The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Published in 1999, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an American teen novel written by screenwriter Stephen Chbosky. The book served as an adaptation for the 2013 movie starring Emma Watson.

Charlie is a sensitive boy in high school. He has no friends and is still dealing with the deaths of his favorite aunt and best friend. Charlie meets two step-siblings - Patrick and Sam - and they make his world a whole lot better. 

This book is told in a unique way. Charlie writes letters to an unknown recipient and always starts with "dear friend" and always ends with "love always". This added a sense of intimacy and made for an honest, informal voice, which I appreciated.

Charlie is by far the most interesting character in the novel. He is very sensitive and cries over anything remotely emotional. He also annoys his family and, as a result, they don't usually communicate with him. When he finally gets into good situations, he messes them up and transforms them to bad ones. 

Despite this, it is hard not to feel sorry for Charlie. He had a tough childhood and close people to him have died, so I understand why he is the way he is. However, as a reader who wants this protagonist to succeed and overcome his misfortune, it is frustrating to see him screw it all up.


This book strongly echoes The Catcher in the Rye (previously reviewed here). I believe that Charlie is an exaggerated version of Holden Caulfield. They are both teens. Their families don't interact with them. They get emotional about many things. They both have a teacher in their lives who is a strong influence. They both have siblings in college. They both turn to substances to help with their problems. Overall, Charlie is more emotional than Holden. The set-up of Perks was overwhelmingly similar to The Catcher. I prefer the latter.

The main problem with this book is that its plot, characters, and message seem tired and familiar. A shaky two out of five stars.