Punk 57 Paperback Paperback

Punk 57 is the second book of author Penelope Douglas that I have read. And now, I’m sure I’m going to read most or all of her novels. Maybe not immediately (I need a break from romance) but certainly not too far down the line.Punk 57 is the story about Ryen and Misha. Quite uncommon names, and these names play an important role in how these two become Pen Pals. They have been writing to each other long enough for their letters to have grown from sharing of everything between friends to the friendship and the letters becoming each other’s only constant in a life of changes.With this background, the story follows how Ryen and Misha start spending time around each other, hating each other, but somehow reach a point of passionate, hot, steaming, impulsive and possessive love. A love that has heartache in its fate because of the one single fact: when these two met for the first time, one of them knew who the other was but didn’t reveal their identity.In this story, at various points, the reader may dislike the protagonists, or feel that a certain decision doesn’t make sense…or, at more places than one, feel exasperated with the fact that a huge chunk of the story happened only because one person did not reveal the truth, and the other person didn’t put their foot down to get the truth out.That being said, this story has depth, well explored characters and a few twists that I didn’t see coming.The book being written with the narrative points of view of both Ryen and Misha is a good thing, because otherwise, it could have been very difficult to establish the emotional weight these barely adults people have.Lyrical poetry plays a major role in the story and for the most part, These are well written also well used as plot devices.One gripe that I have with this book is that at two occasions, some aspects of the steamy scenes felt a bit gratuitous. The uninhibited manner in which Ryen opened up with Misha during their sexual encounters (including her dirty talk) didn’t feel natural for the character, rather, felt as though this facet was added to make the scenes more provocative.This story also deals with bullying, self-doubts and insecurities in a real, a bit brutal way. While that added in making this story’s becoming deeper than a run-of-the-mill romance, it might also be a trigger for some.I would recommend this for romance lovers, ages eighteen and older, only, obviously.

The beginning of the story had all the fire and anticipation because of the unique premise. But as the story got to the core of it, I felt that it was bit too dragged.The genre is YA romance novel, so you already know there is a “happily ever after” in the end, what I’d like is having a few plots so good that I enjoy. the story tried to tackle the very common but very harmful and hurtful issue in teens, bullying and being “popular”The kind of pressure we all have faced to be relevant and be liked by other is dialects up to another level here. I mean Ryan really has become a cruel bully just by being a bystander for all that’s going on.It’s nice to have an MC who is aware of what she has become but she is also conformed to the societal pressure to be the popular cheerleader who has everyone eating out of her hands.Deep down she knows that the life she has created is not really the one she wants and neither is it worthwhile..I liked the journey of her transformation to being back to her old self, the one that’s kind, sympathetic and just real..What I didn’t like tho is how even after her glorious change, she still can’t stand up for herself.. each time she’s in trouble, Misha suddenly manifests and saves her ass… 🙄I would have liked to see her take a stand and be her awesome self..🚧🚧🚧potential spoiler🚧🚧🚧The thing with Misha’s mom was a bit over board.

An amazing ride of a book, chemistry off the charts , flawed broken characters that made me fall in love and great development

It’s a book about town pals falling in love …. 🥰A YA book about a girl who goes to far to just fit in and her pen pal makes her realise that it’s not worth it ….

The book was unoriginal and in a very bad condition. The sellers should know that we readers pay attention to these details a lot so at least they should send the book which is in good condition and original as well. Dissapointed.

I was slightly disappointed to see the spelling mistake on the cover page. The print quality and pages otherwise are good apart from a few printing mistakes like spellings.

Great chemistry n very well written, plot is amazing had me hooked till the end , finished it in a go

Honestly m a hopeless romantic person...and this book showed me all the flavors of it..the thing which I loved the most is the way Penelope Douglas brought them closer through letters even when they are miles apart...I loved the way entire plot was developed...Honestly one of the best book I came across❤

Disappointing.I didn’t like Ryen. I didn’t like Misha. The idea of the story started out with potential. They’ve been pen pals since childhood but have never met. When they do meet she is nothing like the person she was in her letters. She’s nasty, fake, pretentious and an utter cow.I get that the author meant to make her two faced but she had zero redeeming features. And where did the random Laboutins come from?Misha is a ball of rage who blew too hot and cold for me.Carnal sin for me in a book is to throw in some random anal action and it go from, no thanks I don’t want to do that, to let’s get is on with no prep and no lube. Let’s be real.I kept thinking it had to get better, the potential really was there. Unghhhhh I hate it when that happens.

Not going to lie I struggled with this at first. Hey it’s YA and I live with three so I always struggle with reading this genre. Anyhow I plodded on because Misha had me all kinds of intrigued and I am so glad I did.What a spectacular story!I think at some point we have all been where Ryen is throughout this book, think we have all changed ourselves to suit others when we really shouldn’t have and reading this only proves that. Obviously I figured it’s out a while back (because I’m old or at least that’s what my YA’s say lol) but reading Ryen’s journey made me think back and wonder if I would have been happier growing up if I had had someone like Misha. Someone who isn’t scared to confront the truth and yes probably.Honest to goodness this story needs to be read, it needs to be read by everyone and I’m seriously glad that I have.

