perks of being a wallflower book review

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The perks of being a wallflower, common sense media reviewers.

Controversial coming-of-age classic with sex, drugs, abuse.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Teens may want to read some of the books Charlie r

Charlie comes of age in this book and learns to no

Charlie may drink and smoke, but he is honest abou

Charlie's sister is hit by her boyfriend but conti

Charlie overhears his crush having sex with her bo

Mature language, including the f-word and a hate w

Kids, including the narrator, smoke and drink. A c

Parents need to know that this coming-of-age classic features a lot of mature material including an abortion, repressed memories of sexual abuse, and men having sex with one another (sometimes anonymously). Characters, including the teen narrator, drink, smoke, and use drugs. Even so, it has become a classic of sorts…

Educational Value

Teens may want to read some of the books Charlie reads during his 10th grade year, including The Catcher in the Rye , To Kill a Mockingbird and A Separate Peace . Why have these coming-of-age books become classics? Why did the author choose to include these books?

Positive Messages

Charlie comes of age in this book and learns to not only reach out to others, but also to be present in his own life.

Positive Role Models

Charlie may drink and smoke, but he is honest about his feelings, even when he feels ashamed of them. He has a strong friendship with both Sam and Patrick, and is there for them when they fall apart. Sam, in particular, helps him, encouraging Charlie to live his life for himself. He also has a supportive teacher.

Violence & Scariness

Charlie's sister is hit by her boyfriend but continues to secretly date him. Some fistfights. Charlie ultimately remembers being sexually molested as a small child. He also remembers his dad hitting him and recounts a history of physical abuse in his greater family. Charlie's friend kills himself and his aunt dies in car crash.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Charlie overhears his crush having sex with her boyfriend, walks in on his sister naked with her boyfriend, and learns a friend is having a secret homosexual romance with a popular boy. He goes with his sister to have an abortion and also with his gay friend to pick up on guys for anonymous sex. He lets that same friend kiss him. Some other making out and descriptions of people having sex. Toward the end, in a pretty descriptive scene, Charlie stops a girl from touching him when he remembers being abused.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Mature language, including the f-word and a hate word for gay people.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Kids, including the narrator, smoke and drink. A character also uses Mini Thins to stay awake. Charlie also smokes marijuana and uses LSD.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this coming-of-age classic features a lot of mature material including an abortion, repressed memories of sexual abuse, and men having sex with one another (sometimes anonymously). Characters, including the teen narrator, drink, smoke, and use drugs. Even so, it has become a classic of sorts because of its tender coming-of-age story that's easy to compare to The Catcher in the Rye . Parents who are concerned about the mature material may want to consider reading it along with their kids.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (11)
• Kids say (141)

Based on 11 parent reviews

SUCH A GOOD BOOK!!!

It's not a bad book, what's the story.

After his friend commits suicide, smart misfit Charlie is trying to learn to "participate" in life. He befriends a group of interesting older kids who introduce him to partying, but also respect his sensitivity. In letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous stranger, he talks about his family, his friends, and his complicated, often overwhelming, feelings about growing up. Eventually, his longtime crush tells him that he "can't just sit there and put everybody's life ahead of yours and think that counts as love," and he slowly learns to be present in his life.

Is It Any Good?

Teens who love The Catcher in the Rye will find this to be an excellent sequel of sorts. Charlie shares Holden's overwhelming sensitivity -- and struggles with psychological issues -- and readers will find themselves quickly feeling sorry for the protagonist and worrying about him throughout his transformative journey. There's lots of mature content here, from sexual material to Charlie's repressed memories of being abused; parents may want to read along with their teens so they can help them with any questions. Alternately, Simon & Schuster has a reading guide that can help them think through some of the plot points and deeper issues.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about controversial books. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was the 10th most challenged book on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most banned or challenged books of 2000-2009. What makes it so controversial? Who should be able to make the decision about what you read or what's in your school or public library?

Teens and parents may want to compare and contrast this book with some of the other coming-of-age classics Charlie reads during his 10th grade year, including The Catcher in the Rye , To Kill a Mockingbird and A Separate Peace . Why did the author choose to include these books?

