Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why."

 

4 / 5

I gave the book 4 stars out of five only because there was something off about the book but I couldn't put my finger on it. The book was great, it was fast pace and the plot flows easily. At first, I was skeptical about the form of writing; the letters to unknown person, I thought the story would be sort of fragmented and I would have to pick up the pieces from the letters but no, the sequence of the letters was brilliant and they were are together make so much sense. In some way, you feel as if the letters were written to you and you can't wait till you read your next letter. It was a great read. The characters were all well rounded and realistic, you would think a teenager will portrait his parents as ignorant and insensitive, but no, Charlie was fair in describing them. He wasn't lost in his emotions, he was aware of them which was kind of eye-opening to me. I usually get lost with my emotion and I can't identify them and go deep down in them which is very frustrating. Charlie was smart. I think I like Charlie although sometimes he was being so childish and emotionally demanding but he work it all out eventually. It's the kind of book that makes you realize something within your soul rather than learning something new, and to be honest, I had a moment of "revelation" about myself and life after reading it. It's a book about life, family, friends, music and books. In one letter, Charlie talks about a mixtape he made to his friend, you could get a glimpse of Charlie's soul if you listened to these songs.

I highly recommend it, it's such a soft read.

I will leave you with four songs of Charlie's mixtape that I love so much:

Asleep by The Smiths

Gypsy by Suzanne Vega

Daydream by Smashing Pumpkins 

&

Landslide by Fleetwood Mac