Narrated by Matthew Holland and Laurie Catherine Winkel
Fans of new adult romances are surely familiar with Penelope Douglas’ angst-filled brand of romance. Punk 57 follows Ms. Douglas’ signature writing style and delivers an emotional romance that follows a friends-turned-enemies and then eventually lovers romance. Additionally, Ms. Douglas weaves a couple of threads of suspense into this charged romance to keep the listener guessing. One of these threads was so well woven into the story that it completely took me by surprise when it was revealed near the end. Then there is Laurie Catherine Winkel’s and Matthew Holland’s adept dual narration which makes this a good title to experience in audio format.
They have been pen pals since the 5th grade. Being each other’s go-to best friend when life brings on challenges, Ryen (the heroine) and Misha (the hero) develop a mutually satisfying friendship that neither thought could ever be rocked. Their only non-breakable pen pal rule is that they would not provide each other with pictures or other self-identifying information that would allow the other to recognize them in person (no easy feat given they could one day bump into each other as they live only 30 minutes away from each other). But then one day, Misha inadvertently stumbles upon information that identifies Ryen and he is finally able to put a face to the name.
Then circumstances intervene again, when Misha clandestinely appears at Ryen’s school as “Mason” just six short weeks before high school graduation. Mason begins to rock Ryen’s world in a completely different way by being a brash outspoken, seemingly homeless boy who clearly doesn’t like who she is. Even worse, her long-time rock, Misha, is no longer answering her letters given her no outlet to vent. In Misha’s defense, he may have arrived on the scene for completely different reasons, but when he sees that Ryen is someone completely different from who she claimed to be in her letters, he’s instantly incensed.
Just why is Misha at Ryen’s school? Moreover, who is the true Misha and Ryen and could there possibly be a HEA in the cards under the circumstances?
Laurie Catherine Winkel and Matthew Holland narrate in the typical dual narration fashion with Ms. Winkel narrating all of the chapters from Ryen’s point of view and Mr. Holland, the ones from Misha’s perspective. This approach is perfectly suited for this book which relies heavily on Ryen’s and Misha’s different perspectives of how the story unfolds. Moreover, it allows the listener to easily transition back and forth as each character’s true feelings and motivations are slowly revealed.
Both narrators are able to provide sufficiently differentiated voices so that it’s easy to tell which character is speaking based solely on their voices. Additionally, I enjoyed how they infused each character with appropriate emotion and the proper speed and flow of speech to allow for maximum understanding and enjoyment.
All in all, Punk 57 captivated my attention and kept me listening to the very end. The romance itself was not novel, but I loved some of the other surprises that Penelope Douglas weaved in to make this story compelling and attention-grabbing.
BJ
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