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holistichistorian's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
michaelion's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is my full review, the paragraph following is just nitpicking: Everything about that boy is gay and autistic and it makes no sense that he isn't. That's it. That's my review. Thanks for reading.
Maybe it's me, maybe I missed something, maybe I gotta give it a reread but I feel like the childhood assault was placed in there randomly at the end. It didn't feel wrong, but it didn't feel right. Not like csa ever could, but there's a time and place, ideally, and this just didn't make as much sense narratively, especially that close to the end. I suppose one could argue real life is full of surprises and the book is supposed to depict that, but to that I say bullshit. Little moments here and there about his auntie, alright, but it's a very touchy subject and I don't think it got the respect and conversation it deserved. So, negative points.
Maybe it's me, maybe I missed something, maybe I gotta give it a reread but I feel like the childhood assault was placed in there randomly at the end. It didn't feel wrong, but it didn't feel right. Not like csa ever could, but there's a time and place, ideally, and this just didn't make as much sense narratively, especially that close to the end. I suppose one could argue real life is full of surprises and the book is supposed to depict that, but to that I say bullshit. Little moments here and there about his auntie, alright, but it's a very touchy subject and I don't think it got the respect and conversation it deserved. So, negative points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Rape
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Murder
criticalgayze's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I have always referenced The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a pivotal text in my development as a reader and as a Queer person. It was one of the only books I reread as a young adult, and I often cited it as my favorite book of all time before the publication of Red, White, & Royal Blue.
For an upcoming episode of my podcast Let's Unpack That, my cohost and I are talking about pivotal media around our own coming out, so I revisited this book for the discussion. Of course, like everything from your youth, there is the dual discussion of historical contextualization around when you read it and the rose-colored glasses of youth that mean that this was very likely never to hold up as well in a 2022 landscape where I am now more than twice the age I was when I first read the book.
What still holds up is Chbosky's ability to turn a phrase. For a book that, as you can see below this review, comes with a deluge of content warnings, there is truly a compelling beauty here. Charlie is an incredibly tender and earnest voice, and I think that, minus the missing element of social media, the activities these kids get into and have happen to them stand up as being as relatable today as the 1991 setting, the 1999 publication, or my 2007-ish original reading.
Where the novel is weak it is mainly due to Charlie's passive involvement as a narrator. The novel is not about Charlie as much as it is the things he sees from his vantage point as a "wallflower," and this leaves a book that is low on narrative impact although it creates a beautiful snapshot of this "year in a life." Within this lens, I think there is also some narrative critique to be made of Charlie's (and Chbosky's) Queer voyeurism as both the storyteller and the story author are heterosexual men inhabiting largely Queer safe spaces.
I am left with a sort of nebulous wonderment of what about this novel shaped and what was merely in conversation with the youth I would go onto have and am in store for many longer internalized conversations.
Quotes:
It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book. (9)
For an upcoming episode of my podcast Let's Unpack That, my cohost and I are talking about pivotal media around our own coming out, so I revisited this book for the discussion. Of course, like everything from your youth, there is the dual discussion of historical contextualization around when you read it and the rose-colored glasses of youth that mean that this was very likely never to hold up as well in a 2022 landscape where I am now more than twice the age I was when I first read the book.
What still holds up is Chbosky's ability to turn a phrase. For a book that, as you can see below this review, comes with a deluge of content warnings, there is truly a compelling beauty here. Charlie is an incredibly tender and earnest voice, and I think that, minus the missing element of social media, the activities these kids get into and have happen to them stand up as being as relatable today as the 1991 setting, the 1999 publication, or my 2007-ish original reading.
Where the novel is weak it is mainly due to Charlie's passive involvement as a narrator. The novel is not about Charlie as much as it is the things he sees from his vantage point as a "wallflower," and this leaves a book that is low on narrative impact although it creates a beautiful snapshot of this "year in a life." Within this lens, I think there is also some narrative critique to be made of Charlie's (and Chbosky's) Queer voyeurism as both the storyteller and the story author are heterosexual men inhabiting largely Queer safe spaces.
I am left with a sort of nebulous wonderment of what about this novel shaped and what was merely in conversation with the youth I would go onto have and am in store for many longer internalized conversations.
Quotes:
It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book. (9)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Abortion
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Murder
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