BOOK REVIEW: Charm & Strange – by Stephanie Kuehn

Title: Charm & Strange
Author: Stephanie Kuehn
Genre: YA, Mystery, Fantasy
First published: January 11th 2013
Finished reading: February 20th 2016
Pages: 224

“From what I can tell, morality is a word. Nothing more. There’re the things people do when others are watching and the things we do when they aren’t.”

Charm & Strange has been floating around on my kindle for a while now, and I finally picked it up the other day because I needed something short and entertaining to get me to read again. Let me tell you: it worked like a charm. Like the title says, this book is without doubt strange, mysterious and very intriguing. What I thought was going to be another fantasy story full of werewolves and romance turned out to be something completely different… And I must say Stephanie Kuehn left me speechless and guessing what was really going on even long after I finished the last page. Win/Drew is a very interesting character with a touch of unreliable narrator, which makes the story into something messy and unique. Reading Charm & Strange was not quite what I was expecting, but in this case in a positive way. The story has a fast pace, reads easily even though you might not know exactly what is going on and I liked the character development. Recommendable!

Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself. Part of him is Win, a lonely teenager who is forced to attend a remote Vermont boarding school after a family tragedy. He doesn’t want to connect to his classmates and prefers to be alone with his secrets… And then there is Drew, an angry young boy that seems to be under the control of violent impulses. His family seems to have a secret, and when he spends one summer with his brothers and teenage cousins something unthinkable happens. Something that will lead to the family tragedy Win is now suffering from… Andrew will have to battle both the ghosts and pain of the past and the loneliness of the present. And what does the moon and do his wild and dark memories have to do with it?

This novel by Stephanie Kuehn has truly surprised me. I don’t know what I was expecting, but Charm & Strange turned out to be a truly unique and intriguing story. I’m not sure I actually like all the main characters, but the whole mystery around Win/Drew really makes this into a great read. If you are looking for a fast, interesting and unique read, make sure to give Charm & Strange a go!

WWW Wednesdays #79 – February 24th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I still haven’t finished All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr… Don’t get me wrong, I love this book so far both because of the prose, setting and characters, but somehow I haven’t been in the mood to read it. I’m fearing a starting reading slump, so I am trying to read quick, ‘easy’ or different reads instead. I’ve just picked up Bestiario by Julio Cortázar as well to start working on my promise to read more Spanish books; I’ve read a lot of his short stories during Uni and it’s nice to revisit them.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I finished was Every Day by David Levithan. I had my reservations and wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be an excellent read.
* I then read Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn mostly because I needed something short and entertaining to get me to read again. Like the title says, this book is without doubt strange, mysterious and very intriguing! Recommendable.
* I also finished Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas, a book I picked up on a whim after remembering how much I loved Dangerous Girls last year. I still prefer that one, although Dangerous Boys is almost as good. Abigail Haas knows how to play with the reader’s mind!
* The last book I finished is Mr. Kiss And Tell by Rob Thomas, a Veronica Mars sequel that didn’t really live up to expectations. I loved the first book, but the sequel read a bit slow and failed to keep my attention. There was too much focus on the relationship between Veronica and Logan and politics and the actual case they were working on was pushed to the background…

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I really want to pick up The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton soon; both because I have been looking forward to it for quite some time now and I need it for a challenge as well. I might read Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson first though if I’m in the mood for a light read…. And I also finally want to stick to my promise and start with Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, but that depends on how I feel after finishing my current reads. The Liar’s Chair by Rebecca Whitney is still my newest TBR jar pick.