Scan barcode
A review by downthebookhole
Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
4.0
Strange. Baffling. Mysterious. Unique. Unexpected.
When I think of this book these are the words that come to mind. I have to also preface this review by saying that to read this book you need patience and to be able to continue reading although for a majority of the book you are completely confused and left in the dark in regards to just about everything. Although this is a semi short book, I personally felt like it took me a long time to read it all the way through. I kept getting frustrated and anxious, but by the end I was completely captivated, and in awe at the overall story and the deep feelings and meanings evoked by the story of "Win".
The book is full of mystery, secrets and twist that lead you to question what you thought was happening and what the outcome would be. It is told alternating between the past and present creating more confusion as you slowly learn parts of secrets that are all brought together towards the end and ties up all loose ends for the most part. The way this story was written was extremely unique and intriguing that although I had fits of frustration and anger I could not manage to put it down because I needed to know what happened and what was going on. There were also so many thoughtful and beautifully strung together sentences that were full of wisdom and made you think about life.
I don't want to really say much else because spoilers, but this was a wonderful debut novel by Stephanie Kuehn. If it doesn't sound like it I will state I truly did enjoy this novel in retrospect, I think the anger clouded my thoughts during the read because I was impatient and just wanted to know what was going on, but the beautifully written ending makes it all worth the read. It is definitely one of those books that I feel like people either hate or love, but I believe it is one to give a chance to, especially if you love being stumped and having no clue where the story will go.
When I think of this book these are the words that come to mind. I have to also preface this review by saying that to read this book you need patience and to be able to continue reading although for a majority of the book you are completely confused and left in the dark in regards to just about everything. Although this is a semi short book, I personally felt like it took me a long time to read it all the way through. I kept getting frustrated and anxious, but by the end I was completely captivated, and in awe at the overall story and the deep feelings and meanings evoked by the story of "Win".
The book is full of mystery, secrets and twist that lead you to question what you thought was happening and what the outcome would be. It is told alternating between the past and present creating more confusion as you slowly learn parts of secrets that are all brought together towards the end and ties up all loose ends for the most part. The way this story was written was extremely unique and intriguing that although I had fits of frustration and anger I could not manage to put it down because I needed to know what happened and what was going on. There were also so many thoughtful and beautifully strung together sentences that were full of wisdom and made you think about life.
I don't want to really say much else because spoilers, but this was a wonderful debut novel by Stephanie Kuehn. If it doesn't sound like it I will state I truly did enjoy this novel in retrospect, I think the anger clouded my thoughts during the read because I was impatient and just wanted to know what was going on, but the beautifully written ending makes it all worth the read. It is definitely one of those books that I feel like people either hate or love, but I believe it is one to give a chance to, especially if you love being stumped and having no clue where the story will go.