Rating: 
Summary: Read any book mentioned in this book instead.
Review: Where to begin... I think what happened here is that Chbosky wrote a great book. And then MTV stepped in (yes, this is a "MTV Books" book) and mandated that this be more marketable to high school kids. The main problem I had with this book was a matter of believablity. The main character's (charlie) best friend commits suicide before he starts high school, and for whatever, any other friends are gone now too. So you have a kid, going into high school, and he has no friends. Somehow, he manages to meet two people, become best friends with them, and then in turn become best friends with thier friends. No high school on earth works like that. Another key point that I found very insulting and disturbing is when Charlie's sister has an abortion, and there is absolutely no physical or mental recourse. She sleeps for 5 hours in the back of a car, goes home, eats dinner, and life is normal again. Thats not how it works. Any woman that has had an abortion will tell you that you are mentally a mess afterwards. This portrayal is about 1,000 times worse when you consider that the target audience here is high school kids. Also, the fact that Charlie cries on nearly every page, gets particularly annoying after the first 20 times. I now understand why emo kids love this book. As my title states: Don't buy this book. Instead, read one of the books mentioned within this book.
Rating: 
Summary: the perks of being a wallflower
Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a great book to read for high school kids. I felt when I read it that I could relate a lot to Charlie the main character and books that allow you to feel what the character goes through are fun to read. The whole story is really about Charlie growing up, experiencing every thing that a 15 year old would experience. Charlie was a wallflower and it was good for me to see how other people who are totally opposite from me. But really the reason I liked this book is because I write just like Charlie, the way he uses his words and the way he writes. He writes the book as a journal using stream of consciousness. It was great to see how alike we write and that's why I liked this book so much.
Rating: 
Summary: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a very real story about the struggles teenagers have to deal with. Charlie is a wallflower or outcast who is really searching for some sort of truth throughout the entire book. Weather you are a teenager or an adult I think everyone can relate to some sort of aspect that is presented. All of his thoughts and emotions are written in a letterform so we as readers get to experience everything with him, mostly for the first time. Charlie never says who the letters are too or why he writes them, he just writes.
Although this book takes place in the early 90's, I could relate to the majority and of the feelings, emotions, and events that take place. Entering high school as a freshman unsure and unaware of who you are is frightening and we hear all of Charlie's thoughts. In the beginning of the book Charlie's best and only friend commits suicide and that really tarnishes his ability to trust people. Later he meets a few upperclassmen that introduce him to drugs, sex, and music-, all of which change his life.
Charlie is trying to figure out who he really is, with an athletic older brother who the family worships and a sister who "sneaks around" with her abusive boyfriend he already has a reputation for the world. However, he does not want to just be a younger brother of the star athletic or the pregnant sister, he wants to be Charlie. Though he isn't quite sure, who or what Charlie is, he starts to figure that out.
Charlie falls in love with a girl who does not love him back but when she does finally start to love him, Charlie finds himself overwhelmed with emotion and cannot love her. He is in a constant struggle over what he really wants. Charlie finds himself caught up with drugs and becomes a frequent drug user during a part of the book, wandering the streets, always searching. When his sister finds out the truth about his drug habit and confronts him about her own secret (being pregnant) Charlie finds an emotional connection with a person he though he would never have. When Charlie walks in on the star quarterback for their high school kissing his male friend, he begins to question his own sexuality. Again, he is searching for truth. All of the incidents- happening to an ordinary freshmen teenage boy.
I would suggest this first to teenagers. Drugs, alcohol, rape, sexuality, teen- pregnancy are all issues that teenagers today have to deal with. I would also suggest this to teenagers because his emotions are so true of what high school brings you- happiness, joy, success and also sad, depressed, let down, and confused. Charlie constantly battles these emotions. I would suggest this book to adults to read with an open mind and try to remember what the strong emotions felt during high school and some of those may even linger on to present day.
