Punk 57

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Dear Misha, So, have I ever told you my secret shame? And no, it’s not watching Teen Mom like you. Go ahead and try to deny it. I know you don’t have to sit there with your sister, man. She’s old enough to watch TV by herself. No, actually, it’s far worse, and I’m a little embarrassed to tell you. But I think negative feelings should be released. Just once, right? You see, there’s a girl at school. You know the kind. Cheerleader, popular, gets everything she wants… I hate to admit this, especially to you, but a long time ago I wanted to be her. Part of me still does. You would absolutely hate her. She’s everything we can’t stand. Mean, cavalier, superficial… The kind who doesn’t have a thought stay in her head too long or else she needs a nap, right? I’ve always been fascinated with her, though. And don’t roll your eyes at me. I can feel it. It’s just that…given all of her detestable attributes, she’s never alone. You know? I kind of envy that. Okay, I really envy that. It feels like shit to be alone. To be in a place full of people and feel like they don’t want you there. To feel like you’re at a party you weren’t invited to. No one even knows your name. No one wants to. No one cares. Are they laughing at you? Talking about you? Are they sneering at you like their perfect world would be so much better if you weren’t there, messing up their view? Are they just wishing you’d get the hint already and leave? I feel like that a lot. I know it’s pathetic to want a place among other people, and I know you’ll say it’s better to stand alone and be right than stand in a crowd and be wrong, but... I still feel that need all the time. Do you ever feel it? She shifts her stance and I see her chest rise with a heavy breath, looking like she’s waiting for me to say something. When I don’t, she lets out a sigh and looks down at her card. “I also need a picture of eating something Lady & The Tramp style with someone,” she suggests instead. I wonder if the cheerleader feels it. When the music stops and everyone goes home? When the day is gone and she doesn’t have anyone to entertain herself with? When she removes her makeup, taking off her brave face for the day, do the demons she keeps buried start playing with her when there’s no one else to play with? Ryen sees the exchange and pinches her eyebrows together, probably wondering what my problem is. Oh, you have no idea.

There is just something meaty about her characters and her writing that make her books oh so chomp-able. I was totally holding this poor 17 year old girl to the standards of my 34 year old mature *snort* self.Ten smiles, and Manny seems to relax a little. He doesn’t answer, but I’ll call him later. He doesn’t trust us, and I don’t want to push him right now. Everyone gets busy eating. J.D. steals food off everyone’s trays, and I take out my phone and go to text Misha. I hope he doesn’t mind getting asked to prom. But then I think better of it and go to Google to find his Facebook. I’ve read so much about his life, and now I’d like to see it, I think. I’m guessing the last thing he wants to talk about is prom, but I’d like to put it out there sooner rather than later for him to think about at least. But as I type in Misha Lare Grayson into the search engine and scroll to find what I need, I’m suddenly lost in more information than I can handle. My stomach sinks, and my heart races. Oh, my God. This story follows college student Hannah, who’s great at everything except romance. She has no idea how to get her crush to notice her.

I stop and think as I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth, grazing the piercing there. “A little here,” I mumble, the lyrics turning in my head, “to cover the bags under your eyes, and some pink on your cheeks to spread the lies.” So just to set the record straight from our last argument, Kylo Ren is NOT a baby. You understand? He’s young, impulsive, and he’s related to Anakin and Luke Skywalker. Of course he whines! How is this a surprise? And he’ll redeem himself. I’ll bet you on it. Name your price. Are they laughing at you? Talking about you? Are they sneering at you like their perfect world would be so much better if you weren’t there, messing up their view? Or right under my nose, and I wouldn’t even know it. Punk 57 Book Review – What I Liked about Punk 57: *Maybe Some Spoilers*Another issue I had was the portrayal of bullying. Ryen is a bully and so are all of her friends. Misha hates her for it yet he is a bully too. Your classic violent alpha male who thinks he is better than everyone else but isn't. I hated both characters with a passion. Not because they were antiheroes as the author puts it, but because their behaviour is praised by her many times. Tell me how it's good for a guy to call a girl a stupid c*** (among other things) and be making out with her the next day. How is that hot? How is he being all possesive and demanding and demeaning hot? It blows my mind. The rest of the male characters (save for two or three) were equally disrespectful and disgusting. I will say that the twist at the end with Misha's mom took me off-guard. I wasn't expecting that, although in hindsight it explains a lot. Like I said before, with CORRUPT, plotting isn't a weakness of Ms. Douglas's. But the confrontation and the way it was carried out left a similarly bad taste in my mouth, because it was a perfect mirror of his behavior towards Ryen and how it was actually pretty abusive. Misha is one of those guys who expects women to behave in certain ways, and if they violate that way at all, they are automatically bad. Ryen failed to live up to his sweet nerdy girl fantasy, so she becomes the whore in his eyes. Misha's mom couldn't take motherhood, so she becomes the horrible bitch who is responsible for all the problems in his life. It's the Madonna/whore complex, and I hate the Madonna/whore complex. Also, I'm realizing that I kind of hate Misha. I didn't want him to have an HEA with the heroine, because in my opinion, he never redeemed himself. He played the "Baby, I'm damaged" card and she completely bought it, final sale. PUNK 57 I bought myself, which already means that I'm going to be an eensy bit more critical of it because I'm spending my hard-earned money on the book and judging it accordingly. PUNK 57 was our book of the month in the Unapologetic Romance Readers group for April, and as someone who had read her work previously, I was interested in seeing how it had changed from CORRUPT.

