The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Rating:
Summary: Touching in Many Ways
Review: I will not 'flame' and claim that this is the "best book ever" as is stated in many reviews listed. I do not have illusions of grandeur nor, I believe, does Chbosky. It must be said however, that no book has ever caused me to cry three times in 200 pages. No book has ever made me want to sit down and write an author a thank you note. No book has ever caused me to ask the person who recommended it to autograph my copy of the book so I could always remember how grateful I was for that person's excellent recommendation. No book except for this one. Steinbeck it is not. Hemmingway would probably laugh at it. Frankly, after reading it I couldn't care less and I am sure you will not either. The writing is above average, the story is familiar in ways that re-fire old memories, old feelings, and old insecurities. Layed open are your adolescent wounds only to be healed again. This novel is about the characters, the story, and adolescence - not constructing the perfect paragraph. I recommend it fully to those who have ever wondered what it would be like to "feel infinite" or anyone who has ever been considered a "wallflower."

Rating:
Summary: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
Review: All I can say is that book depicts being a teenager with every word on every page. Almost everyone has been in these situations and if someone hasn't, they haven't been a teenager yet.

Rating:
Summary: A Lifechanging Novel
Review: I have never read a book that honestly changed my life so much. It seemed as though I was living through Charlie's eyes rather than just reading words on a page. I related to all of his emotions and confusion. Strangely enough, it taught me so many things about myself and the things I need to overcome in my own life. I picked it up and literally never put it down. I continued reading it late into the night, negelecting all of my other work. The second I was finished with it, I gave it to my mum to read and she finished it nearly as quickly as I did (proving that it doesn't just appeal to teenagers) and soon after that I handed it right over to my therapist (because I'm just as crazy as Charlie, but aren't we all?).

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age novel that I can compare to my other two favourite novels, The Virgin Suicides and The Catcher in the Rye. As amazing as those two books are, they came to no where near to changing my life as this book. I don't know if I can tell you to read it enough. I am completely dumbstruck by reviews of people who say they didn't enjoy it, because I feel so opposite of that. It seems to me that anyone can relate to Charlie in some way or another, and the author grabs you into his insecure world and doesn't let you go. It isn't the issues he faces that hit you, but the way he deals with him and the scary reality he enters when he doesn't know how to deal with life anymore. But Charlie continues to remain optimistic and I only wish that he was a real person who I could sit down with a cup of anything, whether it be coffee, tea, or orange juice, and have a long conversation about "feeling infinite."

Rating:
Summary: This is just sick...
Review: This is just sick!!! The author is trying to deliver a message that homosexuality is a normal thing and needs to be accepted or approved. This book is disgusting, don't ever read it unless you want to have dipression or lost apetite. Some "activist" circles are trying to push it for so called "educational" purposes.
If you are finding these episodes described in the book "educational", than consider my opinion being wrong:
- rape
- sex of a man with a boy
- attempt to have sex with a dog
- sex of a teenage boys
- different disgusting underage homosexual related episodes
- etc, etc....
FOR PARENTS: Please do not give this book to your young children
unless you want to traumatise them.

Sincerely yours,
K

Rating:
Summary: Probably the worst.
Review: This was probably the worst book I have ever read. It was not interesting, the writing was horrible. It was a drag to finish this book. I didn't like it at all, and was suprised at the reviews.

Rating:
Summary: I THINK I'M IN LOVE
Review: There's no denying that this book rules. The way it's written and everything, and it's all toped off by that more-than-lovely poem. It's really just simply the best, and nothing less, and I'd bet if you read it, you'll fall in love with it too, and if not, go nuts.

Rating:
Summary: A book for all ages
Review: I read this book as a 17 year old female in high school. I feel that my 14 year old brother and 45 year old mother could also read it and enjoy it just as much as I did. A boy's journey into highschool, friends, drugs and sex are layed out before you wondering whether he is making the right desicion for his life, and if he is not, wanting to yell and scream at the main character, Charlie, for not following the right path. I think that everyone, male and female, should read it and learn a lesson from this 16 year old outcast child. I would not recommend it to children under the age of 14-15 because the contents are mature and they might not understand the point of the message. Girls and boys in highschool should read it so they can understand what others might go through, and mothers and fathers so they can understand what their child goes through during their 4 years of high school and beyond.

Rating:
Summary: REALLY GOOD!
Review: I wasn't capable of putting this book down. It was an honest portrayal of a high schooler's life. The only thing that I didn't like about this book is that the narrator, (Charlie), spoke like a 10 year old at times instead of a 16 year old.

Rating:
Summary: Underwhelming based on the previous reviews
Review: Upon reading this book, my opinion is that the author is trying to glorify the stereotype of a "wallflower". The character is sensitive and introverted but in the book, those qualities are met with understanding and acceptance which to me seems unrealistic. It has been my experience that inviduals who exhibit these qualities in real life tend to be lonely or exist on the outskirts of their respective social circles due to the fact that sadly, very few people realize the depth that such individuals possess.
In my opinion, the book reads like the fantasy of one such person in which everyone recognizes that the main character is intelligent and special and the things he says profound. I suppose in that respect, the book lives up to its title. However, as with most fantasies, the narrative of the story has a very limited perspective and the characters and events are too one-dimensional to be believable.

Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: i loved this book. best book ever, enough said.