Readers will be introduced to Charlie, a young man with a low IQ and a contented life working in a bakery, sweeping up the scraps. He’s offered the chance to be the feature of an experiment where he will have his intelligence artificially increased to levels way beyond his friends, his family and his peers but how will he handle his new knowledge and how will he feel when he starts to understand how people have been treating him all his life? More importantly, Algernon the mouse who was initially treated with the same experiment is showing signs that he is losing his intelligence – what does this mean for Charlie?

This book is certainly unlike anything I’ve read before and I was so invested in Charlie and delighted to see the changes his character endures. This book is full of hope and different perspectives with a splash of heartbreak. Even people who don’t typically choose Science Fiction will enjoy Flowers for Algernon because Charlie is too likable to ignore.

Book reviewer: Nicola Forster

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