Read-Write-Review

Charlie is a teenage boy, on the outside, a wallflower who studies life rather than lives it. That is until he reaches his freshman year, where he finally meets people who see him for who he is, a truly nice guy, with a lot of baggage. As he becomes more accepted, he begins to participate and it opens his eyes to friendship and love and the inevitable pain that sits alongside it.

The book is written though the eyes of Charlie, as letters to an unknown person. They are like a journal to him so the style is innocent yet you are well aware that there is something darker in his mind. Even with just letters, the other characters were still well formed and I read on wanting to know how they dealt with the challenges that were thrown their way.

I have to admit with the book simply letters throughout, I found no change of pace to the story and the young voice of Charlie sometimes made it a harder read than it should have been. The story itself is very touching as we slowly learn about his past and I really felt for the character though if I hadn’t see the film first and absolutely loved it, I may have struggled to finish it.