Book Details

• Author : Stephen Chbosky
• Genre : Coming of Age
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : MTV
• Publication date : February 1, 1999
• Number of pages : 224
• Last updated : December 13, 2018

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THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

by Stephen Chbosky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 1999

Aspiring filmmaker/first-novelist Chbosky adds an upbeat ending to a tale of teenaged angst—the right combination of realism and uplift to allow it on high school reading lists, though some might object to the sexuality, drinking, and dope-smoking. More sophisticated readers might object to the rip-off of Salinger, though Chbosky pays homage by having his protagonist read Catcher in the Rye. Like Holden, Charlie oozes sincerity, rails against celebrity phoniness, and feels an extraliterary bond with his favorite writers (Harper Lee, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Ayn Rand, etc.). But Charlie’s no rich kid: the third child in a middle-class family, he attends public school in western Pennsylvania, has an older brother who plays football at Penn State, and an older sister who worries about boys a lot. An epistolary novel addressed to an anonymous “friend,” Charlie’s letters cover his first year in high school, a time haunted by the recent suicide of his best friend. Always quick to shed tears, Charlie also feels guilty about the death of his Aunt Helen, a troubled woman who lived with Charlie’s family at the time of her fatal car wreck. Though he begins as a friendless observer, Charlie is soon pals with seniors Patrick and Sam (for Samantha), stepsiblings who include Charlie in their circle, where he smokes pot for the first time, drops acid, and falls madly in love with the inaccessible Sam. His first relationship ends miserably because Charlie remains compulsively honest, though he proves a loyal friend (to Patrick when he’s gay-bashed) and brother (when his sister needs an abortion). Depressed when all his friends prepare for college, Charlie has a catatonic breakdown, which resolves itself neatly and reveals a long-repressed truth about Aunt Helen. A plain-written narrative suggesting that passivity, and thinking too much, lead to confusion and anxiety. Perhaps the folks at (co-publisher) MTV see the synergy here with Daria or any number of videos by the sensitive singer-songwriters they feature.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1999

ISBN: 0-671-02734-4

Page Count: 256

Publisher: MTV Books/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Share your opinion of this book

More by Stephen Chbosky

BOOK REVIEW

by Stephen Chbosky

More About This Book

SEEN & HEARD

by Walter Dean Myers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 1999

The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...

In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.

Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.

Pub Date: May 31, 1999

ISBN: 0-06-028077-8

Page Count: 280

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More by Walter Dean Myers

by Walter Dean Myers ; illustrated by Floyd Cooper

by Walter Dean Myers

by Walter Dean Myers ; adapted by Guy A. Sims ; illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile

THE HIGHEST TIDE

by Jim Lynch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2005

A celebratory song of the sea.

A shrimpy 13-year-old with a super-sized passion for marine life comes of age during a summer of discovery on the tidal flats of Puget Sound.

Miles O’Malley—Squid Boy to his friends—doesn’t mind being short. It’s other things that keep him awake at night, like his parents’ talk of divorce and his increasingly lustful thoughts about the girl next door. Mostly, though, it’s the ocean’s siren call that steals his sleep. During one of his moonlit kayak excursions, Miles comes across the rarest sighting ever documented in the northern Pacific: the last gasp of a Giant Squid. Scientists are stunned. The media descend. As Miles continues to stumble across other oddball findings, including two invasive species that threaten the eco-balance of Puget Sound, a nearby new-age cult’s interest in Miles prompts a headline in USA Today : Kid Messiah? Soon tourists are flocking to the tidal flats, crushing crustaceans underfoot and painting their bodies with black mud. Dodging disingenuous journalists, deluded disciples and the death-throes of his parents’ marriage, Miles tries to recapture some semblance of normality. He reads up on the G-spot and the Kama Sutra to keep pace with his pals’ bull sessions about sex (hilariously contributing “advanced” details that gross the other boys out). But Miles’s aquatic observations cannot be undone, and as summer draws to a close, inhabitants of Puget Sound prepare for a national blitzkrieg of media and scientific attention and the highest tide in 40 years, all of which threatens everything Miles holds dear. On land, the rickety plot could have used some shoring up. Miles is just too resourceful for the reader to believe his happiness—or that of those he loves—is ever at stake. But when Miles is on the water, Lynch’s first novel becomes a stunning light show, both literal, during phosphorescent plankton blooms, and metaphorical, in the poetic fireworks Lynch’s prose sets off as he describes his clearly beloved Puget Sound.

Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2005

ISBN: 1-58234-605-4

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More by Jim Lynch

by Jim Lynch

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Publisher: Simon & Schuster | Genre: Young Adult Romance, Epistolary

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author:  Stephen Chbosky

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: Young Adult Romance, Epistolary

First Publication: 1999

Language:  English

Major Characters: Charlie, Mr. Anderson, Brad, Patrick, Sam

Setting Place: Pittsburgh suburbs

Theme: Trauma, Abuse, and Mental Health, Relationships and Intimacy, Adolescence and Transformation

Narrator: First person through Charlie’s perspective

Book Summary: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is an epistolary novel, where the narrator is a young introvert boy called Charlie. The story revolves around series of letters written by Charlie to an anonymous person mentioning his experiences. Though shy and sensitive in nature, Charlie is an intelligent boy with unconventional thinking capabilities. His first letters starts with Charlie mentioning about suicide of his Middle School’s friend and death of his favourite aunt Helen and how these tragic incidents have took toll in his life.

Charlie befriends two seniors Patrick and Sam and ends up indulging in alcohol and other drugs with Sam. In the meantime, Charlie also learns about his sister having relationship with an abusive guy and eventually getting pregnant. The flashback of his aunt dying in car crash stops haunting Charlie, as he starts enjoying company of his friends and Sam. While playing Truth and Dare, he is asked to kiss the prettiest girl in the room; he kisses Sam for which he faces neglect from the group.

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”

Flashback returns. Will Charlie be ever able to get control over his life? Will he be able to get his friends back? What turns did Charlie’s life take and how he battled to overcome it? A story filled with drama and lots of emotions, including, friendship, first love and sexuality- The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Major Characters: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Charlie:  The fifteen-year-old protagonist of The Perks of Being a Wallflower book. The story of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is told entirely from Charlie’s point of view. The book is told by a series of letters written by Charlie to an anonymous “friend”. Charlie is a shy, reserved, and intelligent high school freshman who has seen a great deal of stress in his youth. Charlie emerges from his shell through the relationships he forms throughout the school year, but it isn’t until the very end of the book that he discovers the repressed memories of sexual abuse at the heart of all the trauma he has been processing the entire time.

Patrick:  Sam’s stepbrother and one of Charlie’s closest friends in high school. He has an open friendship with Brad, the football team’s quarterback. Patrick accepts Charlie and all of his quirks and gives him the confidence to be himself.

Sam: Patrick’s stepsister and one of Charlie’s closest friends in high school. Throughout the novel, Charlie has a massive crush on Sam. Sam was sexually assaulted as a child, which links her to Charlie, but neither knows it until the very end of the book.

Book Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

In August of 1991 fifteen-year-old Charlie begins writing letters about his life to a stranger who he thinks will listen and understand. He doesn’t want this person to know who he is, so he has changed all the names of the people in his life. Charlie has a tendency to over think things, and prefers to look on from the side-lines than to participate. As he starts high school, he is still trying to get over the recent suicide of his best friend Michael. Charlie soon befriends Patrick and Sam and is introduced to their friends. Their world is one full of sex, drugs, love, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, mixed tapes, and moments that make you feel infinite.

Charlie is easily the most honest and insightful teenage narrator I can think of. He thinks about and questions everything, and looks at things in a unique way. He is very naïve and innocent as the novel begins, making his voice distinctive and unlike the average teenager. The writing style of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky reminds me a bit of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and  The Catcher in the Rye.

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”

Stephen Chbosky was influenced by Holden Caulfield while writing this book, and he pays homage to that by having Charlie read The Catcher in the Rye. Charlie’s English teacher Bill assigns him extra novels to read and write about throughout the school year. Charlie’s favourite book is always the last one he has read, and I liked the discussion of books, movies and music throughout the novel. All those things were a huge part of my teenage years, and I always like to see them mentioned in books.

