☆ the perks of being a wallflower (smol book review) ☆

☆ the perks of being a wallflower: a small book review ☆

---------- spoilers ahead!! ----------

author ☆ stephen chbosky

page count ☆ 231

genre ☆ young adult, coming of age, realistic fiction

trigger warnings in the book ☆ drug abuse, alcohol abuse, rape, molestation, suicide, derealization, homophobia, abuse, abortion, panic attacks, death, violence

"Charlie's not the biggest geek in high school, but he's by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent, yet socially awkward, Charlie is a wallflower, standing on the threshold of his life whilst watching everyone else live theirs. As Charlie tries to navigate his way through uncharted territory - the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends - he realizes that he can't stay on the sidelines forever. There comes a time when you have to see what life looks like from the dance floor."

i definitely have many mixed feelings about the book. it made me want to cry, and laugh, and smile, and throw the book at the wall at times. but it was beautiful. it made me really understand and empathize with charlie. the characters were beautifully written, they had so much depth, and felt like real people. charlie's friends were real people, not just built for the sake of him, they had their own lives and own problems. they were also really likeable, making the rough moments between them even more heartbreaking. i also really love that most of the characters had some sort of development over the course of the book (one year).

but i really want to talk about the sudden moon changes. they were amazing. they made you feel so happy, so you could really feel the difference in emotion when something negative happened. one letter, a girl is getting raped at a party and charlie witnessed it, next everyone's giving a toast to him. the book was quite intense, and i finished the book in a day.

there are so many other things i could write about this book, but i can't because im speechless. i guess maybe i just loved it so much because i could relate to charlie. i too, am a wallflower. i watch from afar as a silent witness, i notice things that other don't. i don't participate in life as much as i should. but either way, the book was beautiful, and truly made me feel infinite.

my star rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

---------- side notes ----------

☆ there is a lot of drugs, alcohol, and sex throughout the book. keep in mind the character is a freshman who got held back a year- making him 15-16 years old. i dont think this disrupts the story, i just think that drugs, parties, and alcohol isn't really necessary to grow as a person

☆ the homophobia trigger warning isn't that the book itself is homophobic, one of the characters just says a homophobic slur

☆ the book is written as a series of letters to an unnamed friend who never replies back, making it feel like more like a series of diary entries than letters