The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a movie based on the #1 best selling book by Stephen Chbosky, hit select theaters across the country on Sept. 21. It’s now in wider release. As a fan of the book, I went into the movie theater with high expectations, but left feeling slightly disappointed. While there were a few great things about this film, I wasn’t emotionally moved by it as I had been after finishing the novel.

One thing that the filmmakers really succeeded at in my opinion is the casting. Logan Lerman plays Charlie, an introverted, nervous and somewhat off freshman who enters his first year of high school alone after his best friend shot himself. There he meets Sam and Patrick, played by Emma Watson and Ezra Miller respectively, who take him under their wings and introduce him to the world.

These actors did amazing work at conveying emotion and picking up on all the little things Chbosky so beautifully crafted in his book. Even though they weren’t exactly who I imagined in my head while reading, they exceeded my expectations and now I couldn’t think of anyone better to play the parts.

Another thing that made me really happy about the movie is how closely it follows the book in terms of chronological events. Everything that happened in the movie happened in the novel as well. I think this is due to the fact that Chbosky himself directed the film, which gave it a more authentic and true-to-the-book feel as opposed to if a big Hollywood director would’ve had creative license. The script writers were able to incorporate a few of the most memorable quotes from the novel into the movie, such as, “We accept the love we think we deserve”, “And in this moment, I swear we are infinite” (which I’m pretty sure every teenage girl has made her Facebook status at some point — don’t even deny it) and my personal favorite: Charlie’s response to being asked if he’s OK, “Yeah, I just really want a milkshake.”

Not to mention, the movie also included a phenomenal soundtrack, which was able to convey not only tone, but characters as well, featuring artists like Imagine Dragons, The Smiths and David Bowie.

With all that in mind, it’s hard for me to say I didn’t completely enjoy the movie, but it’s true. I felt that things in the movie weren’t developed like things in the book were. The scenes are very rushed, just going from one to the next without any of the emotional depth I got from the book. Within 20 minutes of the film, Charlie had already been through his first day of high school, gone to his first football game, and been to Homecoming and the after party – – something that took at least 50 pages in the novel.

I understand that it’s hard to condense a 250-page book into a 105-minute movie, but it was the inner thoughts and elaborate descriptions that sold me on the book, and not having that same essence in the film is what broke it for me.

Overall, this movie is both bad and good at the same time, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.