Book by: Stephen Chbosky 

Publication date: 1 February 1999

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Book Review: This Book was a Voice for the Loners of the 90s. 

Dear friend, I am writing this because of things I have taken from this book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The way the story is shaped is good with how Charlie starts it off with each letter dated between 1991 and 1992 beginning with “Dear friend” and ending with “Love Charlie”, but I’ve always wondered who this unnamed friend is. Is it his mom, dad, or maybe even a friend? One theory that has stuck with me is what if the whole time he is actually writing to himself. With the letters, a thing Stephen Chbosky got absolutely right was for us, his readers, to feel like we are reading a letter sent to us or I sometimes felt while reading this I’ve found all these letters in a box somewhere and here I am now reading about another teenager’s life and it sometimes makes you feel like you know more than you should about Charlie. One thing that will stick with me after writing this review is: “ You see things. You keep quiet about them. You understand. You’re a wallflower.” I have always considered myself to be this so-called “wallflower,” which is probably why I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I have not finished high school, but I understand how it is to be alone at times and how depressing it can be so I know the loneliness and hopelessness Charlie feels throughout the book. He says “ I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for ten thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that.” The sad thing is I actually know what Charlie means by this and I kind of wish I didn’t.  You at times feel really bad, and then it goes away, and you don’t understand why. When I’m finally feeling good for some reason I remind myself that this happiness will not last so preserve every good detail so when the bad days come I will be reminded of the happiness that I once had. The whole book was a voice for teenagers in high school in that era of time because nowadays it’s normal to hear stories like Charlie’s but in the 90s it may have happened but was not as much talked about which is why I also think that is the exact reason why the book is so known till this day.  Charlie went through a lot of ups and downs but what I truly think is even with the down’s he was grateful for all of it. The hate. the love. Feeling dead. Feeling alive. The hugs. The fights. The overall book was amazing, but one of my problems was the perks. The drug use is realistic, but the smoking was always shown in a not-so-best light. Another issue that I first had was I thought “Charlie is too nice to be a main character.” But I was mistaken. His view of things makes a way more intriguing story than others which also makes this a story you’ll always remember which I have. Lastly, “And in that moment I swear, we were infinite.” Love Asia.