Customer Reviews

Freak Magnet

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It's as simple as this: I ADORED Freak Magnet to the max. It was fun, witty, and real- three characteristics that when mixed together make for pure awesomeness.

Both of the characters in Freak Magnet were ones I loved. No lie about it. Charlie was extremely sweet and chivalrous; a character who always had me laughing at his way of telling it like it is no matter how bad the consequences would be. And Gloria, while distant and moody at times, was always witty and intelligent; someone I would hug and tell everything be all right to if I could. Together they made for an awesome match- one that always lead to not only more funny moments but tender ones as well as they dealt with life, death, and love all in one. I also loved the secondary characters. Some of my favorites would be Maggie, Gloria's sister whose sense of style was bizarre yet wickedly awesome, and Edison, a guy I admired for his brave actions given his condition.

Told in a he-said/she-said type of way, Freak Magnet allowed for the Magnet and the Freak to tell their tale of things, making this be one trait of the novel I absolutely loved, because it always allowed for different questions to be swirling around in my head, such as: Would Gloria and Charlie ever get a chance at romance? Would Gloria ever get over her personal issues and realize that there still are reasons to live in the world? And plenty more, which left for this plot to one that always had me on my toes.

In all, Andrew Auseon not only makes Freak Magnet look like a start in my eyes but him as well because he's one fantastic author. I can't wait to read more by him.

My final advice? I know I say this a lot, but read this book, especially if you love he-said/she-said type of stories.

Grade: A-

Freak Magnet is a story of a young man who sees himself as a misfit, devoid of social skills with very little hope of ever gaining them -- the Freak -- and a young woman, who seems to draw the attention of people but who only wants to push them, all of them, away -- the Magnet. When their worlds collide, his in-your-face enthusiasm crashes right into her prickly demands to be left alone. Will they ever see past their own caricatures of themselves and each other? If they face the problems in their own lives, perhaps they can begin to deal with them together. This is the story of their struggle to connect. It is told with sweetness and the author's clear affection for the characters he's created. While I wouldn't say the book is incredibly memorable, it's a fine story, well told and likely to be appreciated by teens both male and female.

Freak Magnet isn't at all how I expected it to be. I thought it would be a lighthearted, fun contemporary romance and, while it was all of those things, it was also a lot deeper and serious than I thought it would be. Ultimately it's about hope and surviving what life throws at you, whether it's loss or illness or simply feeling like an outcast.

Auseon has a brilliant grasp of teenage vocabulary, and often made me laugh out loud with quick one-liners from Charlie, or sarcastic retorts from Gloria. The humour used was right up my street, as was Charlie's small obsession with Superman. The guy wore a Superman costume under his regular clothes... can you get much cooler than that?! I don't think you can. He has a cape and everything!

Speaking of Charlie, he's a lovely guy. He's innocently honest (perhaps TOO honest!), and so thoughtful and kind that it's hard not to fall completely in love with him. He cares for his unwell mother while holding down school and a job, and at night he stargazes with a telescope he bought by mowing hundreds of lawns. He's like my perfect guy imagined and put onto a page, complete with an extensive knowledge of the Man of Steel. I want one!

Gloria took me a little longer to warm to, but by the end of the book I loved her. She's still dealing with the loss of a family member, and meets Charlie purely by chance. She is a freak magnet, after all. When these two meet, it's like some kind of fate. They help each other more than they know, and provide much-needed comfort and support. The secondary characters - Charlie's friends and Gloria's sister - are also great to read about, and each has their own story that fits in seamlessly.

I love novels told from two perspectives through dual narration, and Freak Magnet is now firmly on my list of must-read contemporaries. I wish there could have been a little more romance, but hey, that's not the most important thing to Charlie and Gloria. I liked that, because it was realistic and allowed for a beautiful friendship to develop. If I ever meet a boy who wears a Superman costume under his shirt, you can bet I'll be flagging him down on a crowded street. Some things have just got to be done.

From [...]

Andrew Auseon's latest novel "Freak Magnet" is not your typical romance story. There's plenty of boy-girl romantic angst, but this novel is so much more than just a love story. Charlie, the freak, and Gloria, the magnet, alternate telling the story in chapters appropriately titled "Freak" or "Magnet", until the very last one called "Freak Magnet." Although Gloria gets her chance to speak, this is very much Charlie's story and the novel begins with the first time he sees Gloria and is instantly attracted to her.

Charlie is different. He has his head in the clouds and has more interest in the stars and tracking potential comets than anything reality has to offer, until he sees Gloria. Lacking in social skills or the ability to control anything he says, Charlie chases Gloria out of a coffee shop so he can tell her that she is the most beautiful person he has ever seen. Gloria is used to freaks trying to get her attention and quickly dismisses Charlie as just another entry for her freak folio, her logbook of all freak encounters, but there's something about him that makes her take a second look.

Both Charlie and Gloria are at a crossroads in their lives when they need to make a connection with someone else or risk letting their individual grief overwhelm them. Although Gloria has shut everyone out of her life, Charlie is able to penetrate her angry exterior. The freak becomes the magnet.

Auseon manages to write Gloria's perspective just as well as Charlie's and reading both points of view enhances the story. Interspersed throughout Gloria's chapters are poems written by Auseon's wife Sarah Zogby. "Freak Magnet" is well written and has enough humor and action to entice readers who don't normally read romance. But readers looking for a good romance will not be disappointed. One gets the sense that "Freak Magnet" is a little biographical and that Auseon drew from his own relationship with Zogby and that definitely adds to the romance.

