The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
reviewed by Sarah G
This book follows a troubled teen, Charlie, as he struggles through his first year of high school with a new group of friends after several traumatizing events, including his best friend's suicide and his aunt's death.
I loved this book because the author did and exceptional job at portraying Charlie's awkward, sweet personality by formatting the book in the form of letters written by Charlie. Also, I liked how the author was able to successfully show Charlie's dynamic among his friends and family even though the story is written in first person. However, I also thought that certain events in the story, like what happened with Charlie and his Aunt Helen, were a bit confusing and hard to understand as Chbosky did not explain them well. Also, some parts of the story seemed boring and uneventful, like when Charlie would simply describe what he has done throughout the day, which did not include any important events that are relevant to the story. Some of this story is unrealistic, as I doubt that that many bad things that were mentioned in this story can happen to a person.
I would recommend this book to anyone older than 14, as it mentions many mature things. Although I enjoyed reading this book, I think that the movie was better. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a good book, but I would not read it again.