The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

There seems to have been an influx of references to Perks of Being a Wallflower recently by my classmates, so I figured this would be a good time to review it. I am slightly overwhelmed and discouraged by the amount of people who seemed to have loved the movie, but had absolutely no idea that it was a book long before the movie was ever created. I absolutely adore this book, but if I hear one more person say "We accept the love we think we deserve" in casual conversation without a single reference to the book or movie, I think I might just up and quit school and become a recluse.

Anyway, the book is about a boy named Charlie who writes about his life in letters sent to an anonymous person. Charlie is not his real name, but simply the name he gives as to hide his identity. The book covers an immense range of topics, including suicide, drugs, love, secrets, and betrayal, so it appeals to a wide range of interests. Charlie begins the letters by describing his nervousness and apprehension about starting high school, especially after his best friend committed suicide only a few months before. He soon befriends two seniors named Sam and Patrick, who are step-siblings, and his fear and anxiety begin to subside as he makes new friends and experiences new things.

This book is arranged in a first person letter format, which really makes you feel like you know Charlie personally by the end of the book. I especially enjoyed the way that the author developed Charlie's character throughout the novel, making his personal transition from nervous and awkward to confident and comfortable even more evident and real. I found that even though I have not experienced many of the same things as Charlie, I still found little snippets of thoughts and realizations that were incredibly relatable and meaningful to my own life. I think that this is the beauty of books; they allow us to see a little bit of ourselves in other people, which in turn makes us feel less alone in our own thoughts.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book. It is more than a classic coming-of-age teenage story; although the book is told from the perspective of a teenager, the challenges he faces are ones that readers of all ages could relate to and learn from. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you think,  and on multiple occasions it might even make you reach for the tissue box in a blur of tears. What more can you ask for in a book? It gets my stamp of approval. I recommend giving it a read to see if it deserves yours as well.

“There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.” - Stephen Chbosky, Perks of Being a Wallflower.