Rain's Reviews: Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Perk Of Being a Wallflower

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.~ Goodreads

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Reviews

Can I just say? I want to be a wallflower? I man despite the drugs and the PTSD and all that it seems like at the very least an interesting life to have.

I'm sure after that introduction you decide to completely disregard everything I am about to say. Good. I'm glad. Because what I'm about to say will probably undermine the deeper meaning of the book and set back the teenage moment a decade (haha) and so please for the love of God stop reading.

Now that I am by myself I am going to be honest. This book didn’t speak to me on a very seep level. There were a few moment were I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.”

― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The idea of depression and suicide have always been intriguing to me as I’m sure many people are intrigued with things they could never fully understand. So getting inside this guys brain was cool. I also loved the way that Chbosky wrote the teenager’s life. Its gritty, its confusing, its lonely even when you’re in a crowd, its a half life. and I appreciate how he painted it. There was cussing, there was sex, there was gay romance, there was just about everything I try to stay aways from in a book but it wasn’t shoved at you. It was honestly portrayed in a way that shows you can’t avoid it in this world. Its not a book I’d recommend to anyone. If you want to read it, read it on your own accord and make your own decisions. I don’t want to make them for you in this case. Its raw, its real, its honest. And I appreciate that.

This is not so much a review because I still don’t know how I feel about the characters, the writing, anything, in this subject I am useless and I can’t really tell you why I am going to post this. But I am. So tell me, if anyone is reading this, what you thought of the book. Please.

~Rain

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Links

Liberty Bay Books: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Goodreads

Rain's Reviews: Wide Open by Shelly crane

Wide Open by Shelly Crane

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Milo is trouble.

He lives it, breathes it. He embraces anything that numbs and takes his mind somewhere else, a world where his mother is herself and not just a shell, and his brother didn't almost kill her, severing any relationship they had. But more importantly, Milo drowns out the guilt for leaving his mother and not being able to forgive his brother. He drowns his pride and moves on to another girl and another party, pretending that life isn't moving on around him and he's stuck in the same place. He's stuck in the past and doesn't know how to let go.

Maya is trouble.

She's done the party scene and has had her fair share of close calls and handcuffs. Not the kinky kind. She's so over it all and fought like hell for that life to let go so she could move on. She now works as a teen counselor. Her life is better, but her life is empty. She has no one but her brother in the whole world left and he's sick with a disease that no medicine can cure.

When they meet, a romance that scares them both emerges, but the love you fight for is the love that can mend bridges, heal scars, and open closed hearts. They'll need each other, they'll want each other, they'll have each other.

But will it all come too late?~Goodreads

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Review

Wide Open was surprisingly good, and I only say surprisingly because of it New Adult rating. I have always tried to avoid New Adult because of the inappropriateness of the romance but when this came out I did some research and decided to put it on probation. And when I started reading it, I didn’t stop.

Milo is a self loathing and hopeful guy. He has put himself through Hades and now that he has finally pulled himself back out he’s convinced that no one can love him, forgive him, or look at him without hating him and what he’s done. But despite this negative streak it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be forgiven or loved. And in those moments and actions when he is being the best guy he can be, when he’s not thinking of all his screw ups. and how horrible he thinks he is you love him so much it breaks your heart to see him ridicule himself. He is the sweetest most caring guy towards Maya that you can’t wait to see him fit all his pieces back together.

Maya has a past she isn’t proud of and secrets she doesn’t want anyone to know no matter how close she is to them. She is so strong and so broken your heart breaks all over again. ( All I’m saying is Shelly crane must get pleasure from making her readers depressed.) She has been sober for four years but her life isn’t getting easier and her future is looking impossible. She is defeated-or so she thinks. But when Milo walks in- well- you’ll have to swoon for yourself.

Milo and Maya are possibly the most tragic story and heart-felt story Mrs. Crane has ever written and I am so, so pleased I didn’t pass it up.

The New adult rating is mainly for issues with drugs and alcohol. The romance did not go al the way but did get fairly steamy.

~Rain

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Quotes

"There is something seeing and something being seen."

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Links

Goodreads

Amazon
Barnes&Noble