Masen unexpectedly finds Ryen in a compromising situation in her bedroom. Their chemistry is palpable, and they share an intimate moment. Their relationship is passionate but filled with secrets. After their intimate encounter, Masen leaves Ryen’s room, ensuring he isn’t caught by her family. Their relationship is still clandestine, and they both seem to enjoy the thrill of sneaking around. I'm pretty blinded by my love of this book but I'm going to warn people that it's not exactly without problems. As in, this book is problematic. The way that the MCs interact with each other in the middle of the book is wildly hot but I can see how some people might not like the elements of danger and/or violence. The violence is not at all domestic but there were some situations that might leave others a little unsettled. Well, the police just got here,” Ten informs us. “The police?” I whisper. “I didn’t think what we did was that bad.” “No, it’s not for the vandalism. It’s for Trey. A bunch of kids—several girls—are in the office, ratting him out. I guess the posts got to them.” “You should really go, then,” I tell Misha. But just then Principal Burrowes approaches us and my heart skips a beat. “Mr. Laurent? Come with me now.” He stares at her for a moment. But I jump in. “Why?” “I think he knows why.” He hesitates for a moment, and I think he’s going to fight like last time, but he doesn’t. He takes a step. “No, no, no…” I burst out. “He didn’t do anything.” “It’s okay,” he assures under his breath. But Burrowes interjects, looking at me. “I show you on the log as the last person, other than the janitor, to sign out and leave the school Friday evening,” she tells me. “Now that’s not unusual, since you stay late to teach swim lessons, but then it occurred to me that you have a key. And then I remembered the company you’ve been suddenly keeping.” She glances at Misha. “Did you take her key?” “No!” I answer for him. “Yes,” he says. Oh, Jesus. “It’s okay,” he says again. “I’ll be fine.” She leads him away, and I throw up my hands, feeling helpless. Why didn’t he just walk out like last time? He doesn’t have to protect me, and he knows I won’t let him take the fall. What is he doing? But I keep my arms crossed and narrow my eyes on her. She’s seriously going to keep up with this charade?Ryen and Misha were pen pals by mistake. Over the years, they become not only the best pen pals but the best of friends, always looking forward to a new letter from each other. I didn't hate this book. I was afraid I would, but I didn't. Bar a few typos, it was fairly well written and had an interesting story. As much as I gripe, I must admit that I wasn't bored while reading it. It also has a Colleen Hoover-esque title whose meaning becomes clear at some point in the story, which is cool. Like Colleen Hoover, I think this author is capable of writing something some day that I will really enjoy. I like dark fiction, and I like suspense novels. She just needs to fine-tune the way she writes her heroes and sex scenes, and then we'll be golden.

Also some of the conflict in the book might be a little contrived/cliche/predictable. Didn't bother me in this circumstance, but might bother others. The story of Pun 57 follows Misha Lare and Ryen Trevarrow. The two of them reside a mere town away, though they have yet to have met each other. As it so happened, when they were both in their fifth grade, they were paired up by manner of a misunderstanding – always a healthy way to begin a friendship. Bit of a Mess That line really hit me the first time I read this letter a couple years ago. And the hundred times since then. How can she say so little and yet so much?I stare at her words again, running over the sentence in my head. When she removes her make-up, taking off her brave face for the day…