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A review by lilithmoon
Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas
4.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 (I have really mixed feelings on this one...)
I had so many mixed feelings while reading this book. During the start I would have given it 2-3 stars (I wanted to DNF) then midway through I wanted to give it 5, so I’ve settled on 4.
Like the author acknowledges, Ryen is hard to like in the first few chapters and so is Misha but they do get better, you just have to really persevere with this book. I read one chapter, then decided I wouldn’t read this book but after seeing another review come up on instagram praising it I gave it another chance and I am glad that I did.
I feel like I was sucked into loving this book even though there were so many things I didn’t like about it. I have a special hatred for playlists at the start of books and I hate song lyrics in books so I really didn’t think I would end up enjoying this book as much as I did. It is also really stuck in the time warp of 2016 but somehow I couldn’t stop thinking about how this book would end and I didn’t want to stop reading.
There were some bigger problems (other than just superficial things I personally don’t like) such as some of the character interactions being laughably unrealistic and some plot points becoming very obvious pretty quickly. In fact, lots of this book lacks logical explanation and yet I can’t bring myself to give it less than 4 stars because I really enjoyed it.
Something I didn’t expect was how deep this book delved into dealing with grief and our need to fit in with people even when we don’t particularly like those people. I liked that the characters were very flawed and that your opinion of them changes throughout the book. I really loved the drama and the romance.
Was this book technically perfect? No. Am I glad I read it? YES. I didn’t mind the ending but I did not like the epilogue. Seriously, they would be like 23 at the end.
I had so many mixed feelings while reading this book. During the start I would have given it 2-3 stars (I wanted to DNF) then midway through I wanted to give it 5, so I’ve settled on 4.
Like the author acknowledges, Ryen is hard to like in the first few chapters and so is Misha but they do get better, you just have to really persevere with this book. I read one chapter, then decided I wouldn’t read this book but after seeing another review come up on instagram praising it I gave it another chance and I am glad that I did.
I feel like I was sucked into loving this book even though there were so many things I didn’t like about it. I have a special hatred for playlists at the start of books and I hate song lyrics in books so I really didn’t think I would end up enjoying this book as much as I did. It is also really stuck in the time warp of 2016 but somehow I couldn’t stop thinking about how this book would end and I didn’t want to stop reading.
There were some bigger problems (other than just superficial things I personally don’t like) such as some of the character interactions being laughably unrealistic and some plot points becoming very obvious pretty quickly. In fact, lots of this book lacks logical explanation and yet I can’t bring myself to give it less than 4 stars because I really enjoyed it.
Something I didn’t expect was how deep this book delved into dealing with grief and our need to fit in with people even when we don’t particularly like those people. I liked that the characters were very flawed and that your opinion of them changes throughout the book. I really loved the drama and the romance.
Was this book technically perfect? No. Am I glad I read it? YES. I didn’t mind the ending but I did not like the epilogue. Seriously, they would be like 23 at the end.