Rating: 2.5/5 
 ***Minor spoilers*** 
 Charlie doesn't really have any close friends. It's his first year of high school and he isn't particularly focused on being popular. When Charlie goes to a high school football game, he recognizes a boy named Patrick, who is a senior, and befriends him along with Patrick's sister, Sam. They quickly become the people closest to Charlie and the people he goes to most for help. Throughout the novel Charlie deals with several normal high school experiences as well as some more difficult issues. 
 I've been meaning to read this book for ages. Ever since seventh grade I've been surrounded by friends who have been telling me to read this book and that it's amazing. I tried reading this a few years ago but only got maybe 20 pages in before I lost interest and stopped reading. It's probably better that I didn't read it then anyway because I feel like there were some topics in this book I wouldn't have understood the gravity of back then. 
 In all honesty, I didn't feel too much towards Charlie. I didn't have that much of a connection with him and I didn't find him an amazing character. At times he seemed too innocent for fifteen, but aside from that I just didn't find him interesting. I liked that this book addressed so many difficult issues in society and in the experience of growing up in general, but at times it felt like too much. This book was only just over 200 pages but I would need 2 hands to count the amount of serious issues this book brought up. Because of this I feel like some of the issues didn't get enough "screen time" if you will, but aside from that I think the biggest root of my not enjoying the book as much as I could've is because I didn't connect with Charlie as a character. 
 Overall, I'm glad I read this book since I've been meaning to for years, but it just didn't seem like my thing. I didn't find Charlie that interesting of a character and I couldn't empathize with him really. It addressed many issues and I feel like it might've been too much to read about at once. I would still recommend that you read this because it's written in a way that's different than usual (letters to the reader) and it leaves you with a lot to think about. Even if you don't enjoy it on the surface, I think it's a good book to think more about when you're done.