The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: Actually, I really liked this book and would probably give it 4 or 5 stars. However, I personally never read those reviews, and I'd like this to be read. All of you who say that Charlie is unrealistic or say that no teenager acts like him should read the last 20 pages again. There are reasons he acts differently than most teenagers, and I think you missed all of them. If you didn't miss them, then I believe you're making the worst argument in the world. Also, don't write a review before you've finished the book. What's the deal with that?

Rating:
Summary: An outstanding read
Review: Remember the kid in high school you just sort of avoided and no one wanted to eat lunch with? Welcome to his mind. Charlie, the main character, acknowledges that he does not fit in and decides to become friends with the seniors in his school, and along the way, spends a year with them having adventures he's never experienced. Through Charlie, we experience drugs, smoking, and a first kiss. By the end of the novel, you not only sympathize with Charlie but also love him, and right at that point, he discovers something that makes him and all he's built for himself for the past year crumble, and it's heartbreaking to have to witness him attempting to put his life back together. You will start this book and will close it when you're finished, never having moved. Charlie is a character anyone can come to appreciate.

Rating:
Summary: Whoa! Stop the angst
Review: In his book,Chbosky seems to be trying to include just about every unfortunate teen experience available. Over his freshman year, Charlie experiences/witnesses suicide, domestic abuse, drugs, bullying, homosexuality, and did I forget anything else? Oh yeah, Charlie's extremely gifted but borderline schizophrenic. I'm not sure what the author's intent is including all this depressing material - maybe he wants everyone to have something to relate to. However, the inundation of angst for me did exactly the opposite. I'm 14, and I have my down days, but Charlie's life was completely alien to me. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" feeds into the misconception that all teens have depressing and depraved lives. Don't get me wrong, this is a great book. Charlie's narrative, in the form of letters, is endearing and insightful. There are some people who will love this book and hail it as an eye-opening look into adolescence. But to me, an unusually optimistic teen, Chbosky is substituting melodrama for actual storyline, and my heartstrings don't like being tugged this forcefully.

Rating:
Summary: This is the book that I wish I had written
Review: All I can say about this book is that it is one of the best books I have ever read. Actually, I think that it's my favorite book and I read it in one sitting. There is something quietly profound about it that makes it one of the books that I will always remember.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Thing
Review: Stephen Chbosky tells it like it is. There is a special book for everyone out there, one that you make your own, as Charlie says, and for me this is the one. The people and some of the events might be different, but I think he captures more than any book I've ever read how I'm feeling now, growing up. I know that growing up for everyone is different, so that's why some people can't relate, and maybe even be aghast at some of the content here, but for others who are living it, this is how it is. Rarely, if ever, are there young adult books that deals with [vices], without being preachy like being told from an outsider of adolescent point of view. The usual books, even the good ones, are told from the viewpoint of preps or at least in a universe where kids, at least the normal ones, don't drink or smoke, and homosexuality and trying a substance once is a major crisis, and being abused and suicide is usually the topic of the book and a major crisis...I always feel like Charlie because i prefer to watch and see. If you are like that, or at least open or remember growing up like that, this is the book for you. It's in your face honest, but in a pensive thoughtful way, and if you can get it the theme is amazing. This is the one book I couldn't put down all night, it is truly breathtaking.

Rating:
Summary: Sensationally good
Review: This is possibly the most endearing book that I have ever read. If you are a fan of the television show "Freaks and Geeks" you will doubly appreciate "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". Written in the form of multiple letters, this is the story of a kind, somewhat socially inept boy who feels deeply and loves people so vividly it hurts. I wanted to literally reach into the story and give this wonderful character a hug, and a therapist! I have recommended this book to males and females and the response is always the same (loosely)--"I cried and couldn't tell it it was from happiness or sadness". If you can remeber what it was like to be a teenager, this is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: my faveorite thus-far wonderful book
Review: The main reason i love this book is simple. i was going through a rough time in my life last year. i was a freshman in highschool and was looking at the prospect of losing a lot of my friends who were moving to various places through the continantal US, and a very very close friend of mine had just moved. it really felt like the end. the first contact i had with her or her family was to find out that she had tried to kill herself. a new friend in my art class gave me this, saying how wonderful a book it was and how he thought it would help me out. I read it and instantly identified with the main charactor "Charlie". he is a quiet and fairly innocent boy who was also a fershman in highschool and going through different but paralell problems to mine. it helped me put my problems in perspective and over all was very helpfull to me in figuring out how to deal with life. that prety much is why it is my favorite book to this day (almost a year and a half later)

Rating:
Summary: Life-effecting
Review: This book was TERIFFIC. The writing style is eloquent, and the author has a grasp of the first experience of new ideas. Somtimes I felt Charlie was a little naive, but I finished the book within a few hours. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: I read the whole book in one evening I just could not put it down. I was instantly hooked to the boy who was an outcast, but found somewhere to fit in. he reminded me so much of my own younger brother that it really made the whole story so much more real. It was just a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Heartwrenchingly Realistic
Review: This is the first and only book that I have ever read that fully describes my own thought process with almost frightening accuracy. Stephen Chbosky should be commended for his creation and his attempts to make all of its readers "feel infinite."