Charlie, a freshman in high school, has started his first year in high school. He is a wallflower and by no means popular, meaning he has no friends whatsoever. Because he is extremely shy he is usually on the edge of things, but fine with that.

After coming across Sam and Patrick he is given a new lease of life as he is introduced to the life of a teenager. Of course this means drugs, cigarettes and late night parties with, you guessed it, spin the bottle. As Sam and Patrick help Charlie to get through high school, high school isn't the only problem of course as there are many different teenage worries.

Of course I saw the film before I read the book (who didn't!). However, I wasn't that fond of the film and I wanted to know if the book could redeem things. Well, to put it simply, I wasn't let down.

As Charlie is writing to a certain anonymous person – known as 'friend' – the whole book is made of letters written by Charlie to this unknown person. Although I found it hard to imagine the story playing out in my head; the straight forward way of writing with no fancy metaphors appealed to me because it showed a certain honesty and 'cut to the chase' kind of attitude. With this in mind, just through the way of writing you got a sense of what Charlie is like, and the fact that I had seen the movie made up for the lack of detail in certain areas.

Through the book I grew more worried about Charlie because I so wanted everything to be just perfect for him the more I liked him, but of course that's not the way things go. As Charlie hit highs and lows Sam and Patrick were, mainly, there for him which was comforting and although they weren't the best role models they felt heart-warmingly real.

This book, although a typical high school story of love and loss, made the reader feel more sympathy for the characters and put you into Charlie's position which made me wonder what I would do. Leaving questions in your head and a wanting to have your own Sam and Patrick, this book is certainly worthwhile if you've got some time on your hands, but if you're addicted to attention to detail you may as well drop this book and leave now.

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