From the Bookshelf of The Reading Challenge Group…

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky

Start date: May 1, 2016

Finish date: May 31, 2016

Discussion: Group Read Archive 2014-16

Why we're reading this: YA Group Read - May 2016
[close] YA Group Read - May 2016

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Showing 2 of 139 topics — 2,834 comments total

Group Read Archive 2014-16

Genre Group Read (Humour) - December 2016 - You Are Not So Smart
By Allison , Quest Hound · 11 posts · 30 views

last updated Dec 28, 2016 04:05PM

Alternate Group Read (Classics) - December 2016 - Mansfield Park
By Allison , Quest Hound · 5 posts · 18 views

last updated Dec 04, 2016 09:34AM

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What Members Thought

Mar 08, 2016 Millie Taylor rated it it was amazing

I normally try not to see a movie before reading the book. In this case, it was watching the movie that made me want to read the book. That being said, having seen the movie, I had a general idea of how the characters were.

The book follows Charlie as he navigates his first year of high school. In it, he talks about the struggles of making friends and dealing with his home life (which isn't bad, really). He also talks about going through school and what he does with his friends afterward - much l ...more

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Dec 29, 2012 dani rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. lol how cute is my review of this from when i was 14. i always go back n edit it to remove the cringe bits but forget that brings it back up on everyone’s feed so plz, do carry on w ur day x x x x x

this book was very, very different to how i expected it to be. and, i don't know, i expected it to have more of a different impact within me then it did. i'm really really torn, as i feel like the fact that ~everyone loves this book makes the pressure of loving it just because everyone else does real lol how cute is my review of this from when i was 14. i always go back n edit it to remove the cringe bits but forget that brings it back up on everyone’s feed so plz, do carry on w ur day x x x x x

this book was very, very different to how i expected it to be. and, i don't know, i expected it to have more of a different impact within me then it did. i'm really really torn, as i feel like the fact that ~everyone loves this book makes the pressure of loving it just because everyone else does really high, and i did really appreciate this book, but love? i'm not sure. i'm just a bit confused with how i feel about it, if i'm honest, and i'm really struggling to rate and review it.

i think the character charlie has really opened my eyes to a lot of things, and the way it's written with you seeing every thought process was very intriguing. i could relate to some of what charlie was going through, and also some of what charlie was saying - although not to such a great extent. but also, charlie was such a hard character to get into and really understand, some of the things he did i just didn't really understand why?

i'm fourteen now, so i guess you could say that my ~angsty teenage years have barely began. but i personally have never suffered from depression, or really that feeling of being a "wallflower" and that i don't really fit in or belong.

i could relate to some of the ways charlie thought about things, like thinking about people in the street and what their lives were/are like, but i also think that charlie was somewhat unrealistically portrayed at some parts of the story. like when he didn't know what masturbation was. just found it so hard to believe that he was considered so intelligent and sensitive, yet he was also so naive and unrealistically innocent. also whenever he felt bad for thinking about sam in certain ways, boys my age don't do that. and i understand, charlie isn't the same as them. but no boy i have ever known has acted in that way, so i don't really understand it.

overall, i guess i could say that this story really challenged me and made me really have to try and understand the character. and i think i enjoyed it? i especially loved the quotes, and i think they were very cleverly put into the book.

"we accept the love we think we deserve."
"and in that moment, i swear we were infinite."

what drew me to read this book in the first place was the hype around the movie. but i feel like that at my age, i can't fully understand this book. i think in a few years it will have more of an impact on me, or at least i hope it will, so i definitely plan to re-read it in the future. so for now, i'll go and watch the movie and maybe i won't have to re-read it to fully understand it. ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Judy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

Wow. For a young adult book, this was absolutely amazing. I loved that Chbosky wrote it as a series of letters to a never identified "friend." I loved Charlie, and I felt for him. I haven't ever personally had all the experiences he did when I was in high school, but his awkwardness was endearing, and the rest of the characters were so fleshed out...something that I thought would be difficult to do considering we're learning about them through a series of letters.

This book discusses a number of ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Rhiannon rated it it was amazing

I loved reading this book. If you havent read this book why not its an awsome read I really related to charlie in the way he views certain aspects of his life. this book is deffinalty on my list of 100 books to read before you Die.

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Jan 07, 2016 Lucy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-borrowed

I am broken.

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Apr 02, 2024 Tasha rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2024-reads

I’ve always wanted to read this book, so in an effort to find a quick read I finally picked it up. It honestly was nothing like I thought it would be, and was more than just a quick read. I’m an 80s/90s kid so it was nice going back to that time. Following Charlie through his coming of age journey was interesting even if it was not all exactly believable. I felt like by watching Charlie overcome so much, that by the end of the book, he was my friend too.

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