My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Often compared to “The Catcher in the Rye,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky, is a coming-of-age novel told in a series of letters sent from the protagonist Charlie to you.
Set in the early ‘90s in the Midwest, it follows Charlies through his first year of high school and his struggles with anxiety, PTSD, other mental health issues, and his quest to “participate” in life.
Charlie’s heart is a big as the universe, but he’s often naïve to the point of being cloying, the exact opposite of Holden Caulfield. As for his best friends, seniors Sam and Patrick, while they did get Charlie to come out of his shell, they also had the habit of using him as their emotional support and ignoring his boundaries.
This goes especially for Patrick who, following the breakup with his boyfriend, kisses Charlie multiple times without his consent. Then he leaves Charlie, a minor, alone at cruising spots while he hooks up with random guys.
The other issue I had with this book was the lack of characters of color. Sure, we’re told a few times there are Black students at Charlie’s high school, but he never interacts with any of them, nor are they ever mentioned except in a few offhand remarks toward the end of the book.
I loved this book when I first read in the early 2000s, but now that I’m older I picked up on a lot of toxic and problematic elements I listed above.
Ultimately, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a product of its time, and while still enjoyable to read, it’s left a bitter aftertaste upon rereading it. I give it a 4 (3.8) out of ten.
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