PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewChbosky’s true skill is in turning a book of absolute horrors — both fantastical and real — into an uplifting yarn ... [Christopher\'s] consistent goodness is both heartwarming and a little implausible ... It is some relief, then, that Chbosky does not narrate the novel solely from Christopher’s perspective. He is excellent on communities, and he picks apart this small town chillingly. These different accounts not only add real pace to the narrative, but convey how closely entwined, how claustrophobic small towns can be — especially when the horror screws are being tightened. The other characters work because they are flawed; their inconsistencies are explained, often movingly ... because the darkness is so prevalent, Chbosky seems anxious to amp up the sentimentality, too, to make sure that this is what triumphs. In writing a book about so much — fate, destiny, redemption, power — the plausibility of characters and narrative can sometimes be lost to this loftier thematic aim. Chbosky is best not when he looks at the extremes of good and evil, but when he looks at the gray in between — at everyday people, their trauma, their interactions, and the hundreds of human inconsistencies and desires that can make a community fall apart and knit itself back together again.
