Search

Search only in certain items:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
7
8.2 (101 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dysfunctional and heart-warming
Read this before I made the decision to watch the movie, and I certainly enjoyed the book more (although the movie was not a bad one). The more I read the book, the more I was hooked, (possibly because it was quite a heavy read, and I wanted to finish it, again not because I dislike it). Many of the characters are likeable, and the material was well written.
A coming of age story of a young man beginning high school with the emotional and mental baggage of his traumatic childhood. Charlie was an unusual main lead, appearing quite odd at times and very emotional. He made friends with Sam and Patrick, and the relationship was heart warming if not a little dysfunctional.
My rating of the book, did not quite give it the max rating, as I felt after I had finished reading, I was left a little confused, and with a number of unanswered questions. At times throughout the novel, I kept thinking the next chapter will be the big reveal, but that chapter never came.
I can see why it has the following it has, went mainstream and has remained popular, but not a book I aim to reread anytime soon.
  
There was something bugging me about this book almost from the word go. It wasn't until I was nearly finishing it that I realised what it was - pacing. The story telling would switch between the POV of Sonea, Lorkin, Cery and Dannyl, but this would switch three or four times a chapter, and wouldn't necessarily be rotated in the same order each chapter. As the book progressed, these characters storylines in the most part separated out with plots rarely overlapping. Canavan is great at suspense, but because of the structure, the page turning aspect got lost, because the momentum got lost. I've seen a few reviews on here comparing the story was boring, I would definitely disagree with this assumption, the story and plotting was good, but the structure let it down as the momentum was all over the place. It came together by the end, and I really do hope it stays together for the next two books.