Reviews

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

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eveybrittin's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

At first I felt that Charlie was an unrealistic portrayal of a high schooler because I've never met someone who thought like him, and certainly nobody who approached social situations like he did. But I don't know everyone and the ending makes his behavior/thought processes make a little more sense. I do feel like the ending was rushed a bit compared to the rest of the book and it left me feeling kind of confused. This book definitely challenged my understanding of "normal"; drugs and sex were a way bigger part of this kid's life than I expected, and given Charlie's obvious mental health issues it upsets me that the other characters so ignorantly introduced him to substances that only made things worse. The author did a great job of creating realistic characters; I found that I could relate to each one in one way or another, or at least imagine them clearly in my head. I love a book that leads me feeling kind of thoughtful and dealigned at the end and the Perks of Being a Wallflower definitely accomplished that.

Content Warnings

bellhore's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

I think this book came at the perfect time. First time ever. The narration was absolutely unmatched. Award-winning. Perfection. Might need to get this in print.

The best epilogue I've ever read, I think.

I think what I love is that it's very much Catcher in the Rye for millennials lol. I finally get it when people say that you relate *emotionally* to characters. Because Charlie? He sees me. He is me and I am him. He's incredibly insightful for a 15-year-old, and I love that he's not afraid to be vulnerable. He cries a lot because he's often overwhelmed by his emotions, and I get it.

4.5 stars, -0.5 because I just don't like Sam. Idk, I feel like she just led Charlie on the entire time and I'm just not about that. It was giving manic pixie a bit. But I loved their friendship.

zoefruitcake's review

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3.0

took me a long time to warm to Charlie and his friends

shad0wm0ses's review against another edition

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4.0

Better than the movie!

kris10bova's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bianca_books's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

crabbydragon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

chipottleworker's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Will always and forever be my favorite book

carriesouthard's review

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3.0

I think the hype of this book made it more of a disappointment. It was an ok book but I think from all the raving reviews I expected it to be much better than it was so I was slightly disappointed.

bookswithnichol's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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