Charlie’s friends and family felt very realistic to me. Charlie is very flawed and both Bill and Sam point out how he needs to participate and not put others before him. Although there are perks to being a wallflower, Charlie needs to stop watching from the sidelines. The ending of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was surprising and gave insight on why Charlie is the way he is.

“It’s strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.”

After I finished reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky the second time, I tried to put my finger on what makes this book special. It wasn’t the great quotes or the characters, but how poignant this book is. What makes me love The Perks of Being a Wallflower is how real the emotions in this book feel. A lot of the things that happened to Charlie have never happened to me, but while reading this book it felt as if they had.

What can I say other than if you did not read this book yet, then you are missing one of the greatest books ever written.

Quotes from The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.”

“There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”

“So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”

Differences Between The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Movie And Book

The Perks of Becoming a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a brief, tidy novel told in a one-sided epistolary style, with our protagonist Charlie narrating the story through letters to an anonymous friend. The movie adaptation of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower expands on Charlie’s story, showing him from a different angle while retaining the letter-writing format’s dignity. This means that a lot of the introduction material has to be changed somewhat, but the material that remains hits all of the right notes.

Most of the credit for the film’s tight transition goes to Stephen Chbosky, who wrote the script and then directed it onscreen. Mostly, novelists have no input about how their works are adapted, which is why the movie adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is so special. Charlie, Patrick, and Sam are Chbosky’s darlings, and rather than passing them over to anyone else, he lets them shine even more on the big screen.

The majority of the inconsistencies between the book and film adaptation of The Perks of Becoming a Wallflower are successful, but this is because the most of the modifications are subtle and not to alter the plot’s general direction. The below are the seven most noticeable differences I found during my screening of The Perks of Being a Wallflower movie.

• Charlie is a bit funnier, a little bolder, and a little less wallowy. We get to see Charlie’s charming way of extrapolating interactions with his friends and we are not trapped in his mind for the duration of the movie. He also alludes to all the strange thoughts running through his mind, but since this isn’t the only part of Charlie we can see, the audience’s emotional state is much more reserved.
• Charlie’s family appears in the film, but they are largely omitted from the storyline for the sake of time and narrative flow. As a result, we see less of his sister’s distress. One of the most harrowing scenes in the novel happens when Charlie’s sister is hit by her boyfriend, and the power dynamics in their relationship shift as a result. The incident is still shown in the film, but it is much less significant to the storyline.
• We get a glimpse at Charlie’s instructor Bill’s classroom complexities. Sure, Charlie mentions Bill’s lessons in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but in the movie, we get to see Bill as a more complex character. He always gets to say the epic “We accept the love we think we deserve” line, but he also gets to ask dumb summer reading questions. He’s always Charlie’s coach, but he’s still just a guy hoping to instil some interest in his pupils.
• Patrick lights the screen on fire. In the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower, we know Patrick is outspoken, a bit loud, and has a wonderful rapport with Sam. However, Ezra Miller’s Patrick has great comedic timing and is incredibly funny, particularly in a few new details that appear in the movie, such as the pink shop class instruments. Miller, rather than anybody else, gives life to a character we’ve only ever seen through Charlie’s eyes.
• There are more religious overtones in the movie than in the novel. We don’t know much about Charlie’s extended family, and we never see his racist grandfather, so Chbosky introduces Catholicism to draw out the environment Charlie grew up in. It’s strange, because in the novel, Charlie clearly believes in God, but his parents aren’t religious. The addition of faith offers the atmosphere a somewhat different background, but it also provides Chbosky with a simple way to transition from scene to scene.
• Charlie’s last Christmas gift to Patrick, a suicidal, heartbreaking poem, is cut out. The poem isn’t really relevant to the story. It’s too long to read in its entirety onscreen, but it’s a pivotal point in Charlie’s life and relationship with Sam, Patrick, Mary Elizabeth, Alice, and Bob. The film isn’t worse without the poem Charlie reads, but those who have read the book may find it lacking.

