Author:

Stephen Chbosky

  I originally read this book when I saw commercials for the movie, and had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be just another teenage love novel, but it really took me by surprise.

  The first thing I loved was Charlie’s voice. I loved that it was written through letters, because it really was more personal than a journal. I loved that I felt like Charlie was writing his letters to me, too. It added such a strange and exciting feeling to the book.

  I also loved Sam and Patrick, I just loved how they took in this awkward kid and made him part of their family. Even though I felt like sometimes they did things that were out of character– like doing drugs a lot– I still liked them. They reminded me so much of characters from really any F. Scott Fitzgerald book, more specifically though they reminded me of the couple from The Beautiful and the Damned. They were good people that I never thought would be so worldly, but just like so many Fitzgerald characters, they were easily taken into the world of drinking and partying.

  Charlie reminded me so much of Meursault from The Stranger by Albert Camus. He was detached, but not so far that you couldn’t relate to him. He cried at odd times and he was really socially awkward, which added to the complexity in him. The best way to describe Charlie is if Mersault, and Nick (from The Great Gatsby) had a love child, who married Holden Caulfield (from The Catcher in the Rye), and they had a baby, that baby would be Charlie. That might have been a little hard to follow, but the point was that I saw all of my favorite characters in Charlie, and it made me feel like I knew him, and it made me care for him more.

  I also wanted to make a quick mention of how much I loved Bill’s story with Charlie, and how much I loved all of the books he made him read. It was nice to see a special friendship and bond forming that was truly just honest and pure.

  Another thing I loved about the book was the mystery. The whole book I was wondering what was wrong with Charlie. I diagnosed him several times, in true Dr. Phil fashion, saying “Oh he must be Autistic” or “Oh he has PTSD”, it kept me guessing. I will not give away the ending, but I will say it was definitely a curve-ball.

  I had such mixed feelings about the way that Charlie handled each friendship, putting everyone ahead of him so much that he was anxious about their problems, but I really enjoyed peering into the mind of someone who thinks that way.

  Overall, the book was a great read, and I would recommend it to anyone. Prepare to fall in love, and fall into a state of mental angst.