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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

129 reviews

whoisrois's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Expected it to be a little melodramatic and trite, as I used to find the film, but despite how often he cries, it really isn’t. It was honestly a really evocative novel that deserves its hype.

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oceanbluetay's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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greek_book_wanderer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

During the Christmas holidays, one of my aunts gifted me a copy of "The Perks of Being A Wallflower". Need I to say anything more? I think that the majority of people have heard about this book. Personally, although I was familiar with it, I never had the chance or interest to read it. But now I did. And I have so much to say.

I'll start with the writing style. I absolutely LOVE reading books in the diary format. As someone who has been keeping diaries throughout the years, from the age of six till sixteen, I have a special attachment with books that are written as a diary. This style allowed me to connect more with Charlie since he describes everything from his point of view.

I found the writing to be quite charming. I had read some complaints, which said that Charlie spoke like a very young child instead of a 15 years old boy. Personally, I found no issue with that. I admit that at times some phrases would be repetitive but I didn't mind the wording. Trust me, when I was 15 years old, I didn't write any better on my diaries. You don't want to see what I wrote, unless you want to cringe. Charlie was a 15 years old boy who wanted to find a way to express his bottled thoughts and communicate with someone. Last time I checked, a teenager wouldn't write on his diary as if he were Charles Dickens or Jane Austen. I actually related with Charlie in that aspect because when I would write on my diary, I would pretend I was writing to another person and my thoughts would be all over the place, jumping from one topic to another. The simplicity of Charlie's words didn't bother me because you don't always need a rich vocabulary to express your pain and thoughts and there were many times when the writing became more serious and there were many quotes that hit me very hard.

The characters are definitely one of the strongest (if not the strongest) aspects in this book. They had their flaws, they had their own demons to deal with but it was still very interesting to follow their evolution. With one way or another, most of them ended up changing a little compared to how I met them at the beginning. Especially Charlie.

Let me tell you something: I am currently 18 years old and I have just finished high school. Actually, in October I'll start going to university and study psychology, my major. As you can tell, I am not as old as Charlie. And I can't say that I related with him in some aspects because I had a good experience in my first year in high school (minus covid), I don't carry the same trauma with him, I always have great times with my relatives...And yet, I felt connected with him, in some weird way. There were times in my life when I felt awkward or anxious like Charlie did. When I was younger, I remember that sometimes it would become quite difficult to socialise with other people, despite me being a sociable person most of the time. I am also good at paying attention to those around me, even when it seems like I don't. Like Charlie, I think that I can observe other people and read them (especially in school, I always did that when I noticed strange behaviors from classmates). At no point my anxiety or awkwardness matches Charlie's, but still, I kinda found myself in him.

I feel like I could write a whole essay about Charlie. He is the type of character to whom I immediately feel drawn to. What can I say, characters who are trying to fit into society and navigate through their lives while trying to deal with their problems have a soft place in my heart. I was really rooting for Charlie, since the first pages. I really wanted him to find more people who would make him feel comfortable with himself and open up more. I desperately wanted him to love himself. There were times when I felt happy, when things went well. And then I felt anxious if things didn't turn so good. At some points I was even angry. But most importantly, I just wanted to reach out (metaphorically of course) and hug Charlie. Because I wanted him to know that he was loved. That it's okay to care about yourself. And that he was not alone.

I just wish that God or my parents or Sam or my sister or someone would just tell me what's wrong with me. Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away. And disappear. I know that's wrong because it's my responsibility, and I know that things get worse before they get better because that's what my psychiatrist says, but this is a worse that feels too big.

This quote right here broke me. I was bawling my eyes out for five minutes after I read it. I truly pitied Charlie there. I really did. I can't imagine how horrible it is to feel bad about ourselves and try to find the reason why we are wrong. Especially for a teenager, this must be really tragic and confusing. Charlie felt suffocated by himself and he desperately wanted to become more normal. He wanted to fit in and find some kind of comfort. His journey was truly remarkable. He became more mature (mentally and emotionally), he strengthens the relationship with his family, he finds new friends and at the very end, he owns his trauma and decides to be a better person and not let his past define him. He moves on and he follows his own path. And for that, I felt extremely proud of him.