Overall, Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Becoming a Wildflower has a wonderful cast and is a wildly successful movie that captures the ache and grandeur of growing up in the suburbs in the early 1990s seamlessly by retaining all of the crucial moments in Charlie’s timeline and telling us more of our beloved side characters onscreen.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower Book Review

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, written by Stephen Chbosky, is a poignant novel that anyone who has navigated through adolescence can relate to. After the death of his beloved Aunt and his best friend Michael, the main character Charlie embarks on a journey to find himself while dealing with crippling loneliness and anxiety as he enters into his first year of high school. With the help of some new friends, Charlie discovers how to live in the moment and let go of the past.

The novel is composed of hundreds of letters that Charlie writes to an unknown friend. This writing style allows readers an exclusive look into Charlie’s innermost private thoughts, creating a personal connection with the character. Charlie’s pain tugs on readers’ heartstrings, while his happiness traverses through the pages, bringing great joy to the readers.

Charlie begins ninth grade just after his dear friend Michael commits suicide. With no genuine support system to help Charlie work through his complex and confusing emotions, he feels completely alone. The only person that would understand Charlie is his Aunt Helen, who was his favorite person in the world, but she died in a car crash when he was seven. No emotion can be displayed in his home, as his father and brother have a twisted view of masculinity, believing that a true man must be aggressive and emotionless. With no other options, Charlie decides that his only form of self-expression is writing letters to a “friend”.

As a reserved boy, Charlie has a hard time participating in life. Although he is an isolated wallflower, he is constantly observing the world around him, soaking up information like a sponge. He befriends his advanced English teacher, Bill, who gives Charlie extra reading assignments. Charlie connects with many of the characters in the reading and uses the books as a way to process his experiences. Bill is arguably the most important authority figure in Charlie’s life, as his confidence in Charlie ignites his dream of becoming a writer and gives Charlie validation which he cannot receive anywhere else. He encourages Charlie to actively engage in life and to break down the barrier which keeps him hidden from the world.

While at a football game, Charlie meets two seniors, a boy named Patrick and his sister Sam. Their warm and welcoming personalities comfort Charlie, and they quickly become his best friends. Charlie falls in love with Sam, not just for her beauty, but for her kind personality. Sam and Patrick include Charlie in all of their activities, bringing him to parties and introducing him to their friends. Both of them expose Charlie to the real world, teaching him how to enjoy life and build healthy relationships, as affection is taboo in his family. Listening to Bill’s advice, Charlie begins to participate more, even going to his school’s homecoming dance. On the drive home, Sam stands up in the back of her pickup truck, and as they drive through a tunnel with the music blaring, Charlie says he feels “infinite”. This part of the novel resonated with me, as most people have had a moment where they felt limitless. A moment where all of their troubles dissipated and they genuinely enjoyed life. Above all, Sam and Patrick teach Charlie how to love and respect himself instead of conforming to others so easily.

Although his friendship with Sam and Patrick provides Charlie with newfound happiness, a multitude of factors plague his life with depression. Most of the people that Charlie knows have suffered from abuse. Both of Charlie’s parents were beaten by their fathers, and many of his aunts experienced abusive relationships. Patrick’s boyfriend was also whipped by his father for being gay , and Charlie’s sister was hit by her boyfriend. Along with physical abuse, Charlie has been exposed to many accounts of sexual assault. His Aunt Helen was molested, and he witnessed rape at a party. Furthermore, Charlie blames himself for his aunt’s death, as she got in a car crash while on the way to buy him a birthday present.

All of these factors contribute to Charlie’s deteriorating mental state, and similarly to Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, Charlie turns to drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol in order to cope. Eventually Charlie hits rock bottom after he digs up a traumatizing event from his past, causing him to question the person that he loved most. At the conclusion of the novel, Charlie decides that he cannot blame anyone for his painful experience, and with the support of his family and friends he moves forward and lives in the present.