There are so many mixed reviews for this book none of which I read before I read the book and even if I did, I like to make up my own mind about them especially when they are as mixed as this one is.I personally really enjoyed this book, I think it depends what you love in a book, what you see and take from it or generally your personal experiences or likes.Let me start by saying any book with letters as their only form of communication to begin with - I am a total sucker for! Give them to me, I’ll take them all!Our two leads are Ryen and Misha, there were accidentally paired to be each other’s pen pals cause of their names each teacher assumed the other was the same gender. 7 years later and they are still writing to each other.. until something changes everything.These two are complete antihero’s, that I couldn’t help but fall for. The intensity of their relationship, passion whether it’s love or hate at that time and their undeniable attraction to each other - I was here for it all.I would normally talk about the leads individually in my reviews but I’m not going to this time purely because there are so many sides to them both that I think you are better living it through the book. Though you will probably have moments where you hate them both or you may hate them all together, it’s a preference thing.Misha went through something that changed him, on the same night he came face to face with his muse he loses someone equally as important to him. Like he said it was perfect until they met. He disappears but he’s back and he is taking no prisoners.Ryen goodness you broken soul. She doesn’t like herself no matter who she tries to be or let others think she is. The classic bullied becoming the bully, she doesn’t want to be invisible no matter the cost. She hates herself for what’s she become but she can’t stop, she can’t go back to being unseen.I screamed at them, I hated them, I laughed, it got extremely hot in here 😮‍💨🥵 and I loved them.This book had bullying, lies, truths, drama to no end, steamy senses and more.I do believe they are soul mates, who needed each other even in their moments of toxicity.

I haven't read a High School Romance for a while but Punk 57 definitely made me fall inlove with them again.Misha and Ryen became pen pals when they were 11yrs old, it was only supposed to be a school project for each of them but they formed a bond over the course of seven years. They both come to the decision that they should never meet and never check online for eachother, they value what they have with one another and wouldn't want it to change.However when Misha agreed to a gig with his band and Ryen happens to be there, he hears her name and can't help himself, its become more for him then just friendship as the years have passed, what he never expected was to find out that the Ryen he has been speaking to isnt who he was faced with right now. That night sets off a chain of events that will change both Misha and Ryen, their life, their friendship and so much more.I thought Misha was just amazing in this book, he had gone through some hurting times and felt like he no longer had anyone who understood him. His muse to his music had always been Ryen, but after finally meeting her he was disappointed to find out she wasn't who she said she was. Ryen has known what it's like to be bullied, to be the unpopular girl so when given the opportunity to be someone else she jumps at it, not realising that she has to pretend to be someone she isn't as a result.I didn't like Ryen at first, I think I was as angry as Misha was with the way she acted infront of her bratty friends, but she really grew on me as the book went on. Although Misha was desperate to stay away from Ryen, he couldn't resist the pull of her, but before he gave in, he helped to bring out the girl he had been speaking to for all these years, he reminded Ryen of what was important in life and popularity wasn't one of those things if it meant you had to sacrifice you Identity.They were like fire and ice together and I loved it so much, the push and pull, their kisses, it was pure passion and pent up sexual tension that had clearly been bottled up for the last 7yrs. I couldn't get enough of these two and I'm so glad I got round to reading this book. 5 Star Read ❤.

This was a hard read for me. Not in a bad way necessarily. And not because I didn’t devour the book in virtually one sitting, or because the intrigue didn’t capture me, or I didn’t like the characters. I did all of those and the book offered it all to me. But for a typical coming of age romance narrative, there was a realness in the characters that hurt. Physically, emotionally. This is the story not unlike ours, the story about the many of us who have experienced an even somewhat typical teenage upbringing. We’ve all been in—experienced or witnessed—similar scenarios. What really hurt was that Ryen, the “anti-protagonist”, spoke from the depths of those insecurities that we take with us beyond those teen years. We grow up and are defined by this period in our lives more than we think. With almost twice the life experience today, I still am my 18 year old self who would have felt a kinship with Ryen, both the good and bad.Ryen isn’t a bad person. But she isn’t good. She embodies the dirty, gritty, indifferent sides of our personas. But she’s been given a chance to redeem herself. She tried to be brave. She does and acts as we might hope to act in her situation.But it isn’t a beautiful budding love. It’s hard hitting. Misha is written well, but some of the angst we experience through Ryen don’t come across quite as well with Misha, and this is my only criticism. Misha has done his growing outside of the narrative, he’s already done a lot of his atoning. Whilst the story outside of the pages would have made this novel the weight of a concrete block, I did wish for more on that front.That all said, I did love the story, and undoubtedly I will come back to it eventually when I’m ready to re-digest that which I missed on my first read through.