Review: Punk 57

Y'all, reading this with a straight face while my mother was moving around the house was such a challenge. I'm usually good at pokerface but man seriously, it was so hard to maintain it this time. WHEW.

"We were perfect together. Until we met."

Misha

I can’t help but smile at the words in her letter. She misses me.

In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed.

It didn’t take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever…

And that was the start. For the next seven years, it was us.

Her letters are always on black paper with silver writing. Sometimes there’s one a week or three in a day, but I need them. She’s the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

We only had three rules. No social media, no phone numbers, no pictures. We had a good thing going. Why ruin it?

Until I run across a photo of a girl online. Name’s Ryen, loves Gallo’s pizza, and worships her iPhone. What are the chances?

F*ck it. I need to meet her.

I just don’t expect to hate what I find.

Ryen

He hasn’t written in three months. Something’s wrong. Did he die? Get arrested? Knowing Misha, neither would be a stretch.

Without him around, I’m going crazy. I need to know someone is listening. It’s my own fault. I should've gotten his number or picture or something.

He could be gone forever.

Or right under my nose, and I wouldn’t even know it. 

QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 4.3/5, THE FIRE, THE SIZZLE, IT BURNS. 

Possible Trigger Tags:

1. Bullying

2. Use of the f-slur

3. Blackmailing

4. Vandalism

5. Minor theft

WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE  BOOK'S: 

1. Writing Quality: Personally, I really like the fact that it is dual POV because the fricking yearning and pining from both sides was driving me insane. Like seriously, I love a good book where there is dual POV and first person narration AND mutual pining. Like give me the tea, the gossip, tell me how badly you want one another. And just mwah. It doesn't drag, not even a single bit and just *chef's kiss*, love it.

2. Character Development: I can't even begin to describe how much I love for the characters and dynamic.

Ryen: I hope it's really pronounced as "Ryan" because that's how I have been pronouncing it for the whole book. Anyways, I love Ryen, even though she's a little bitch at times. And I kind of feel her too because she's always putting on a mask trying to fit in with everyone else. And high school is fucking brutal, it's like "prey or predator" situation out there. There are various layers to her character but she pretends to be this shallow preppy cheerleader just so she can fit in and is no longer the prey like she used to be when she was younger. And her being Punk, that was so fricking cool and awesome.

Misha: Book boyfriend #I don't even remember anymore. I have too many book boyfriends to count. First the single fact that Misha is literally in a band which kind of increases his hotness factor by at least 100x. Like seriously, I would kill for a hottie book boyfriend who's also in a band. DREAM. But yeah, he does seem kind of too stereotypical of a Wattpad boyfriend to me. Well, anyways, but yeah, I kind of like how he hides his identity, it was real fun to see him struggle like that.

The tension between Ryen and Misha. Fuck it's sizzling. There's prank wars, jabs, insults, and WITTY BANTER. Man I love me some good witty banter. They have this weird sparkling sexual tension that's so fricking clear, I wonder how their friends were so oblivious of it. Like seriously, it was so fucking hard to keep a pokerface while seeing their sizzling dynamic. WHEW. HOT.

3. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 7/10, I finished it within a single sitting this morning. Maintaining a straight face was a real as fuck challenge.

4. Plot Twists: There aren't many plot twists to begin with, but I guess it does count as a plot twist when some of the stuff does come together in the book. I mean, in the end basically, a lot of the stuff after some revelation of some events began to make some really good sense. So I guess that makes some good as hell plot twist? But the principal turning out to be Misha's mom, I did not expect that, not by a bit.

5. Plot: So, I couldn't help but think that a lot of this was Wattpad based. Like seriously, I have had my fair share of reading Wattpad romances when I was a younger teenager, come on, a lot of us did, back when I thought I was actually cisgender and straight hah. Dark times that I do not wish to return to. But anyways, I couldn't help but think of it as a huge Wattpad romance plot, as much as I love the story. I'm sorry, I got real Wattpad vibes from this book. Man, I do not miss Wattpad as much as the comment section is a whole other entertainment species entirely.

OVERALL, A NICE READ, my first Penelope Douglas novel, yay!!