This novel has been banned on many schools’ reading lists because of its blunt descriptions of touchy subjects such as rape , drugs, abortion , and offensive language. However, I strongly disagree with this decision. I believe that the themes in the book are even more relevant today than 20 years ago, when it was published in 1999. Chbosky sheds a light on numerous problems in today’s society, such as the stereotype that true men must be strong and emotionless, while women should accept abuse from men as normal. Chbosky challenges this notion through Patrick, an openly gay man who shows that men can be homosexual, and Bill, who is compassionate and sensitive. The novel also brings the issue of teen depression to the surface, which is needed more than ever in today’s world. Through Michael’s suicide, Chbosky highlights the grim reality of mental illness, a truth which many tend to ignore. The need for confronting these issues is presented through Charlie’s discussion with his parents about the disturbing experience he suffered at the hands of the most trusted figure in his life.

Overall, I highly recommend this book, specifically to high schoolers. The only complaint I have about the book is that the ending was too abrupt, and I wish the author continued the story line longer. The most magical aspect of the book is how relatable the characters are. Just like Charlie, countless high schoolers have felt out of place, like they were not actually living, but merely observing. Everyone has felt that fear of entering high school, not knowing if they would have friends to eat with at lunch or walk through the halls with. Along with the lows point that readers can identify with, they can also relate to the many highs that Charlie experienced. From something as small as singing with friends in the car, the novel reminds readers to relish the present and let go of the past. As for me, this book taught me to live in the moment and to stop obsessing over every petty issue, as high school goes by fast and you should enjoy the time you can with friends and family. If readers take away anything from this novel, it should be that bad times are not permanent, and as displayed by Charlie, things will always work out.

I truly admire that Charlie never tries to fit in with his peers or change who he is to please others. Charlie is not popular, in fact, his classmates think he is strange. Even though Charlie feels lonely, he consistently sticks to his morals and never acts different to make friends. In today’s society, people are constantly trying to fit into boxes to gain the admiration of others, but Charlie’s unique personality reminds people that in order to find real friends, you must be yourself. Although Charlie is not popular, when he is with Sam, Patrick, and his other friends, he feels complete, and that feeling is so much better than being on the top of the social hierarchy.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower brings readers on a journey through high school, all its lows and highs. It teaches readers about growing up and finding themselves in an unforgiving world. Some parts of the novel will make people ecstatic, others will make people depressed. The book may even make readers cry. But one thing I can guarantee is, this book will make everyone feel infinite.

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The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - review

Charlie has just started High School. He's very worried and scared about it. Charlie's a wallflower so has never really got on well with people, until he meets Patrick and Sam, brother and sister, and amazing friends to Charlie. Charlie starts actually having fun with his life after he meets Patrick and the beautiful Sam. But there's still lots of things Charlie doesn't understand: dating, family issues, the world of sex, new friends and drugs. All of this is new to him. And then he hears this one song on this one night on this one drive that makes him feel infinite. Charlie gets very emotional over lots of things he's also extremely grateful to have everything he has.

I started reading The Perks Of Being A Wallflower when on holiday; my friend had just finished it and so I picked it up and started reading it. And instantly I enjoyed it, it was an amazing book! One of the best books I've read this year.

I think it's written really well and I really loved all of the characters, they all had something special about them. I especially like Patrick, Charlie and Charlie's Sister.

I think everybody should read this book young or old. It gives a perfect perspective of being a teenager growing up with problems. Confused about all of these feelings and everything that's been happening over the last few weeks good or bad. Dates and Boyfriends and Girlfriends. This is the kind of stuff I imagine teenagers probably get confused about as they get older.

It's written out like many letters to someone whose name is never mentioned much to my disappointment. Stephen Chbosky makes the world he creates truly believable; that it's actually someone's real life and it actually is real in his head. You can actually believe that. I believed it! It felt like I was reading the book of someone's real life rather than fiction.

I think if you're reading this review you should definitely read The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. This is a book that should definitely go on your Christmas list or the last book you read during the summer holiday because you will not be able to put it down. So much happens it never gets boring, there is always something going on that gets you hooked into it even more! It felt like you were actually reading someones life story written out in a note to someone, it felt so real.

I would rate it 10 stars!!! And 13+ because there's a lot of detail in some of the less suitable bits.

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