Review: Stephen Chbosky’s new novel couldn’t be more different than The Perks of Being a Wallflower

'We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.'

Stephen Chbosky is well known for his debut novel, 1999's The Perks of Being A Wallflower. But fans of the coming-of-age story should be warned: Imaginary Friend couldn't be more different. Single mum Kate Reese is a woman on the run. She is determined to improve life not just for her, but for her seven-year-old son Christopher - and decides to flee their home in the middle of the night. Kate and Christopher soon find thresmevels drawn to the close community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It's an area that is as far away from the beaten track as they could hope for: there's just one highway in, and one highway out. Kate thinks that it is the perfect place for them - both to settle down and to hide from her past. But then, Christopher goes missing. And for six horrifyingly awful days, nobody can find him. That is, until he emerges from the other side of the Mission Street Woods - the heart of the town - unharmed, but not unchanged. Suddenly, he's a lot smarter. He's a lot stronger. He's a lot more self-assured. And he's got a voice in his head that only he can hear. But Christopher isn't the only one who has changed: the people in town.are beginning to change, as well. After Christopher's return, two new worlds begin to emerge: the real world and the imaginary world, which lies parallel to the main world. And the voice in his head gives him a mission: he needs to build a tree house in the woods by Christmas Day - or else something very, very bad will happen. As the imaginary and real worlds begin to collide, the truth about what's really going on becomes unraveled - and, honestly, it was just about the last thing I suspected. The book ends up coming in a little on the long side. OK, it's actually a lot on the long side: the book comes in at around 700-or-so pages. And, with many books that length, there's a lot of what feels like filler - and, at points, there's way more questions than there are answers. Around the midway point of the book, the pieces of the puzzle start to fit together and the answers start to come in thick and fast; with every chapter a new twist and turn in Christopher and Kate's story. There is definitely a few hints go Stephen King scattered throughout the book: the focus is on a close group of male children, and the town faces being destroyed by the supernatural. But Chbosky, who has previously said he spent nine years writing Imaginary Friend, turns the hints into a new level of horror (I really don't think I'll be able to look at black thread the same way ever again). He mixes in some haunting and disturbing moments - especially in the latter chapters of the book - that the reader won't be able to shake off any time soon. In the end, Imaginary Friend is a deep examination of human suffering, with the spiritual side of the story unraveling as the book races towards the ending. It's a thrilling page turner that fans won't be able to put down. And while it may have taken 20 years for Chbosky's second novel, it was definitely well worth the wait.

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