Penance

so bizarre in its messiness—where was the editor for this one—and the final chapter (‘aftermath') just reads like an excuse as to why the entire book was written in the same, unpleasant tone. as of yet, i am not convinced eliza clark can write in any voice except her own (and as someone the same age that was also deeply on tumblr from 2010-2014, i'm not actually sure that voice is unique)

4.25 ⭐️

This book feels like a love child between The Secret History and Gillian Flynn, so I thought I'd like it, even though Storygraph's AI said I probably wouldn't because it's of the “Crime” genre. The AI was right. Even though this is a bit of a satire on the True Crime genre as a whole, it's still true crime and I'm just not a True Crime murder girly.

Penance is a novel about the brutal murder of a teenage girl by her classmates, and the town where they all live. Very much like The Virgin Suicides, Penance is more interested in creating a robust picture of the characters involved—the murderers, the victim, their families, their neighbors—and is less concerned in recounting the events of the murder. My favorite aspect was how characters' actions and words—fueled by their own insecurities and traumas—rippled into each other's lives. No one was solely guilty, no one was fully innocent.

It's tricky, because as ART, Penance is 10/10. The narration style is ingenious, the character development is perfect, but I was gripped until I wasn't...then it started to slog for me and I considered DNFing. I am glad I didn't, though.

Incredible novel that just isn't for me. Objectively 5 stars, but subjectively I'd give it 3.5.

2.5 stars

I was so hyped for this book but it ended up not really working for me.

Whilst I liked what the book was looking at (obsession with true crime, toxic friendships, teenage bullying, online fandoms, etc), and the mixed formats which I always enjoy, I didn't like the way it was structured.

The book is written as if its a non-fiction book written by another author, this part didn't bother me until the very last few pages when he is interviewed and basically admits to fabricating a lot of what was in his book, making the whole thing pointless. I really dislike an ending like this.

The book is also split into 4 main parts, relating to the 4 girls involved in the case, each part exhaustively covers their upbringing, lifestyle, friendship groups then gets to the actual night of the murder. This could work in an actual documentary but by part 3 it felt repetitive and made the book feel so slow and long.

Perhaps this is my own fault, I much prefer listening to nonfiction and whilst this is a fiction book, it's written in a nonfiction style so would have worked better for me on audio.