Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

 4 of 5 Stars

Publisher: MTV Books and Pocket Books

Goodreads Synopsis:

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.
Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

Review:

 

I was hoping I would enjoy this, and I did. It looked like it would be entertaining because of the way it was written, with the letters and what not, and Charlie, the main character, sounded like the type of character that I enjoy reading about. And he was.

First of all, I love Charlie. He is so sweet and sad, such a contradiction, really. He's so innocent while still being sad. He's wistful, and angst-full, and eccentric in a way. And so honest, and modest. His friends are awesome, and he needed to meet them when he did. He needed them to teach him the things he did, and to experience the things he did with them, even if there was also all that anguish that he felt because of them at times.

It talks about several issues very well, like what his sister goes through, and what Patrick goes through with being gay, and suicide. He thinks of so many things that made me think about it. I related to him at certain parts, and he just made my chest hurt because of how sad he is.

Once I started this book, I wanted to keep reading. But I also wanted to stop several times, because I knew something was going to happen, something that I didn't want to know about yet, or at all. Because Charlie is so full of sadness while still being uplifting. When I got to the end of it, though, and I found out what had happened to him... I can't really decide how I feel about it. Because it's sad, and I understand some of what he was going through. It explains some. But I feel like it wasn't a good enough explanation. It just doesn't seem like that's all that was wrong; like he had some other kind of problem or disorder. Maybe I'm wrong, though; I've never been through what he has.

That's the only real problem I had with the book. Besides that, it bothers me how Charlie and Sam were in the end. Generally how all of the characters were in the end, but it makes sense. It can't all be happily ever after. I still love Charlie completely.