Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

105 reviews

mouwuol's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Cursing, Classism, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Grief, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Addiction, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Sexism, and Death

jasfieldx's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Punk 57… what can I say, this book has been on my TBR for at least 2 years and after mixed reviews and putting it off I finally bit the bullet and jumped in.

This book takes you on all sorts of twists and turns that really aren’t expected! There is a lot of suspense and tension built up within this book and a lot of wtaf moments that, tbh I’m not entirely sure were very relevant to the story line and the book may have flowed slightly better without so many paths that the characters went down 

The spice in this book was good, it wasn’t too cringe and didn’t happen on every single page so when if did happen, it was creating a moment between Ryen and Misha that made their relationship feel special and created depth between them. 

3 stars because it’s a good, fast paced book with a good storyline, likeable FMC but the book has some flaws like the MMC romanticises fairly toxic behaviours from the start that don’t really improve until the end of the book, the bullying across the board just isn’t really needed and the ending is just a bit flat but, I’d still recommend this book because I did enjoy reading it and will be reading more from Penelope Douglas soon

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Cursing

charliebites's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Blood

lancy's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The book was good loved the character development but most sense made me tense up a bit or were to uncomfortable scene that made me realize how much I hated men but overall it was a Good book donnot recommend for kids under the age of 13 -15  ...yeath the scenes are too graphic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Stalking, Blood, Body shaming, Animal death, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Rape, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

maria_schnecki's review

2.5

why? Not gonna lie, it kept me entertained but I also kinda feel icky about that, so yeah.
I liked the premise - pen pals that are not sure their friendship would survive the switch from just communicating by letters to meeting in person. There was potential there. I also liked the idea of having a not super likeable mc that has a great personality development. However, that was just not it.
Why all the bullying? Why? I get it, insecurities are tough and lead to ugly behaviour in some people, but... that does not excuse what this story is portraying. Also, our male mc

going the psycho route when finding out that said penpal is not a "nerdy loser" but a popular mean girl? Sorry, but whilst I might get being angry about being deceived for years (kinda), there is just no going back from that. The way Misha is overly possesive, brutal, mean and aggresive? Not something you can just have a good talk and be back to normal. But the author knows at least that, so what is the next best thing? Crime and very awkward hate-sex. Idk man but thats just not it. Also, albeit the not-so-great smut scenes, I did not hate this book by this point (mind you I also didn't enjoy it), but the ending??? What is going on? It would have been fine if Misha and Ryen had their happy ending, I get that, romance genre and all. But to have the audacity to assume the victim of years of bullying through the hands of Ryen (yes, standing by is, at the age of 18, something that you have to accept responsibility for) just joins their friend group for some fun times? Yeah no, you did the poor guy so dirty. At least leave him out of there. Most people deserve their happy ending, but not at the cost of other peoples well-being. Yikes

so yeah, yikes. Do not read if you get upset by bullying, aggressive behaviour, fighting ( both physical and verbal), sexual harassment and yeah like lots of bullying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Death of parent, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

darkromancefiend08's review

challenging dark funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book... was everything the first time I read it. I loved it. I'll always be a little bit biased towards Penelope Douglas anyway because she knows how to write a female main character that I won't completely hate. The MMC, Misha, was a dark, tattooed broody soul. He definitely gave me butterflies and fanny flutters. I can get behind the FMC, Ryen, after a couple chapters. Her character development was absolutely gorgeous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death, and Cursing

b34n13b's review

fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

MMC is for people who long for someone and will do anything to get them. FMC is very dense, cannot add 1+1 if her life depended on it. the spicy scenes made me feel those high school, rebellious flutters all over again (5/5). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Addiction, Death, and Toxic relationship

ekmartin's review

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Cursing, Body shaming, Child death, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Grief, Pregnancy, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

nineinchnails's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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reread: 8/1/2024



i actually enjoyed this about as much as i did the first time i read it (possibly more because devil's night crumbs) but i just don't rate purely for enjoyment anymore. i stand by what i said in 2020 it's still really refreshing to have an objectively flawed heroine in this subgenre and while most of the other characters were very one dimensional, the main characters were still interesting and likeable! 


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first read: 27/12/2020



i actually really enjoyed this book it was hot n the pacing was really good!! ryen’s character was so refreshing it’s nice to read about a romance heroine having a flaw that isn’t ‘too nice’. also the actual premise was kinda unique! However it is a little cringy at some points especially the epilogue with him being a famous rockstar but i guess that comes with having the male lead be a musician

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Grief, and Homophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Abandonment, and Addiction

jessica_hartman's review

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’m not a prude by any means, but I was thrown a bit by the details of the main couples sex life given the characters are underage. It was uncomfortable.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Toxic friendship