Author: Stephen Chbosky
4.5 out of 5 Stars
Plot Background:
Following the suicide of his best friend, Charlie, a high school freshman, decides to write letters to an unnamed person, keeping his identity and the identity of the reader a secret. Through his letters, Charlie tells the intimate details of growing up as he works through haunting issues. Charlie is a little bit different from other teenage boys, and becomes friends with Patrick and Sam (who are brother and sister). Swept up in a world of music, drugs, and sex, Charlie has to discover who he is, and how to deal with his anxieties and issues.
My Thoughts:
First off, this book was not at all what I expected. I had seen commercials for the movie made from this book, and when it was at such a discounted price I figured I would read the book as a quick light read since it was following a string of heavier novels-- the commercials made it look so light and fun. This book really took me by surprise, in a good way.
The first thing I loved, was just Charlie's voice. I loved that it was written through letters, because it really was more personal than a journal. I loved that I felt like Charlie was writing his letters to me, too. It added such a strange and exciting feeling to the book.
I also loved Sam and Patrick, the rest of their group wasn't described in huge detail, but I just loved how they took in this awkward kid and made him part of their family. Even though I felt like sometimes they did things that were out of character-- like doing drugs a lot-- I liked them. They reminded me so much of characters from really any F. Scott Fitzgerald book, more specifically though they reminded me of the couple from The Beautiful and the Damned. They were good people that I never thought would be so worldly, but just like so many Fitzgerald characters, they were easily taken into the world of drinking and partying.
Charlie reminded me so much of Meursault from The Stranger by Albert Camus. He was detached, but not so far that you couldn't relate to him. He cried at odd times and he was really socially awkward, which added to the complexity in him. The best way to describe Charlie is if Mersault, and Nick (from The Great Gatsby) had a love child, who married Holden Caulfield (from The Catcher in the Rye), and they had a baby, that baby would be Charlie. That might have been a little hard to follow, but the point was that I saw all of my favorite characters in Charlie, and it made me feel like I knew him, and it made me care for him more.
I also wanted to make a quick mention of how much I loved Bill's story with Charlie, and how much I loved all of the books he made him read. It was nice to see a special friendship and bond forming that was truly just honest and pure.
Another thing I loved about the book, was the mystery. The whole book I was wondering what was wrong with Charlie. I diagnosed him several times, in true Dr. Phil fashion, saying "Oh he must be Autistic" or "Oh he has PTSD", it kept me guessing. I will not give away the ending, but I will say it was definitely a curve-ball.
The one thing I wasn't 100% in love with, was Charlie and Patrick's friendship. This may sound weird, because so much good came of their friendship, but there is one part in particular where it didn't make much sense to me. Charlie is trying to help Patrick with his breakup, and he ends up letting Patrick kiss him. He doesn't like boys, but he lets him kiss him anyway so that he can "be there for him", but it seemed to me that Charlie would have not done that, or that Patrick wouldn't have done that. It just really seemed out of character for them, especially considering Charlie's love for Sam (WHICH IS NOT A SPOILER I PROMISE).
I also was left feeling a little strange after the ending. I will not give it away, but it was very unexpected. It left me feeling almost sick to my stomach. The writing was so good that you could really understand the complexity of the emotions of what happened, which was good, but it left me feeling like my mind was being messed with.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book. It left me feeling infinite (read it and you will get this reference...). It is heavier than expected, but worth the weight. It is also only $3.99!
Here is a link to the Kindle edition:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Perks-Being-Wallflower-ebook/dp/B003TSEEDY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357688118&sr=8-2&keywords=the+perks+of+being+a+wallflower
Happy Reading!
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