Penance

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.