Angie
Written on May 13, 2015
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.