A review by mbhcad
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

emotional hopeful 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

3.0

There’s a dissonance in the way Charlie is described by others as a writer and storyteller and the way he writes that bothers me. It sort of disrupts the relatability by making it much clearer that Chbosky is an adult man who doesn’t really know how a 15 year old would write, so what ends up happening at times is that Charlie has thoughts and feelings that most readers around his age also have, but he’s much worse at articulating them than they are going to be. It’s frustrating. He thinks like he’s 15, but writes like he’s 13. Some of the ways in which women and feminism are approached is so 90s it’s painful, but I can’t fault the novel for that, really. Overall an enjoyable read that absolutely would’ve done some terrible things to teenage me, just rocky in some places. I quite liked it!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings