The Perks of Being a Wallflower YA edition

by Stephen Chbosky

Even although I gave this book a four star rating, I want to hug it close to my chest and never let it go. I want to never return the book to the library, but I want to return it so that other people aren't deprived of the chance to read a life-changing story.

When I first read this book, I didn't get it. I didn't understand why this book meant so much to so many people. I thought that The Perks of Being a Wallflower was over-hyped and mediocre. I just found out how easily a re-read changed my views.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is written in a unique manner. It is narrated through letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous source. I loved the narrative of this story. At the beginning, it seems so unnatural and mediocre, but the writing subtly creeped into my brain and made me feel like I was punched with emotions. Charlie writes as though he is having a conversation with you.

Charlie is a wallflower. He doesn't participate in life. He observes everything from the sidelines. That is until he meets Patrick and his step-sister Sam. I loved Patrick and Sam as characters because they were able to easily accommodate Charlie in their group of friends and easily accepted him for who was, but I sometimes felt that they were a bad influence in Charlie's life.

There are a large amount of issues packed into this thin book ranging from smoking, drinking, drugs, sex and assault. I agree that these are issues that affect teenagers in our society and need to be discussed, but I also felt that these issues were used to manipulate my feelings and make me feel a certain way. I don't like my feelings to be manipulated!

Even although I haven't personally gone through half of the issues in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I could relate to the characters and their situations. Even although my feelings were manipulated at times, I couldn't help but feel everything. Even although I've read this book before, I noticed new hints (about Aunt Helen and the way this book ended) and found things that I didn't read the first time. Even although I'm not a wallflower, I felt like one... I love this book!