Review: Punk 57 - Penelope Douglas

 



Review: Punk 57 - Penelope Douglas - October 2016


As soon as I read Bully by Penelope Douglas, I was in love with this author. So when she released a new one who had my favorite theme of penpals and that whole friend to lovers going on, I knew I had to read it. The book started out with a bit of background where we learned about how Misha and Ryen were placed together in a classroom project penpal program. The pair continues to write to each other right through the year, and then they take it to the next level and continue through the rest of their schooling. Fast forward to high school Misha is in a band and Ryen is out with her friends and they complete a scavenger hunt form. Ryen is not what Misha expected especially from her letters. Tragedy occurs, and Misha turns up at Ryen's school under a fake name. This doesn't go over too well as Ryen is nothing like her letters, in fact, she is as fake as can be and Misha aka Masen hates her, in fact, she is like the girls he tries to avoid. I did wonder what he was doing at the school at first,  but as the story went along, we discover his sister was killed while running. I had another scenario running through my head with Annie's death, but I did get a little surprise in that last chapter when Masen's true identity is revealed. In Punk 57 it seems that everyone hides behind a facade, as Ryen has a dark secret too, one that no-one knows about. It has been three months since her best friend Misha stopped writing to her, and the consequences of that are starting to show through and her mask beginning to crack. Can Misha and Ryen save one another from their downward spirals? What will happen when their true identities and selves are revealed? Will the pair finally get their HEA's and acceptances that they have been searching for all their lives or will they discover that when you are the ones who truly care for you, you don't have to be what you think they need - you can simply be yourself? I did enjoy Punk 57 but felt a little let down by the whole sister/mother angle and had hoped for a bit more, but overall Punk 57 was a great read which did get me thinking about Penpals and what it would be like to have some.