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A review by emptzuu
Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas
Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.
Penelope Douglas' books often feel like she has watched too many teen horror movies. I hated Corrupt and only picked up this book because it’s popular and was available at my library when I had nothing else to read. Despite having watched shows like Euphoria, Skins, and Shameless, which are known for their portrayal of teens doing "adult" stuff, I found this book's content disappointing. Many people seem to confuse horror for dark romance. This book is not romance. I didn’t make it past chapter three, and I’m glad I didn’t because the reviews indicate that it is extremely problematic and misogynistic.
The first chapter is all over the place, bouncing from writing lyrics to seeing his sister to watching a video, yet I feel like I learned more about Misha's sister than about him. The author employs heavy-handed telling instead of showing, keeping readers at arm’s length. When Misha saw the video of Ryen, it came out of nowhere and felt underwhelming instead of surprising. The author over-describes how people look and what they wear but doesn't add much emotion. A lot of the narrative is just “he did this, then did that, and then this happened.” Nothing feels connected.
Ryen feels like a whinier version of Misha. The characters are so poorly developed that I can't tell their voices apart. Nothing important seems to be happening, and I don’t understand how half of the events relate to the plot.
The first chapter is all over the place, bouncing from writing lyrics to seeing his sister to watching a video, yet I feel like I learned more about Misha's sister than about him. The author employs heavy-handed telling instead of showing, keeping readers at arm’s length. When Misha saw the video of Ryen, it came out of nowhere and felt underwhelming instead of surprising. The author over-describes how people look and what they wear but doesn't add much emotion. A lot of the narrative is just “he did this, then did that, and then this happened.” Nothing feels connected.
Ryen feels like a whinier version of Misha. The characters are so poorly developed that I can't tell their voices apart. Nothing important seems to be happening, and I don’t understand how half of the events relate to the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Toxic relationship