Review: A Delightful Story About Love
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 14, 2012
American teenage girls are worried mainly about two things: school and romance.  In The Charm (Book one of Olivia Hart and the Gifted Program), the author, Alana Siegel, devotes substantial time and effort describing the worries and insecurities of attending school.  In The Retreat, the author spends a lot more time on the theme of love.You see, the protagonist in our story, Olivia Hart, is deeply and utterly in love with a seemingly quiet boy named Justin.  For reasons known only to Justin himself, he is aloof and cold towards Olivia in public, but warm and passionate in private.  When he finally breaks off the relationship, Olivia is forced to mend her broken heart on a retreat out in another state.Taking our Gifted group away from their familiar surroundings, the author does a wonderful job explaining the origins of the Gifted, the Meta, and where Olivia Hart fits into the grand scheme of things.  The author introduces other members of the Gifted, and eventually some of these new characters prove equally important in moving the story forward.Alana Siegel is a girl at heart, and enjoys writing the joys and challenges of enduring love, and friendship.  Taking the readership along for the ride, the writer allows Olivia to arise from the sorrows of heartbreak, to a fully mature and confident character who finally understands and realizes who she loves the most.