling too preachy and creates an entertaining plot! Aislyn is super shy. She cannot speak up for herself, and after her disastrous science project presentation, she's feeling especially down. So when one of the researchers at the hospital where her brother receives treatments for cystic fibrosis tells her about an experiment gene treatment she's developed that will cure social anxiety, Aislyn jumps on it. By the next day, she's much more comfortable with people, manages to snag a date with her crush, and becomes a spokesperson for organ donation. At least until other teens who took the trial drug fall into comas.

I found Charisma absolutely fascinating! I don't know too much about the inner workings of gene therapy, but we get enough of the scientific details to understand the basics of what's going on and what possibly went wrong with the drug that Aislyn and the others received. I also really liked how there's a pro gene therapy message, but the entire story is about how it can go wrong. Even though Aislyn is seeing others die from it, she's still an advocate of the process as long as it's done ethically. It really can save lives.

The one thing that did annoy me a little but about Charisma was when the teens are being brought into the hospital and quarantined. Suddenly they're all "How dare she gives us this dangerous drug!" They were all excited to try it and happy with the results until the side effects kicked in. They knew the drug hadn't been approved and that they were part of an underground, illegal study, and yet they started acting like the doctor purposely gave them something dangerous. It just didn't make sense to me. I can understand them being upset and scared because of the possibility of coma and death, but don't act like they didn't agree to do this when they knew the situation wasn't exactly on the up and up.

In the end, I really enjoyed Charisma. It's not really a twisty, suspenseful read. But it kept me fully engaged, just because I was interested in the subject. Aislyn does do some amateur sleuthing because she wants to fix this, but there's nothing too intense that she encounters. Except this one group who wants to "get to know" her for nefarious purposes. I also loved those last pages! Don't do it, Aislyn!!!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.