The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Pages: 213
Publisher: MTV Books and Pocket Books
Release Date: February 1, 1999
Rating: 5+ Stars

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

I now know, understand, and comprehend why so many people reference this book, and talk as highly about it as they do. I am a skeptic when I comes to reading anything. I thought that this book, just like a lot of others, had been overly hyped. Needless to say The Perks of Being a Wallflower deserves every ounce of hype it receives.

Charlie is a troubled young man with deep rooted problems that he himself doesn't really understand. When his best friend or the closest friend he ever had, Michael, committed suicide Charlie was left alone, friendless, and in a very "bad" place. 

On top of having no friends and everyone considering him weird, he starts his first year of High School and he is utterly alone. That is until he decides to participate. Charlie decided to attend a High School football game where he recognizes a guy whom everyone calls "Nothing" in the stands and decides to sit beside of him. His real name is Patrick and this is the moment where the adventure really begins.

Through Patrick, Charlie is introduced to Sam first. He thought that Sam and Patrick were together but was relieved to discover that they are only step-brother and sister. Even if they weren't Patrick is gay so that wouldn't work out anyways. The reason for Charlie being so relieved is that he has a crush on Sam.

Side-note 1: I really enjoyed how Bill, Charlie's English teacher gave him extra "work". Bill gave Charlie extra books to read outside of class and asked that he write book reports on most of them. It's pretty amazing that he does this; and what's even more extraordinary is why he does it... Bill does this so that he, along with Charlie, can see how special and talented that Charlie really is.

Mixtapes played a pretty significant roll in this book. Here's the Mixtape that Charlie made for Patrick for Secret Santa. It's pretty epic if I do say so myself. I've never heard most of these songs before so listening to this playlist for the first time was pretty amazing.



Alright, back to reviewing. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the equivalent to a hidden gem. You find it and get really excited when you do find it, but you can never go back to feeling as excited as you did when you first found it. Even now I wish that I could have the experience of reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower for a second time.

Lyrical, smooth, easy, and very enchanting. By page 213 your heart will be stolen by and will hold a place for each and every character in this book. All wanting the same yet different things out of life, but all connected in some fashion. 

I fell utterly and completely in love with the poem "Chops" from this story so I decided to video myself reading it. 

Throughout this story you kind of get a feeling that something happened to Charlie as a child. He has these times where he talks about something that doesn't make sense at first, but the more you read the more you begin to piece things together. This book is one big puzzle of adventure, friendship, experimenting, and finding ones self. If I could use one word to describe TPoBaWF I would choose bittersweet. 

I won't delve any further into details on this story because I don't want to ruin an extraordinary experience for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of reading this book. But just so you know, if you haven't, you should. You really, really should.

And to end this review I'll leave you guys with a video of my Favorite moments and quotes from this book. I hope you've enjoyed this review as much as I enjoyed writing it.