Book Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Format: Ebook
Publication Year: 1999
Length: 226 pages
Stars: 3/5

Charlie is a 15-16 year old, very intelligent, very shy and deeply troubled teenager. He writes a series of letters to someone who he just addresses as “Dear Friend” where he documents his daily life at home with his family, at school, out with his friends, or out people watching. We join Charlie as he navigates life as an awkward adolescent and tells us his most secret and intimate thoughts.

I had a really tough time with this book. Initially I got to 33% and left it for a few days while I read something else, and then I came back to it. It was very slow to begin with, and I just really disliked the writing style. I really love epistolary novels, but it was the way it was written, although I guess that it was supposed to give the impression that it was written by a 15-16 year old kid. For example, sometimes the same word was repeated several times in the same sentence. It did address some very important subjects surrounding mental health issues though. It also picked up a little bit after about 40% onwards.

I wouldn’t say that I really enjoyed this book, but I felt that it addressed some important issues that I think some younger readers would find helpful and relatable to read about. But on the other hand, I think that others might find it quite distressing. I found almost all of the first half really boring, but after that I found myself actually caring about what was going to happen to Charlie next.

So, because of the very slow start and the writing style that I disliked, but also because of the important issues that were addressed, I give this 3 out of 5 stars.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes fictional adolescent stories, epistolary novels, stories that address important mental health issues, anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.

Let me know in the comments if you have read this and what you thought of it!