A book review: Perks of Being a Wallflower

The novel  "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", written by Stephen Chbosky published in

1999, is about a troubled boy, Charlie, and the way his life turns around when he starts to

spend time with his new friends. The friend group he joins also includes out of norm

considered troubled teenagers. Charlie participates in life in a way he never expected  with the

help of his new friend group and his literature teacher, Bill.

     The characters were very real, because they all had flaws. They weren't exaggerated. They

were real people, struggling with everyday problems teenagers all over the world face.

     Charlie, the protagonist, is specifically realistic, because he isn't so damaged that he can

not be a part of the  society, unlike in other books.  Even though we can not understand his

troubles completely,  he is relatable. His problems are real and a lot of people have to deal

with them in real life. He is an unpredictable character. You don't think such an unsociable

 boy would do half the stuff he does, but he goes ahead and keeps doing even crazier things.

His understanding of friendship is very different from ours. He believes simply being next to

someone, listening to them without any reactions and letting them do whatever they believe

they need to do is what a true friend should do.

      Our favourite scene was when Charlie didn't hesitate to go into a fight in order to protect

his friends. It was a very surprising moment, to see Charlie completely lose himself.

     Our favourite character is Patrick, partially due to his awesomeness and partially due to his

confidence. He is confident, but not arrogant. He never thinks he is too cool for someone, and

he doesn't hesitate to befriend Charlie. He is the comedic relief in the book and without him,

we think the book would be too dramatic to be enjoyed by people our age.

     The story was definitely fastmoving and the whole read we had questions in mind we

needed  answers for. We wondered what was wrong with Charlie, how his relationship

with Sam was going to go and how his character development would end.

     We really liked that the book was written in a letter format. It made us feel like Charlie

was telling he story directly to us. The fact that the books and the songs mentioned in the

 book are real and that we could even listen to the songs while reading the book made it

even more realistic and enjoyable.

      After reading the book, we realised how small our problems were compared to Charlie's

and every other characters'. Our family relationships, the way people around us treat each other

in school and our romantic relationships are a lot less complicated than the characters'. Our

problems are quite different. While we worry so much about our grades and confidence

issues, he has to deal with a real traumatic experience.

     The fact that this book is very realistic and there are a lot of people who live the way these

teenagers do and feel as lonely as they do is tragic. However this tragedy wasn’t exagerrated,

it was explained as simple as it possibly could, and that made the book a quick-read. We

really recommend this book to the people who want something quick, especially to young

readers who cannot stand a long-read.