As I said, the rest of the characters were very interesting. I think they added a lot to the story and Charlie's development. The dynamic with his family was both sad yet sweet because it was clear that his parents and siblings cared about each other. I really liked that the parents, despite their bad upbringing and toxic families, broke the cycle of abuse and raised their children with the best way they could. They were not perfect but they were not horrible either.

For the most part, I really enjoyed Charlie's friendship with Sam and Patrick. It was so nice to see that he was finally comfortable doing activities out of his comfort zone, picking new interests and feeling like he belonged to a group. Truth be said, there were times when I didn't like Sam and Patrick's antics.

Them isolating Charlie after he kissed Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth didn't feel that good with me and they were pretty much irresponsible around him, like allowing him to smoke or do LSD. And the kiss between Patrick and Sam wasn't great but yeah.

I totally understand that they had their own problems, though. They were 18 years old trying to find their own place in this world while dealing with their trauma. Yes, their actions weren't always the best but I could justify them to some extent. I mean, they are not saints, they are still developing and they made some mistakes. They still played a fundamental role in Charlie's growth and they gave him many happy memories. They cared for him, I think this is more than clear and they showed him what it feels like to belong somewhere.

And now let's talk about Charlie's trauma...Honestly, why do so many people overlook this? I have seen the book or the movie being advertised as a cheesy, coming-of-age experience but this far from the actual truth. I had no idea that sexual abuse and child molestation such important themes in the book and that Charlie himself had been sexually abused by his aunt. It was truly heartbreaking to see him realising the hard truth. Throughout the book he has been praising his aunt, highlighting their relationship and how much of an impact her death had on him, how guilty he felt because of her death...and then boom. I found the portrayal of Charlie's PTSD very realistic and I think that this is not being brought up enough when it comes to the book/movie. Why do so many people choose to ignore this?

So, I am done. This book has been stuck on my mind and I really think that it will become one of my favourites. Now that I think about it, it felt like a good friend. Despite the hard themes, it was...comforting at times. It has many poignant lessons and themes and I would definitely recommend it to someone. I think that it's important to keep in mind that you are not defined by your trauma only or how you grew up. What matters is how you choose to keep up with your life and what kind of person you'll become. It's not always easy. But it's not impossible.

Always remember: we are infinite.

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sourcherrysyrup's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Incredible read. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that felt so easy to read, that I felt so at home reading that I always had it on my mind. Really beautiful and poignant and real. It felt like I was there with this kid and the end note with the “extra letter” had tears dripping down my face instantly. Absolutely beautiful book

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beansprout344's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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jstarshine16's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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missmarguerita's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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mbhcad's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There’s a dissonance in the way Charlie is described by others as a writer and storyteller and the way he writes that bothers me. It sort of disrupts the relatability by making it much clearer that Chbosky is an adult man who doesn’t really know how a 15 year old would write, so what ends up happening at times is that Charlie has thoughts and feelings that most readers around his age also have, but he’s much worse at articulating them than they are going to be. It’s frustrating. He thinks like he’s 15, but writes like he’s 13. Some of the ways in which women and feminism are approached is so 90s it’s painful, but I can’t fault the novel for that, really. Overall an enjoyable read that absolutely would’ve done some terrible things to teenage me, just rocky in some places. I quite liked it!

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holistichistorian's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My copy of The Perks of being a wallflower was given to me by someone I was once very close to and with whom I had a very complicated relationship with. I’m not entirely sure why they gave it to me, but I feel like it was because the main character reminded her of me, or our situation. In any case, I found this novel incredibly moving in ways I don’t think I can properly process just yet. It’s a book I hope to read again and again for the rest of my life. A truly good book is one which feels as if it were written specifically for you, as if the writer understood you in some way and wrote it in order for you to better understand yourself. Maybe that sounds like crap but that’s how I feel about this book. I’m going to go cry and talk to someone I love now.

So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. 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.

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kaptainpastel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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