I’ve always been a big believer that we find the books we need when we need them. I talked a lot more about this idea in this post, but it’s one of the things that makes reading so special.
Sometimes we have to read books that we don’t want to read. School has required reading and sometimes that makes us jaded. But, other times, we see a book that we’ve heard about and something just compells us to pick it up.
That’s what happened with The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
I was at the library when I saw it, and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the book I needed to read. So, I pulled it off the shelf and sat at a little table in the YA section and proceeded to read at least 1/4 of the book before ever checking it out.
And I cannot tell you how grateful I am that I found this book now and not as a teenager.
Teenage Bree wouldn’t have connected to this book. Teenage Bree wouldn’t have been able to see past the content. Teenage Bree wouldn’t have understood why this book has won awards. Teenage Bree wouldn’t have realized why this book is so important.
But now Bree? Now Bree can see all of those things.
The Review
I don’t usually read books that I wouldn’t recommend for everyone. And, while I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone, I do think that adults could benefit from reading it.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a heavy, heavy book. It contains some of the hardest moments that teenagers face, and I think that can be a painful thing for adults to relive/visit. But I also think that there’s something so incredibly special about this book that every adult can understand.
Being a teenager is one of the most vivid, visceral experiences of our lives, and Chbosky captures that experience in a way I’ve never seen before.
It’s hard to put into words what I’m talking about, but I think that if you’ve read the book, you’ll know. Charlie, Sam, and Patrick are the embodiment of all the confusion, anxiety, fear, love, heartbreak, angst, and aliveness that I remember feeling as a teenager. They perfectly capture that feeling of being so afraid of the future, but also so in love with moments of your life that you don’t know what to do or say or how to explain those feelings.
That being said, please read the trigger warnings before reading this book. Some of the elements are incorporated as a plot twist, but I don’t think anyone should go in totally blind. Other people may disagree with that stance, but I think it could be really triggering for some readers if they don’t have a sense of what content is included in the story. So, my list of content warnings does *technically* include spoilers, but I haven’t mentioned which of them is the plot twist, so I think I’m okay. (If you really want to be surprised, you can skip the content warnings, but I do really recommend viewing them before reading if you are easily triggered or have trauma that could be easily triggered).
Content Warnings
Abortion, alcohol, car accident, child abuse (references to a character being sexually abused by an adult), cursing, death (referenced), drug use, homophobia (a main character is gay and another character says the gay slur f-word to him), infidelity, panic attacks/disorders, pedophilia (referenced), pregnancy, sexual assault, sexual content (multiple descriptions of F/M and M/M sexual encounters), and suicide.
What I Loved
The format. Non-traditional formats in novels are kind of hit-or-miss for me. This one was a hit. I think it was brilliant to tell Charlie’s story through the letters he writes to his unnamed and unknown friend. I still have no idea how Chbosky managed to make the story so compelling when it’s all being told to us after-the-fact. This alone makes it worth reading, especially if you write stories that use unconventional formats.
The realistic depiction of what it’s like to be a teenager. Personally, I think this is why the book won awards. It portrays the very raw, real, and honest experience of what it feels like to be a teenager. You feel invincible except you’re not, everything and nothing makes sense, everything feels life altering, and you have no idea what you’re doing the entire time. This is the level of realness that I aspire to capture in my own stories, and I really need to buy a copy of this book so I can annotate it . . .
The quotes. I’m not even kidding when I tell you that there’s probably at least one quote you can pull on each page. So much of this book is something that you could tack to your wall to motivate or inspire you and help you bring back some of that bittersweet teenager magic.
What I Didn’t Love
The LGBT subplots. I know this is controversial to say, but these elements aren’t my favorite. I completely understand why they were included, and I honestly don’t really mind how the author executed them. It makes sense for the characters and helps give them depth. I just personally am not a huge fan of these kind of themes and subplots in stories.
Favorite Quotes
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”
“She wasn’t bitter. She was sad, though. But it was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just takes time. ”
Listen to my The Perks of Being a Wallflower playlist
My Rating
About the Book
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A #1 New York Times best seller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or “wallflowers” of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
About the Author
Stephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Southern California’s Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute’s filmmakers’ lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.
Let’s Talk!
Have you read The Perks of Being a Wallflower? If so, did you love it or hate it? Have you seen the movie adaptation? I rewatched it after finishing the book, and I loved it. Let’s talk all things Perks of Being a Wallflower in the comments below!
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