Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I read the synopsis, I thought this was going to be a cute friends-to-lovers/enemies-to-lovers story. Misha meeting his longtime pen pal, only to realize she isn’t who he’s cooked up in his mind. However, the author did something so completely different. Not only is this a story between two best friends, but it’s kind of a story about finding yourself, too. You see, Ryen is not a likable person. She has spent years building up this person of who she wants to be with Misha. She writes about her inner-self feeling like an outsider, when in fact, she’s one of the popular cheerleaders. She throws people under the bus with snarky comments, bringing them down and making her look good. It’s not hard to figure out why Misha hates the person he sees when he meets her, because she’s nothing like her letters. Heck, I didn’t spend seven years thinking I knew her only to find out it was all a lie, and even I couldn’t stand her. While Ryen does some really awful stuff, the author somehow redeemed her. Don’t ask me how she did it. I honestly thought I was going to hate this chick throughout the whole story. I think the only reason why I kept reading the story is because Misha was just as rude and mean to her as she was to everyone else. She had no clue who he was, since she met him as Masen, but he knew who she was and he wasn’t afraid to bring her down a few pegs. Now, Misha isn’t perfect either. He does some pretty sketchy stuff and says some pretty awful things to Ryen. He even hides behind his fake identity way past when he should have. However, yet again, the author made him into this character that you couldn’t seem to hate. There is so much that takes place in this story but I don’t want to give away any plot twists or major spoilers. Just know that this isn’t just about two pen pals. There’s a lot that goes on throughout the story that builds right up until the end. The bombshell that the author dropped at the end had my jaw on the ground. I usually see stuff coming from a mile away, but she had me so focused on one thing that when she revealed a rather large surprise, a ton of pieces started to fall into place that I hadn’t even noticed until that point. Punk 57 was a great novel. I wish I could tell you why the book is called Punk 57, but that would ruin part of the story. What I can say is that this story had me glued to my seat. Penelope Douglas knows how to write characters in a way that will have you both hating them, and rooting for them at the same time. I’ve really enjoyed all of the books of hers that I’ve read so far. I’m starting to think that she’s an auto-buy for me.