A review by dherzey
Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn

4.0

"No, we talked about matter -- most notably quarks, those tiniest possible components of everything. They come in six flavors, you know: up, down, top, bottom, charm and strange. I'll admit those talks helped me, and when I read about sea quarks, I understood why. They contain particles of matter and antimatter, and where the two touch, exists this constant stream of creation and annihilation. Scientists call this place "the sea".....

I am of the sea.
I am of instability.
I am of harsh, choppy waves roiling with all the up-ness, down-ness, top-ness, bottom-ness contained within my being.
I am of charm and strange.
Annihilation.
Creation.
Annihilation."

This book has both "charm" and "strange" but I think "dark, depressing and sad" could also describe the story better when you found out the truth.

So, what is Charm and Strange exactly? Believe me, when I began to read this book, I got no idea either. I just knew that there's this boy named Drew who changed his identity to Winston because of something tragic. There's also talk of wolves and lots of flashbacks on how it all began and what. It was quite muddy at first, with all the vagueness of Win's past and Drew's anger. There's "what" happened but no "why" it happened. Mostly, I just go with the flow yet mostly, I also wanted answers. I kept on reading, kept on trying to decipher Drew's actions, Win's desire to change. I still got no idea what's the story leading into, but I am intrigue. Drew's complexity had me in.

Then I started to know the "whys" and the story became much clearer to me but no less emotional. It was so, so sad. Depressing. Dark. Fucked-up. You can't help but feel for Drew. This book is no walk in the park. It was gritty and heartbreaking. I sympathize with Drew, this poor boy, and to Keith and Siobhan. Hell, my heart breaks for them.

Honestly, I didn't cry. I wasn't mind-fucked, either. I was a bit detached at the beginning so I wasn't wholly into it like I wish. But there's enough power in the story to still affect me greatly. And if you're like me, diving into this book without much idea what you're getting into, you might find a strange, little story about wolves. And yes, it is about wolves but go on, read a little further and watch this story spin into a sad, sad tale. A little psychological thriller brilliantly told.