** spoiler alert ** 
 So, uh, this review is a little bit bullshit because I only read like 80 pages of the book. I found myself struggle to get past the passive sentences and nondescript characters. I felt sorry for Charlie, but hey man, you are so much better in the movie. The book...neh. A lot of topics were delved in by the book, but it is so fleeting. I still remember there are scenes of rape and other icky stuffs but the author only mentioned it once and never again... so uh, why do that? It is rather cliche and made I feel that he isn't smart enough to tackle the subject in depth, but just mix a bunch of drug and sex and controversial actions in the book just for the sake of having a shock effect. 
 I bump up the actual rating of this book because I just watch the movie version of Emma Watson and Logan Lerman, and wow, it was great. They cut out a lot of icky stuffs and I could feel that the characters on screen are full of depth and emotion. The book is truncated too much, in my opinion. I don't feel like reading the simple sentences and struggle to identify with the terse emotions. Love the movie thousands time better :)