1.5. I really forced myself to finish this one. I seem to have read a few too many books lately which have alternating past/present chapters and it's starting to feel a bit played out. Not this book's fault, I know. This book was going for something different and while it was not your typical YA fare, (and I do realize I am not in the target demographic of this book) it all just felt a little too try-hard to me.

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Andrew Winston Winters—he goes by “Win” at school—is a tennis prodigy. At the Vermont boarding school he attends, he’s considered a snob. He’s such a loner. Don’t try to make friends with him, or try to get his attention, because you’ll either get short, snarky retorts, or completely ignored. But inside Win is terrified to get close to other people. He’s afraid he could harm them. Recently there was a hiker found dead and mutilated near the grounds of the school. It was the night of a full moon. Win doesn’t know, but he thinks he may have done it. He knows that inside he’s a bad person. And it’s not that he’s just cruel; he fears he may be a werewolf.

Kuehn’s chilling tale of psychological suspense veers scarily back and forth between Win’s present, and his story growing up, with the alcoholism, abuse, depression and death that surrounded him in his immediate family. It’s a wild roller coaster ride before the wolf finally reveals its identity.

Charm & Strange is a wonderful book, but also problematic to review. I actually have a great deal to say about it, but it is one of those books where the impact will be diminished if too much is revealed in advance... (review comparing it to [b:The Dream Thieves|17347389|The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367060081s/17347389.jpg|21598446] at http://wp.me/pC6nX-lY ) ( )

Subject matter tackled 5 stars, execution of story line 3 stars. The main character is Andrew Winters, a sixteen year old boy. The story goes back and forth in time between the present day when he is in boarding school and his past with his family. Something bad happened to him in the past and it skewed his thought process. Unfortunately the reader is left to see the story through his fragmented thoughts that don't make much sense for most of the book. If the book wasn't so short I might have given up. For a lot of the book Andrew talks about having a wolf inside of him and not knowing what this book was about I actually thought I was reading a werewolf fantasy book. When all is finally revealed it's like a punch to the stomach. I am glad I read it but it was a strange journey. ( )

It seems as if everyone loved this book. I did not. I didn't hate it...but I didn't really care for it either. It was an emotional read - a disturbing, sad story that definitely makes an impression. But I just didn't love it.