Author: Penelope Douglas
Kindle Edition
Misha and Ryen were in the 5th grade when their teachers decided to have an “penpal experience” between students of two different nearby schools. They were supposed to be paired with people of the same gender, but their names are ambiguous enough to let the teacher believe that it’s their case. They start exchanging letters and pretty soon they are deep into a friendship that extends for years. Fast forward to high school senior year, and they still haven’t met, as was their decision. However, they are incredibly invested into this relationship, whatever it is. They tell each other everything, they are there for each other. They are each other’s person.
One day, Misha is having a fundraising scavenger hunt to help pay for his fledgling band’s tour and he inadvertently runs into a girl named RYEN. Well, shit, they weren’t supposed to meet! And dear lord, she is so NOT who she was in the letters…
Fast forward again to three months later, and Misha has stopped writing Ryen for reasons I won’t say as to not spoil you. And at the same time, a mysterious new student, Masen , shows up at Ryen’s school and sparks between them fly. Masen is this quintessential bad boy and Ryen has become a version of Regina George. But Ryen is very conflicted. She feels this pull towards this new guy but, at the same time, Misha is out there somewhere is she is not giving up on him.
Well, to be honest I have no idea what to say about this book. I don’t want to age myself here and it’s not going to be a “Get Off My Lawn!!!” moment, but I can’t get over the fact that this is an adult romance set in high school. I can’t for the life of me understand why the author couldn’t just , I don’t know , set this at least in college? Throughout the book I had the same cringe-y feeling I did when watching the TV show Euphoria. Maybe my background as a high school teacher kept me sending to a WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE ADULTS???????? place all the time. The book is definitely well written, the story is well plotted, the pace is good, and there is even a plot twist at the end that I (GASP!) didn’t see coming. And that is really saying something.
I understand why this 2016 book is, in 2021, being hyped on TikTok. After all that’s where the “youngins” are hanging out these days and they have discovered the book. Well, I guess they have become the target audience. It’s still an +18 book, for real. Open door scenes that are not shy kinda book.
Well, at least they are reading. Right?
Possible triggers: death of a loved one, abandonment by a parent, bullying, dubious consent