I loved this book and could not put it down. I felt myself wanting to write back to Charlie because he is such a genuine guy who is just trying to get through high school. Some may criticize the fact that many of Charlie's likes in music and television are much older then his age (The Smiths, M*A*S*H) but I wouldn't criticize, instead look at the fact that he is a misfit so liking things that most people of his age don't like or know about would be so fit perfectly for him. Other people may say that the issues he goes through are not real and teenagers do not have to deal with that. I am a teenager myself and can honestly say I know at least one person who has had to directly deal with drugs, alcohol, rape, sexuality or teen-pregnancy.
I rate The Perks of Being a Wallflower a 10/10 and highly recommend it everyone.
Rating:
Summary: A Unforgetable Novel!
Review: PERKS is such an outstanding novel. After THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez (which another reviewer recommended), it's the best novel I've read in at least a year! It transcends what is typical and expected for books about awkward teenagers and reaches deeper into the meaning of self discovery. As I read the book, I was finding myself more intrigued by Charlie, the narrator, because he reminds me so much of myself. He's the type of kid that seems so ordinary but has such an extraordinary mind. Charlie is so likeable and anybody can relate to him. He has this unique and rare thought process that is simplistic yet reaches high levels of intrigue and complexity. All the events, both happy and sad, that occur are things that happen to everyday people. Readers can empathize with Charlie and understand Chbosky's tone about the struggles of being a teenager. This is one of the most readable books I've come across and I think teenagers would thoroughly enjoy it, so I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Favorite book ever
Review: This is the best book I've ever read. You really feel like you are friends with Charlie, and feel the emotions he's feeling, due to the author's writing skills.
Charlie is a freshman in highschool, who is not very popular. Once his best friend died, he became socially distant, but it all changes once he makes new friends who are years older than him. the letters charlie writes all lead to a sad but suprising ending. i definetly reccomend it to anyone
Rating:
Summary: loved it
Review: most beautiful book i've ever read. 1st book to ever make me cry.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: this was an amazing book. A few of my friends suggested it and after I finished it I couldn't help but advise it to a few others as well. it was very well written from a unique perspective that showed the unique vulnerability of young charlie.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad book to read
Review: Charlie is the main character of the book and he is writing a letter to all of the people that read this book but you really never find out about who he is writing to until the end. His friends Sam and Patrick also help him through out his life and help him deal with some problems along the way. The book also helps cover some things about how the life of a teenager is and what they all go through everyday. Charlie is basically a typical teenager too, he does drugs, experiments stuff with many different people and likes to go out with a lot of different girls.
I thought that this book was an ok book to read in school. The book had many ups and downs and a lot of things would change from time to time. In the end, I think that this is a good book for kids to read in class at their high school or they can just read on their own.
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as i thought it would be
Review: This book is a great look at growing up in todays world. It's a story about Charlie,a kid who just started high school without a friend in the world. He meets two seniors who are about to change his life.Charlie goes on a wild adventure involving partys,sex,first love,and special brownies. Some of the situations in this book i can relate too which is way i started to like it.
The story is told by Charlie in a letter format. We dont know who he's writing too but he doesnt leave anything out. The book goes off to a slow start but once you get into it you wont want to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Just another day at high school
Review: THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a teen, named Charlie who is experiencing and seeing different things. Most of the things he faced were actual stuff that happens to teenagers in high school. The stuff that he faced were dealing with his friend and foes, trying to stay away from drinking and doing drugs, and going out with a girl who he doesn't like. Charlie mostly kept most of the things he saw or heard to him self. As you read further in the book you will find out that he falls in love with a girl who is older then him. Her name Is Sam and he loved her a lot. He also has two gay friends who he is close with. He faces difficult obstacles through out the book. He wasn't close to his sister like most of the children in the family are but when something happened; he was the only one she trusted. I thought the book was real good although it wasn't the action type of book that I wanted but I still enjoyed it. I liked this book because it had surprising turns that came up out of nowhere and the real life obstacles that happened. Also, I thought this book was good because every time there's a bad situation Charlie finds a way to get out of it. If you like reading a book with actual stories and a surprising ending. Read this one!!!
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