Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Penance

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

deannamartin113's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A mimic book. A book that is a novel, but presents itself as a non-fiction, true crime book. It explores the damage that the true crime community (podcasts, Reddit groups, Tumblr, books, and others) can have on the victims, the victim’s families, the perpetrators, the perpetrator’s families and the community at large.

I had a true crime season. I thought I partook responsibly, but I’m rethinking that. The true crime podcasts I listened/watched are very well made. Their stories are well written and captivating. How much artistic license is taken with their stories?

They can tell us until they’re blue in the face that they’ve spoken with the victim’s family and have their blessing, but they give no proof, or receipts (in internet parlance).

I was becoming more uncomfortable with one of the TC podcasts I watched when they covered current cases, or even open cases with suspects, because one host was particularly intense about who she considered guilty. Once she considers you guilty, she’s like a dog with a meaty bone. The comments and innuendo never stop. Her jokes about the suspect never stop. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ is not a phrase she particularly likes, however she will yell long and loud about her own freedoms.

I find a gaping disconnect there.

Penance is not a book to read lightly. TW for s**cide, miscarriage, murder, some graphic, teen drinking violence, SA off page, misogyny language, gaslighting all over the place, gross sexual language and jokes, and probably more I’m missing.

I think I am finished with True Crime podcasts and books. I’m not sure how I feel about crime documentaries, except that they need a governing body to impose standards. I’ll stick to reading the court documents, watching the actual trials, and listening to the commentary of real lawyers - there’s plenty of them on YouTube now. I’m looking at you, @theemilydbaker

Content Warnings

roie_23's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There was a large chunk of this towards the end that I could feel myself enjoying it less and less. We were spending too much time in stories that I didn’t find necessarily important or crucial to understanding the lead up to the murder, but that final chapter flipped the switch and wrapped everything up in a perfect bow.

To introduce this fictional author at the very beginning as potentially untrustworthy and then to spend a full 400 more pages in the mind of this author and his self proclaimed sensitivity to the people affected by this awful crime makes you wonder when that other show is going to drop. Is he actually untrustworthy or was he actually swept up in a controversy that he had nothing to do with. And there’s signs throughout the final few chapters that Alec is losing the plot a little, like the comment about Heather wearing a full face of makeup even though she made it evident she thought he was disgusting.

Absolutely obsessed. A brilliant critique on the True Crime genre.

Content Warnings

katerina_l's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

drrock's review

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

karenleagermain's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have a ridiculous confession. I took an ARC of Penance on my summer cruise and I didn't look carefully at the cover, where it clearly stated "a novel." I was convinced that I was reading a true crime book and kept telling everyone about this shocking case in England. 1/2 way through, I realized that it was fiction. It's mortifying to admit this, however, I'm coming clean. I work at a bookstore and I even have this statement on my shelf-talker for Penance.

The book is a fast-paced force. If you do like true crime, this story will test your love of the genre, as it serves as a push back on our culture's obsession with true crime. In Penance, a group of teenagers lock a classmate in a beach shed and set the shed on fire. The girl survives long enough to accuse her attackers. The story is told through the eyes of the juvenile criminals and there is very little that they regret. We also see the story through the eyes of a true crime podcast, which flippantly talks about the case and is not dissimilar to real life popular true crime podcasts.

I was absolutely hooked by Penance and read it within a few days. I was actually quite relieved that it is a work of fiction, because the details are horrific. Eliza Clark is a fabulous writer and I look forward to reading her other books.

Content Warnings