Book Talk: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (spoilers!) | Tonia

Hi guys! Happy December! I can’t believe we’ve almost made it to the end of this crazy year. Today I’m going to be talking about one of my favourite books, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

I want to make it clear that this is not a review. This is more of like a ramble and it’s just to get my thoughts out there. That being said, this post will be full of spoilers. I recommend you all to read it before continuing with this post.

Okay, on with the post!

I’m currently in the middle of rereading this book. The last time I read it was over the summer, for one of the book club meetings with Amie, Meilun, and Sarah. Personally, a lot of things in my life have changed in the past few months, and reading this now gives me a different feeling than when I did over the summer. For one thing, I’ve actually started high school now, so in a way, I’m in the same position as Charlie. I remember when I first read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was the summer right before high school was starting for me. I had all these questions, I was unsure, and I was anticipating what things were going to be like. Obviously Charlie’s situation is very different from mine, but it was nice to read about a kid starting over in a new school and seeing him make new friends, and just go through everything. Reading this now, after being in school for a few months and settling down, my feelings while reading it is quite different. For some reason, I find it easier to relate to Charlie, even though our situations are wildly different. When he meets Sam and Patrick, it reminds me of when I made new friends. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the difference between the first time reading it and reading it now is that before, I used this book to anticipate and idealize what high school was going to be like, and now I can read this and look back on the time when I was full of anticipation, while being in the situation I was waiting for at the same time. In a way, just like Charlie, I am looking back on the past memories, which I find very special. I know that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is always going to be special to me.

Another thing I wanted to talk about was the mental health issues that were addressed. I don’t really know how this flew over my head the first time around, but only now am I realizing that Charlie was molested by his Aunt Helen. I also didn’t realize that Charlie had a mental illness. I kind of thought that he was just a different kid, but now I know that his mindset and the way he does things is heavily affected by his mental health. I’m pretty sure that Charlie has PTSD and anxiety as well. Some people say that he may also be autistic. A common theme in this book is sexual abuse. We can see that when Charlie finds out he was molested, Charlie’s sister and her relationship with her boyfriend, Sam being molested as a young girl, and when Charlie witnesses a girl being raped at a party. I didn’t realize how heavy this book was, but I’m glad that these things were addressed in the way they were.

That concludes my little ramble. I realize it is sort of all over the place, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out. I’d love to hear all of your opinions on this book! Happy reading!