A review by booksta_adventure
Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So I’ve seen pretty mixed reviews of this book. Some absolutely love it, and others hate it because it’s so *problematic*. I went in thinking, “Well, it’s a dark romance, so it’s probably going to be problematic?” And sure it probably was, but that wasn’t what stuck with me; what stuck with me was the characters, and I ended up really enjoying the book!

Misha and Ryen have been Pen Pals since 5th grade. They live a town apart and have never met each other, and have never even looked each other up on the internet. Misha meets Ryen at his band’s party, and eventually realizes who she is, while she still has no idea who he is. Unfortunately, their time together is brief, as a tragedy in Misha’s family causes him to stop writing, and Ryen has no idea why.

About 1-2 chapters into this book, I realized that this was about the Misha and Ryen from the 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭’𝘴 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 series! I knew those side characters seemed too fleshed out to be just side characters, and now I have their backstory! 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and devoured the audiobook in a day. I really related to Ryen’s feelings of being alone and friendless in Elementary school, I just didn’t respond the same way as her. (Fortunately for me, I think!)

What this book is giving:
✅ Bully Romance
✅ Friends to Enemies to Lovers
✅ Childhood Pen Pals 
✅ Possessive MMC
✅ Same world as the 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭’𝘴 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 series
✅ Will, Michael, and Kai appearance

Look out for:
⚠️ Grief
⚠️ Slut shaming
⚠️ Teens having sex (shocking, I know)

Rating:
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ½ / 5
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ ½ / 5
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