Revisiting Indie Tumblr Book? Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

My Review: 3 Stars

Remember when we all were reblogging the gif of Paul Rudd saying "We accept the love we think we deserve" on Tumblr? Those were the days.

Let me start off by saying my middle school self was obsessed with Perks of Being a Wallflower. But rereading now at 23, I can see that the story is definitely darker than I realized. Charlie's story is centered around a lot of heavy topics like mental health and abuse. This was in the movie too, obvi, but when you're 14 years old, mental health storylines take the backseat to a dance routine to Come on Eileen.

Perks of Being a Wallflower is formatted in a series of letters from Charlie that are dry and short, but also super honest. Charlie doesn't sugar coat his thoughts, but he's also naively unaware of just how depressing his thoughts are. He moves quickly between topics, revealing crazy childhood trauma in one paragraph, then writing about the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the next. It's easy to empathize with him, even if you want to scream at him for self-sabotaging his own life all the time.

Charlie's letters are really interesting but he doesn't spend a lot of time describing the setting or the appearances of his friends. If I hadn't watched the movie before, I would probably feel like I was left in the dark about a lot of things. But...you do get to see how these friends help him in his mental health journey and you get a glimpse into their struggles as well. You feel like you're apart of his eccentric friend group in the 90s, swapping secret Santa gifts and making cool mix tapes.

I enjoyed being in Charlie's world and getting to read about his thought processes. All the characters had interesting personalities and getting to see the songs on their mix tapes was a plus. But I still feel like Charlie's lack of emotional depth in his letters kept me from really caring or becoming super invested in the story.

Overall: This is a good, depressing book with decent characters and an interesting take on mental health issues, but I would have to recommend watching the movie to really bring the story to life.

Alexa, play Asleep by The Smiths.

Synopsis:

standing on the fringes of life...

offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see

what it looks like from the dance floor.

This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction.

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

Purchase Perks of Being a Wallflower here:

Amazon: https://a.co/d/fyeqnK9

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Perks-Being-Wallflower/Stephen-Chbosky/9780671027346?id=8756939992738

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perks-of-being-a-wallflower-stephen-chbosky/1100365675?ean=9780671027346