Review: Who would you like to "charm?"
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 15, 2012
I was able to receive a free copy from the Author to R2R, and I enjoyed The Charm so much I went out immediately and bought the Retreat.  There are so many paranormal YA books out there, but this one was different. These teens didn't have powers their whole lives, instead their powers came from pieces of jewelry that they discovered or inherited at different times within the space of a few months.Olivia is the main character, and her ex-boyfriend Max is a hot-headed, temperamental guy. Except, this guy can throw lightning bolts around when he gets upset. It brings a whole new level the word bad bread-up! Olivia is subjected to Max's display of affection to his new girlfriend Chelsea, yet the next minute he corners Olivia telling her to stay away from Justin a guy that she is suddenly attracted to.  What gives?!  Olivia has always been content to stand on the sidelines; it was always her brother who oozed the charm and personality. She and her friend Jaime are noticing more and more strange things going on at school. For example, Max's storms and lightning bolts that arise when his temper flares. Others at school don't seem to notice this, they simply write it off. Suddenly Jaime and Olivia find pieces of jewelry that seem to call to them; Olivia puts her necklace on and suddenly everyone at the school is looking at her. She can't figure out what's going on. Does she have toilet paper trailing from her shoe, or even worse is her dress tucked into her tights?!  (Side note, this has happened to me and yes it truly is one of the most embarrassing things). Back to Olivia, no toilet paper or note has been stuck to her clothing; the charm on her necklace has suddenly given her powers. Her powers are first seen and described as oozing sensuality and charm (yes the pun was intended    ).  She can draw anyone to her, and boys want to be around her, and are even drawn out of their rational mind and suddenly are kissing her!!  What is going on?!Each of these students have inherited a piece of ancient jewelry from their families. They give these teenagers a special power. Their teacher Ms. Magos says she works for Meta and insists they meet to practice harnessing control over their powers. Great idea, put Olivia, her ex- Max, his current girlfriend Chelsea (who hates Olivia) Jaime and Justin all together in a room. Needless to say tempers flare. But, this group of teenagers learn quickly that they must fight Prometheus who wants to incorporate their powers for his own good.What was great about this book was that the teenagers all had to learn to deal with their new powers, but also normal problems. How would you feel if you had to be around your ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend with her hateful comments and glares? Problems must be put aside quickly as an attack by a group under Prometheus comes along. Will the group be able to work as a unit, or will their problems cause them to fall apart?Alana Siegel does a great job with her debut novel. While there are some grammatical errors that need to be taken care of, obviously it didn't bother me enough to stop me from buying her sequel.  I like how she is developing these characters, and if you read closely you pick up on the undercurrents of Olivia's true "gift" and why she has the potential of being so powerful. I thought Alana did a wonderful job of giving hints as to Olivia's "real gift" and making her characters so true to life. Everyone has been through high school and remembers the painful break-ups, the feelings of new crushes, the jealousy of other girls and guys" and the fear of "sticking out."  Alana's characters all deal with these issues in addition to their gifts.I like where I think she is taking this story line, and I am already anxiously awaiting the 3rd book!