The Perks of Being a Wallflower: the most moving coming-of-age classic

A great book with a really interesting perspective and style. Touches your heart and speaks to your inner child. Feels important and reflective with beautiful musings on life and how we see and feel it.

[NO SPOILERS]i wanted a sad book to read, and let me tell you right now, this book was sad. i actually had to put it down for a moment to wipe my tears quite a few times, especially towards the end. i really liked this story and found it very touching. it was well written and you can tell the author put a lot of emotion and thought into it. my only complaint would be that the plot progression got slow at times, which i would say is because small details got dragged out at times when it wasn’t really necessary as they didn’t add to the story. nevertheless, i finished this book quite quickly and it did keep me engaged enough to sit there reading for around two hours at a time (it took me four hours altogether and i read it over a weekend). i would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good cry, but would suggest searching up content warnings online as it does contain some dark themes that may trigger some.

this book really captures what it’s like to be a lonely teenager on the outside looking in at everyone enjoying themselves and “participating”thoroughly enjoyed & absolutely devoured thisdefinitely look up trigger warnings tho cuz it’s very heavy in places

I think this is my book. You know people have their songs, that they can really relate to? Or a specific song that reflects a period of time in your life. That song that will flip the switch on your memories as you watch them all flood back. Well, this is my book. It's a book I can relate to in many ways and I think I read it at the perfect time. It has immediately become one of my favourite books. And because I borrowed it from the library, I went and bought myself a copy straight away. I want this book on my shelf for years to come. It's the only book I want to give to friends and family to show them that this book is me right at this moment in time.The Perks of Being a Wallflower contains many themes and topics, such as drugs, sex, alcohol, abuse, sexuality and even more so life as a teenager with issues. Each topic is dealt with in ways that make them so real. The thing I loved about Charlie is that he didn't exaggerate, he told things how they were and this is what makes them so real. It shows the blunt pain and effects these can have. We see him and his friends struggle with teenage life. Each friend is dealing with different problems and that's just like the real world. You may not know but each person has gone through some sort of trouble or emotional strain and pain and this shows how common these themes and topics are.The book follows Charlie as he journeys into the mysterious place of high school. He's a wallflower, he's shy but he observes. He's clever and very thoughtful sometimes too thoughtful. He gets to the point and doesn't over exaggerate. I loved him right from the start. He's an innocent that is introduced to many things that change him. These things are a good change to him, they introduce him to friends that he will learn to rely on. Charlie has problems or rather issues. Being a wallflower doesn't allow him to participate in life instead he steps back and watches it pass by. I can relate to this in so many ways. I have a strong connection to Charlie, that I have never felt with another character. With the help of his new friends he slowly begins to participate in life.Charlies, new circle of friends are also different. We have Patrick who is rather funny, he's also gay and struggles with a boy who won't let the world know he's gay. Patrick has to go through heartbreak and betrayal by this person he had started to really like. We see him go off the edge and falling into drink, but with some help he pulls himself together. Sam is an interesting character. She's very intelligent and sees the world very differently. She's confident and will speak up, she's inspiring but at the same time she could be quite cold to Charlie. Together the three were brilliant! They made a great group and the sadness you feel when they leave each other is huge.Charlie spoke about his family too in a way that showed the reader their personalities without talking about them too extensively. His narration was truly inspiring, he is wise, mature and intelligent beyond his years. His writing was just, wow. It was beautiful, it flowed perfectly. I would love to be able to write like that. I love this book, the narration, characters, themes, emotions. They were all perfect. Yes, Perfect. I want to read this book again but I will have to wait for my copy to arrive. It will be the book I go back to read again and again. This is a favourite of mine and it will forever be so. This book shows that you can be different and be proud of it. I for one can say proudly, that I am a Wallflower. And I guess that's why I relate to this so much. Please give this book a read, I would love to know what you think.

This book really moved me, and is now high up on my list of all-time favourites. I recognised glimpses of myself in it, enjoyed the tone and voice of it, and found myself thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it. A wonderful book indeed.The Perks of Being a Wallflower is constructed as a series of letters from Charlie, a high-school student, to an anonymous `friend' who apparently doesn't actually know Charlie at all. The result is a narrative which is both personal and unashamedly honest. Charlie isn't unhappy, these letters are not pity-seeking; rather he is deeply thoughtful and reflective, trying to figure out life and how to make the most of it. He is intelligent and hard-working, loyal and thoughtful and caring, but shy and not socially confident. He admits that he'd like to have friends but is accepting of his lot in life. Then he meets Samantha and Patrick, a sister and brother a little older than him, who show Charlie what friendship means. They both initiate him into and help him navigate a world of dating, drama, drugs and desire.In some ways, I felt I found a kindred spirit in Charlie: someone who thinks too much and perhaps participates too little, who listens well but doesn't talk much. His letters are disarmingly honest and deeply affecting, articulate and peppered with some sweet turns of phrase. One minute he is a teenager describing what it feels like to be high, the next he is a boy practising the use of a new word he learnt at school. His letters cover everything from family dramas and his relationships to his thoughts on the books he's reading, and poor Charlie faces things no teenager should have to face (including the suicide of a friend, abortion, and the death of a much-loved relative). Nothing is censored and, while some things come as a surprise, it is all authentic. I felt so much empathy towards Charlie throughout; it is a sad story at times but never tragic, because Charlie isn't self-indulgent and is so matter-of-fact about things, understating some of the huge things he experiences and the creeping depression that starts to take hold of him.Charlie is the star of this novel, and a character who is easy to take to heart. But the other characters are deserving of mention too. Sam and Patrick are immediately endearing because of their ability to see what is special in Charlie, their willingness to invite him into their world but to take him as he is without trying to shape him into something else. It's easy to see why Charlie falls for them, and the relationship that develops between the three of them is beautiful to observe. I also enjoyed Charlie's accounts of his anonymous family, partly because they are so real: his parents bemuse and infuriate him at times, his sister and brother aren't always there for him the way he wants them to be, but he still loves them and isn't afraid to tell them so. Charlie is not unrealistically innocent - he is a teenage boy with teenage boy desires and compulsions - but he is sweetly naive and hasn't yet learnt to suppress his emotions the way many of his peers have.There are similarities in genre to other coming-of-age stories I've read recently, such as 600 Hours of Edward, The 10PM Question and The Most Beautiful Thing. But The Perks of Being a Wallflower affected me much more than any of those, with its beautiful writing, beautiful characters and understated narrative. I've heard good things about the film version, but I don't think I want to see it and risk it spoiling the pictures painted in my head by the novel.