You know that feeling you get when you love something so much you want to climb to the top of a very tall building and shout so loud you burst your own eardrums. Well, thats kind of how Freak Magnet made me feel. The only problem is that I'm kind of scared of heights, so that puts a downer on the whole situation, so I'm going to have to settle for shouting my love across the interweb. Can you hear that girl shouting "Charlie Whyatt I LOVE YOU" yeah, thats me. I really didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book, only I got something I never expected. Like missing the last bus home, only to have your crush pull up next to you and take you home and kiss you on your porch. It made me think "oh WOW this is *awesome*. And it wasn't a gradual thing either, i'm used to falling for characters gradually over the course of the book, but not these characters. They are quite literally magnets (yes I went there), I loved them instantaneously.

I'm going to sound like a talking advert for some cheesy 80's song, because I want to litter this review with sayings like "my heart is full of love for this book" or "this book burns as bright as a star in the sky". Because thats how I feel, I even had a bizarre thought that maybe I should eat one of the pages. I didn't because I'm not cool with defacing books, but in all honesty, the thought was there. Then I put it down to the fact that I just love the way this man writes, how his characters manifest like real people on the pages, how something so witty can have so much depth. And that amount of admiration surely must mean that I should eat one of the pages, to see if it tastes as good as it reads, because if this book was food, it would be the best food EVER!

Charlie Whyatt is a freak, I'm not going to lie, it says it right there on the cover. Gloria Aboud is a "Freak Magnet" she attracts that crazies like you would not beleive. She even writes it all down in her Freak Folio, a little book where she documents each and every time a crazy person talks to her. Then she meets Charlie, and when I say meets, well you'll know what I mean when you read this book. Because you will. Read it, I mean. We then follow the Freak and his Magnet to a place you will never see coming, but a place that is the best place of all the places.

Auseon has a way with words that makes everything seem like your getting a private screening into the minds of real life people. Hey, Andrew, if your reading this and Charlie is based on a real life person, then can you give him my email? it's in the little box in the top left hand corner? Yeah, I know your a writer and not a pimp, but give a girl a break would you, your just the middle man, an enabler if you will. Back on topic, there is a hidden depth to this book that is not really hinted at by the synopsis, I expected a story that would be so light, we could float away together, but Auseton manages to give the characters a real sense of depth, and shows in the harsh light of day that real life is hard. Everyone battles with something, everyone has inner demons they need to fight. He shows us with these carefully crafted characters that people are not perfect and we shouldn't ask them to be, we should ask them to be who they are. Real.

Charlie and Gloria are two characters that I wish were my friends. Charlie with his eccentric ways, how he can't seem to talk fast enough because he has too many words to say, and his love for his telescope and everything the universe holds. Gloria who was well, glorious. Broken and strong and artistic. I loved watching them both develop over the course of the book, how they come to realise that not tackling pain head on will only come back to bite you in the ass. And the secondary characters were just as awesome, in a more unassuming way. Edison with his crazy insane wheelchair and that old wise head of his. To the people who worked at the drug store, guys, I feel your pain. I'm kind of blowed away by how much I loved this book, because it was so unexpected. I would read this again and again and find something new to love each time. Poignant, witty, mesmorising and compelling, I dare you to read this book and not fall in love with every single word on its pages. Magic.

The quirky characters are believable. Their unexpected romance is perfect. But most importantly, the spontaneous order that brings them together is exactly what they both need.

Charlie Wyatt is something else, alright. He's an astronomy nerd, talks way too much when he's nervous, and secretly earns his daily strength from a Superman costume he wears underneath his clothes. As far as Gloria Aboud goes, she's one tough cookie you don't want to mess with. Yet, she has an expressive side that comes out in her poetry.

They are the last people you'd ever expect to end up with one another. As this story proves, though, sometimes it's our life challenges and struggles that bring polar opposites together.

Andrew Auseon's FREAK MAGNET is an unexpected yet completely likeable novel. Everything is realistic; there's no nonsense characters or traditional fairy tale plots. Charlie and Gloria are two people that you could find walking the streets in real life or, in this case, Washington, D.C. This makes their reliance on one another and their personal growths resonate in your own heart.

Reviewed by: Hannah Marie

I recently finished Freak Magnet and really enjoyed it. It was a refreshing, modern love story without any traces of sappiness or corrniness. Very realatable. I would highly recommend this book!Freak Magnet

Freak Magnet was absolutely not what I expected and I am thrilled by this. At first, I thought this would be about a girl who somehow keeps attracting weird guys. While this would have been a witty story, Freak Magnet turned out to be book that both made me laugh and touched me at the same time.

This book also reminded that people who need each other - usually end up finding each other - regardless of all the "crap" that they may have to go through to get there and this was certainly the case for our two main characters Charlie and Gloria.

In fact, both characters are actually quite flawed - which I thought added deeply to the storyline. We get to slowly discover what motivates and pushes each of the characters to do and be how they are - and the discovery is fascinating, especially since we get to do it at the same time as the main characters.

The passages are, at times, funny and at other times touching and sad - but they are totally engrossing and created a novel that you will definitely fall in love with.

The writing is perfect - in fact, the storyline and the writing offer up a variety of images and messages that will reach both YA and adults alike - love, sadness, misunderstanding, forgiveness are all part of this book.

I loved it.