Barbara Hall (1) (1967–)

Pearl Swine is a violinist, but not a professional in her standing. She works at a music shop with other musicians and teaches children. Her husband left her for a younger student he taught at UCLA.

The characters are interesting, but only on a superficial L.A. level. I'm not sure if this is what the author meant to do. If so she did a superb job. I felt sorry for them as they left me sad they're only living half lives.

The relationship Pearl has with one of her student's struck me as pathetic and not at all as a 40 year old woman should behave. Though the character does mention that. But she doesn't seem to delve into it much or seem to want to correct it.

It was an easy quick read and I liked the honest abruptness of Pearl which is what kept me reading and I liked the areas of intellectualism as well....but, there wasn't much growth of the characters and they felt like empty shells of human beings just going through the motions, to me.… (more)

"Crazy people have color and imagination and the thing is, some of us aren't crazy, we're just right."

Sarah Lange is in a Rehabilitation center sizing up her psychiatrist who she knows better than he knows himself. All her life Sarah has had 'Guides' that tell her things. Ever since a terrible 'accident' she has had trouble turning off her guides and they are making her feel homesick, homesick for Heaven, that is.

An original tale of self-discovery (for patient and psychiatrist) that leads down an unsuspected path. This book was very refreshing I and enjoyed that it was heavy on dialogue both inner and outer; this made for well-rounded and relatable characters. I thought this novel was going to wrap up a little too neat and tidy for me at the end, but there was a little twist that kept me smiling. I would enjoy knowing what happened to the secondary characters of Kit and Willie, but overall Charisma was a fast-paced enjoyable read!

This book was provided for free from the publisher in return for an honest review. See the blog tour for this book on December 9-13 at stephaniesbookreviews.weebly.com.… (more)