The Plot: Charlie is an introverted teenager navigating the pitfalls of friendship, first love and growing up in the early 90s. As a shy loner, Charlie's life is changed when he is befriended by flamboyant Patrick and his step-sister, rebellious and beautiful Sam. They introduce him to parties, drugs and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Encouraged by his friends, Charlie stops just observing life, and starts participating.
Trigger warning:- the book contains domestic violence, rape, homophobia and child abuse
My initial reaction to The Perks of Being a Wallflower was irritation. The first sentence set me off, 'I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party'. I'm not necessarily against narrators addressing the reader directly, Mildura Kundera is a good example of a writer who breaks down the fourth wall effectively, but I hate when motivations or actions are attributed to the 'you'. I really dislike when an author projects things onto me as a reader, I like to make up my own mind about a character or a situation and not have assumptions made about how I will read and react. It's a minor thing really, but as it happened right at the start it influenced how I felt about the rest of the book.