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A review by thestorydoer
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-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
3.25
Going into this book, I thought I was genuinely going to hate it. I personally feel the film is the best coming of age film Ive ever seen, and starting this book did not make me feel hopeful.
For the first 70 pages of this book, the story moves at a breakneck pace, which was quite problematic because as this is an emotional story, it introduced very serious themes very quickly which didn't give me a lot of room to feel the gravity of the situation it was.
However, after the first 70 pages, the book flips a switch. The pacing decelerates almost immediately into something which is still fast, but far more comfortable to read. The characters are given so much depth. The book suddenly becomes a very intelligent and important piece of YA Fiction.
If the whole book were like those final 160 pages, this would've easily been a 4.5 star review. However, inconsistency is hard to look past and I didn't enjoy reading the first 70 pages which is a too large a portion of the book for me to look past it.
The author wrote the screenplay for this book and adapted it into something holistically more consistent which I am glad for. I believe after the 70 pages, all the themes discussed were discussed maturely, naturally, and intelligently. Be careful for the trigger warnings though, as this book can be quite confronting at times.
Overall, a 4.5 star book dragged down by it's 1.5 star introduction due to very poor pacing. Holistically 3.25/5
For the first 70 pages of this book, the story moves at a breakneck pace, which was quite problematic because as this is an emotional story, it introduced very serious themes very quickly which didn't give me a lot of room to feel the gravity of the situation it was.
However, after the first 70 pages, the book flips a switch. The pacing decelerates almost immediately into something which is still fast, but far more comfortable to read. The characters are given so much depth. The book suddenly becomes a very intelligent and important piece of YA Fiction.
If the whole book were like those final 160 pages, this would've easily been a 4.5 star review. However, inconsistency is hard to look past and I didn't enjoy reading the first 70 pages which is a too large a portion of the book for me to look past it.
The author wrote the screenplay for this book and adapted it into something holistically more consistent which I am glad for. I believe after the 70 pages, all the themes discussed were discussed maturely, naturally, and intelligently. Be careful for the trigger warnings though, as this book can be quite confronting at times.
Overall, a 4.5 star book dragged down by it's 1.5 star introduction due to very poor pacing. Holistically 3.25/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Pedophilia, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Child death