At first, I thought that this is just your ordinary book about the high school life including issues on family, friends, studies, love and such. But it is more than that. The book is straightforward when it comes to topics including drugs, sex, and alcohol. It is realistic for most high school students, especially those living in liberated countries, which makes it easier to relate to. Sometimes it gets boring to read but the narration is light, coming from a 15-year old boy, which makes it easier to stick to all throughout. 
 There were a few points that I did not expect. (view spoiler)[His Aunt Helen would have molested him which became a traumatic experience to him, causing repressed memories regarding the incident. (hide spoiler)] Some parts are quite confusing for me. (view spoiler)[I had few questions like why is Charlie cries easily, why is it in a panicky way, if it is it the effect of his traumatic experiences, or is it just his personality, and things like that. (hide spoiler)] 
 But most of the time, I cannot feel the strong emotions Charlie had. I was not able to experience what he is experiencing by just reading the book. Nonetheless, it was a good, fun read. It made me see the bigger picture of life, just like the way Charlie think about other people.