My “review” on the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky… Well, it’s more like a personal feedback. 
The best approach to a completely new book is trying to remain completely neutral. Do not expect it to be excellent just because people say it is, and do not expect it to be terrible just because people hate it. People have varying tastes, especially when it comes to arts.
My mistake with The Perks of Being a Wallflower is that, even before I knew what the story is about, I expect it to be brilliant. Why? Because everyone I know who has read it love it. I forgot that my idea of brilliant is not the same as the others’, nor is it the same as mine a few years back. And because I had expected so much from it, it stroke me as a disappointment.
Characters in this book have constantly challenged me to just toss the book aside. The protagonist Charlie is a troubled teenager - in most cases, such characters either earn a lot of sympathy or a lot of dislike. Unfortunately it was the latter for me. It is forgiveable because he has been going through a lot of drama and is actually depressed. He is passive and doesn’t know what to do in his situation, but it doesn’t make him any more likeable. The only person I liked was Bill, the teacher, but he is a grown-up.
Another trouble I had was that there is too much drama in one book. Writing about a series of unfortunate events and earning a lot of recognition is easy. But it is not how good writing works - good writing is something that can make adding sugar to a cup of tea seem comic, tragic or what-have-you. Good writing makes what seems completely average and common extraordinary. With that, I lament the waste of Chbosky’s writing skills because I believe he is capable of that.
I feel the need to clarify that I do think The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a good book - if you look closely at the writing you will see what I mean. I’d say it is a lot better than you think an MTV book could do. It is a story full of drama, full of depression and pain. Only problem is that the pain is mostly by choice, which I think is one of the messages most people don’t get from reading this book. No one can deny the pain and suffering from the problems, but we can hardly lay the blame on the problems or fate or circumstances for their consequences (in this case: drugs, cigarettes, pregnancy etc.) If we reflect on our teenage years ourselves, we could at least find a few similar examples.
Teenage years are “infinite”, you only grow up once. However, it is not the only time that you exist. I love the last chapter because it tells you that. No matter how memorable your freshman year was, you have to go on and be a sophomore. Remember the times with fondness and live on