It's September! And that means a new book club title. The books are holding their breath in anticipation, so without further ado, our Teen Book Club choice for September is...
We aim to have this read by 20th September, then we will post our reviews. If you read it before then or have already read it, feel free to leave your comments and reviews below. Please remember to *SPOILERS ALERT* where necessary - let's not give too much away!
The new young adult edition - exclusive to Waterstones *waves tiny 'W' flag* - has just been released and can be found in our Young Adult fiction section priced at £6.99. Don't forget you can get 25% off with your teen membership card, or you can have it as part of our buy one get one half price offer.
I hope you all enjoy this one! It is a personal favourite of mine and I CAN'T WAIT for the film, which is released in the UK on Wednesday 3rd October - "Orange Wednesday" win!
You can send us your book suggestions for October by tweeting your requests to @WaterstoneLeeds or commenting below.
Happy reading!
Hattie, Sammy and Gale x
Hattie, Sammy and Gale x
I love 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'. It's one of my favourite books and every time I read it it gets better and better.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about it, is how honest it is. It is not a book that glosses over sex and drugs and drinking because it wants to appeal to a certain market. It is a book that tells a story, no holds barred. And that's what makes it such a good book. You can read it and believe that these people are real and that what they are experiencing is real and that somewhere out there, they are living their lives while you live yours.
I love 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' and I'm excited to see it as a film. I think more people should read it and I think it's a brilliant choice for the book club.
‘The Perks of being a Wallflower’ wasn’t my favourite book. I didn’t relate to the main character so therefore it wasn’t really an easy read for me.
ReplyDeleteThe story wasn’t a bad one there were parts of it that kept me reading as I wanted to know where the story was going and it was interesting to follow Charlie’s tale. Although the way in which it was written made it difficult for me to follow his train of thought and I did have to re-read certain parts. However I have never read a book written in this style before so I did like that. Bit of an education in literature.
Overall I was glad to have read it as it was something I would have never picked for myself. It was unusual and endearing. Reading it once was enough for me, however. I cannot wait to see what the next book is…
Some fantastic reviews already! It's great to see some different opinions. A couple of us are still reading, so more reviews to follow soon, but in the meantime our bookseller Sammy had this to say:
ReplyDelete"Wow - what an emotional rollercoaster! This is certainly one of those books you finish reading, look up and wonder how on earth everyone can just continue with their lives as normal, like you haven’t just had one of the most emotional, heart-wrenching experiences of your life!
Charlie’s awkwardness and sensitivity was so endearing, I was instantly hooked. He is not without his flaws - he struggles with everyday social interactions, his intelligence makes him over-analysis everything and he unintentionally hurts the people around him through his own naivety and thoughtlessness. But it is these flaws that made him all the more human and likeable to me.
Admittedly, there were times I stared in bewilderment at the page with a giant ‘?’ hovering over my head. Charlie’s train of thought was sometimes so abstract I had to re-read certain passages, but I believe this was Chbosky’s intention. Encountering new life experiences, learning from mistakes and unravelling the past at the same time certainly takes its toll on your mental state of mind. Charlie being unable to think straight in these moments made it all the more realistic.
Chbosky doesn’t shy away from the controversial – sex, drugs, homosexuality and death all play a significant role within the book, with each character helping to explore a different social extreme. He did have a tendency to over-exaggerate on some of these themes in order to address them in the first place, which made it hard for me to relate to Charlie in some areas, but that didn’t make me enjoy the book any less. I loved that we could see exactly how each situation impacted Charlie’s life and ultimately how he affected the lives of those around him.
‘Perks’ has jumped straight to the top of my all-time ‘favourites’ list - hopefully not just because it was the last one I read! Everyone should read this at some point in their lives and I really hope they do."
What do you think? Did Chbosky over-exaggerate on some of the themes? Is Charlie an easy character to relate to?
This was a pretty good book, though there were a few disappointing aspects for me. Maybe because it's so hyped, I'm not sure, I just didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else seemed to...
DeleteCharacters: Charlie's persona is innocent, yet exciting, and we get to find a lot about his life, which is really good. You'll either connect with him or you won't; I didn't. Though he was still fun to read about, and because he was different to me that was cool. However the side characters needed more development - I didn't feel like I knew them as well and didn't really care for them when things happened because there wasn't much of a connection.
Plot: The spark comes and goes throughout the book - some stuff's interesting, other stuff isn't. What I enjoyed was the fact that so many issues were explored in this one, very thin book, definitely opening the readers eyes! One scene near the beginning was slightly graphic and unnecessary; I don't think it added anything, but that could just be me, and at least it was only once.
Writing: Love the idea of these letters as you don't know who they're to, meaning that you get your own perception of things. I know there's intricate things built in at times, but in general I'd say it's a very simple style, and parts were quite basic (e.g. not as much development as I was hoping for.) More filling out is needed, but it did make for an easy read, so not all's bad.
Enjoyment: Really enjoyable to read, a nice start to September. I wouldn't re-read it, but I have no regrets after reading it, parts were certainly very interesting.
Overall I'd probably give a 4/5, which is what I gave it on Goodreads. Sorry if I duelled on all the negative aspects... :S
I totally agree with you about the character development!! I felt I wanted to know more about them. Glad you mentioned it as I totally forgot to!
DeleteAfter all the hype that surrounds this book, I was quite surprised whilst actually reading it. It wasn't what I expected, although this is not a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I adore the style of 'Perks'. I have always loved the intimacy of letters and feel this was a brilliant way to tell the story. That alone makes sure this book is unforgettable.
The characters were funny things. Charlie is the type of person I want to slap and hug at the same time. I'm not sure I fully 'got' him like others might have, and found his incessant naivety annoying sometimes. However, he is completely laid out for all to see. There's nothing about his personality he tries to hide, and that is incredibly refreshing. You know him in a way that is rare, and end up feeling like you are the Friend he writes to. There's something magical in there.
I agree with the other comments here which refer to the lack of development throughout side characters. I never felt I fully got to know Sam, which is a shame, because there's definitely a spark there and I feel like she could be an utterly fascinating character if given the chance.
Overall, I have a feeling that 'Perks' and I will always have a bit of a love/hate relationship, but I would certainly recommend others to read it. It's almost therapeutic, a comfort to every single one of us who made it through high school, albeit battered and bruised on the other side.