The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Blurb On The Back:

”I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they’re here. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day ... Or wondering who did the heart breaking and wondering why.”

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 mixed 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 Charlie 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.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Gentle and slow to build, this is an affecting story that makes for a solid read.

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

The Blurb On The Back:

One man has broken the silence. Now a nation will turn on those it feared.

The Soviet Union 1956: after Stalin’s death, a violent regime is beginning to fracture. It leaves behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. Stalin’s successor Khrushchev pledges reform. But there are forces at work that are unable to forgive or forget the past.

Former MGB officer Leo Demidov is facing his own turmoil. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the murder of their parents. They are not alone. Leo, Raisa and their family are in grave danger from someone with a grudge against Leo. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.

Leo’s desperate, personal mission to save his family will take him from the harsh Siberian Gulags, to the depths of the criminal underworld, to the centre of the Hungarian uprising – and into a hell where redemption is as brittle as glass.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

I enjoyed this more than Child 44, mainly because I was able to let go of some of the historical inaccuracies. It’s not an awful book, but I’ve read better historical thrillers and some of the leaps of logic that Smith comes up with were a little too much to stomach.