Can there be so much wrong in a book that you tend to oversee how much right is in exactly the same book? If there is one little thing I expect from a ridiculously over-hyped book, then it is making me think about an important subject. And this book certainly did provoke several thoughts, and while not all of them were positive, at least it made itself memorable in a way not too many other books usually succeed to do. 
 Stephen Chbosky made me uncomfortable reading his novel which has by now become a classic of the Young Adult genre despite being published only seventeen years ago, but he also made me understand the things which are going on in the protagonist's, Charlie's, head. Because puberty is nothing we can choose to go through; we all have/had to endure this process of character growth at one certain time of our life. Some have experienced a stormy time full of alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, parties - the list can be continued boundlessly. On the other side, some have endured a quite process of coming to terms with aspects of their life like sexuality, their first love and the things they expect from their life. It is the time where many of us realize that all of us are the same, yet everyone is so different from each other. Because every person feels different emotions, everyone has experienced different situations, everyone has different friends and people influencing them. 
 "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" depicts exactly this: the disorganized thoughts storming through our minds at the age of fourteen in some cases, sixteen or seventeen in some other cases. Charlie experiences it all in this novel. He has his first cigarette. His first drugs. His first time with a girl. His first relationship. His first drink. His first kiss with a boy. And not everything that happens to him during this period is good either. The subjects which are depicted in this novel are very much realistic and portraying how such a period might be like for a teenager. The main aspect which bothered me to the edge of growing frustrated was the execution into written words. 
 > Mainly, everyone is crying in this book. Every single moment which might potentially bear any kind of emotions is ridiculed by letting the characters break out in tears. You sometimes begin to believe there are tears rather than blood rushing through their bodies. The main characters in this book might as well have founded the Tear-Shedding Club. 
 > Charlie is a sixteen-year-old teenager. He has the perfect grades at school, always bringing home the best results of his tests ... and yet he sounds like a ten-year-old child not knowing how to express himself. I don't know if this might symbolize a potential attribute of autism, mainly because I am not that informed about autism, but it seemed weird to me. Especially since Charlie's grades remained perfect even inspite of 'straying from the right path' and beginning to get used to drugs, alcohol and the like. Maybe he is indeed an exception from the average, but it seemed weird to me and made me question the narrative's seriousness. 
 > In addition to this, the writing was disappointing, to say the least. Maybe it was supposed to sound the way it did as the book was narrated through the eyes of a teenager, but it felt like this was a simple-structured book written for children rather than depicting the extents of puberty. And apart from that, the dialogues were horrible to read. Due to the way the novel was written, the narrative only retold the events Charlie experienced and thus may not accurately render the dialogue, but this cannot be an excuse for conversations being portrayed unrealistically and with a weird, odd undertone. 
 > The character growth was purely frustrating to read. Going from a shy, restrained 'underdog' to someone with a lot of friends, spending his time with drinking, smoking, taking drugs and having sex without his parents even realizing or necessarily minding, and all this with a certain naturalness attached to it simply felt unnatural, especially when taking a look at the way Charlie finds new friends in. He doesn't care for those who are in his age group; no, he rather finds friends who are two or three years older than he is. I don't know a lot about the American school system or the way teenagers behave there apart from what was transmitted to me through literature, television or radio. But here in Germany, it is certainly not that easy. Either you are popular - that means, you're probably pretty self-confident, arrogant, have a way with girls, and find pleasure in making your popularity visible for everyone else - or you aren't, which, in most cases, applies for those who are struggling to find friends, who are not as self-confident or communicative as others, and are thus more likely to become a witness of mobbing etc. You cannot simply avoid the rest of the people in your age group. Either you make yourself noticeable to them, or they will notice you, and perhaps not in the way someone would have liked it to be. 
 > This book is 200 pages long, and it covers all the issues which might possibly be covered in one single book. Suicide, drug abuse, domestic violence, homosexuality, abortion, fights, and a lot of other things. By having the characters cry at every little instance, the author literally seems to yell at us, "Now cry with them! You are supposed to feel the emotions, to connect with the characters! CRY!" But the story did not move me that much. The fast pace was something I appreciated, but the way issues were covered in this book felt too rushed. This book might have been twice as long without having felt too long. 
 In conclusion, Chbosky's novel is certainly no bad one. It covered important issues and has received a hype which can only be fondly longed for by several other authors. But to me, it turned out to be quite disappointing. Was it enjoyable? Yes, it was. I read it during the course of four hours, and I always eagerly anticipated what was happening next. But was it perfect? No, it wasn't. Because the concept a book is based on always strongly differs from the execution by the author. As a result, I have rated "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" with three not-that-good-but-not-that-bad-either stars, with a little bit of disappointment connected with it.