A short review for a short book. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a good book, but it's not one of my favorites I've ever read. It tackles a difficult subject matter in a way that is easy to understand for young adults, but it has some flaws that I found impossible to get over. While it was flawed, I will start with what I did like about the book.
I would mostly call this book "cute". There are a number of relationships explored that develop between the main character, Charlie, and some of the other characters. These relationships are nicely developed, while being only slightly cliché, and they really allow you to connect with the characters and what they may be going through--especially Charlie and his issues.
The character development was also nicely done--you learned everything you needed to know about the characters and their backstories without being bored to death by endless details and meaningless dialogue.
This book was written in the form of letters from Charlie to "a dear friend" who is never identified--I'm assuming that the reader is supposed to take the form of the "friend". While this is a turn off of mine, so I may be biased, I hated this part of the book. It was almost too informal to be a story. The subject matter and the letter format didn't fit well together.
I am also not a fan of the way mental illness was portrayed in this book. It was almost as if the mental illness could be cured by a good group of friends and having fun, which is in no way the way it works in real life. That was probably the biggest turn-off for me, and the main reason I didn't love this book.
All in all, it's a cute, fast read (I read it in 2 hours). The subject matter, although simplistic and understandably put, was grossly mishandled and the format just wasn't my cup of tea.
I recommend 4/10.
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