Sarah's Reviews > Charm & Strange

It takes a lot for a book to scare me. The last time I had shivers down my spine when reading, was in middle school. I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, hiding under the covers late at night. When I put it down, I spent a good hour glancing at the door, prepared for a pale man with a snake-like face would walk in. Charm and strange managed to get under my skin, provoke deep emotion and shock me. It genuinely frightened me, and I was close to sleeping with the lights on.

I will keep my summary short because this book is a mindfuck and most of the fun is figuring out what’s going on. The story is told in two timelines: before and after. One follows Drew as a young boy, while the other is about Win’s life at boarding school, when he has left his old life and name behind him. He is still haunted by the ghosts of the past and battling against himself.

Despite being a short book, not much happens in the first half of Charm and Strange. Be patient. It starts off slow and sometimes I wondered what the point of it was. And then, it clicks. This is a psychological thriller that doesn’t completely rely on its ending, which I love. It’s not that single twist that comes completely out of the blue. We first receive vague traces of who Win used to be and who he is now. At last, Kuehn starts to give us tiny clues that eventually make up a whole picture. It’s ugly, dirty and unexpected. Once things are revealed, you start seeing the book in a whole different light, wondering why you didn’t pick up on it before.

This was emotionally draining to read. It certainly isn't for the faint of heart; it is for the curious ones who love all things dark and complex. The author puts us in the main character’s shoes, making us feel as lonely and lost as he is. Win thinks he’s going crazy, and is a completely unreliable narrator. The book is triggering and shocking, tackling nearly every taboo and heavy subject that there is. What I love about Stephanie Kuehn’s writing is that she is a master at showing, rather than telling. This is an incredibly risky story for YA, and the only possible way this could’ve been written for this age group is in a very clever sense, with great caution and thought.

Charm and strange is extremely dark and tragic, unflinching and ruthless. It is a wild tale that doesn’t spare any details. It has an isolated and incredibly lonely feel to it. It pushes boundaries, explores taboos and messes with your head. This is an extremely well-written psychological thriller that unravels with grace and anticipation. It is all of these things, but probably not what you think it is.