Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Penance by Eliza Clark

109 reviews

rhona_m's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.75

The structure of the book was a great way of revealing the characters slowly and through different lenses. The darkness of the story was less interesting than the portrait of the young girls featured. The relationship between these relatively normal highschool girls and how the oddities and experiences of each fuelled something dark. It felt like a believable progression rather than a narrative of plain evil.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Racism

phenixbradley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Self harm, Child abuse, Rape, and Pedophilia

Minor: Self harm and Eating disorder

katerina_l's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Bullying, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Homophobia, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

froon's review against another edition

4.5

very addicting read! i think clark captured the idiosyncrasies of tumblr quite well⏤almost too well that perhaps the barrier of entry for this book would be to have had an overactive tumblr account in the early 2010s.

the commentary was very pointed, and i found the characters fleshed out and complex. i really loved the multimedia sections (especially the tumblr posts). 

my criticisms are mostly with the last section of the book.

i could tell there was something off with the narrator (exemplified in the “italian’s are oppressed too” comment which made the tweet making fun of it so much funnier), so the reveal that he was scummy was gratifying if not predictable. however, i think the narrator limited the story in someways. particularly with the resolution (or culmination?) of the mentions of his daughters death. i.e when he said that he used to stand over his daughter’s bed for hours at night. do we take that as an admission of guilt? or what? a jab at something like that towards the end, when we’re finally outside his point of view, would’ve satisfied my curiosity. i was also a little disappointed with the latter half of the “Girl C” section, but given the constraints of the story, i’m not sure how that could have been fixed.

overall, a really great book. it’s plot probably could’ve been avoided if dolly and violet were really into like one direction or kpop rpf.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

kate_303's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Bullying, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Child death, and Child abuse

gemin1reader's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not my usual kind of read and certainly not an easy one - because of the subject matter but also because of the sheer length and depth of it. So many characters and angles to keep track of. 

A real biting look at the true crime industry though, it definitely made its point and packs a punch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Racism, Self harm, and Fatphobia

Minor: Vomit and Eating disorder

texasdennys's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Kind of reminiscent of Todd Haynes May December imo- i.e. when you want to write something based on a true crime but know that’s overdone and somewhat unethical and exploitative, but you still want to write a true crime novel . . . So maybe you just change the names and then make it meta and make it a criticism of true crime and that makes it okay . . . right? Genuinely I’m not sure if this book is exploitative or not. It kinda felt like Eliza Clark was trying to absolve herself with the journalist at the end criticizing the fake author asking “why not just make it a fictional novel loosely based on the true story” like does that make it any better? Truly I don’t know, but I was disappointed to find out how similar this story was to a true crime. Despite that, I really enjoyed the book. It’s rare to see media that understands how teenagers use social media (or used in 2014-2016) and how that contributes to their isolation and sense of victimization. If Eliza Clark wanted to write the Gen Z Mean Girls I feel like she could idk

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Violence

bethsreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Penance is a disturbing and macabre fictional true crime novel ‘written’ by a disgraced journalist about three girls murdering their schoolmate in a small seaside town. 

One of the novel’s focal points is exploring the ethics of the true crime genre, particularly the exploitative aspects. A true crime story is so easy to get pulled into, as it offers some of the most extreme and disturbing corners of humanity; but it is important to stop and think: how true is true? Having two writers of the book, Clark herself and the journalist in the story writing the book, adds an extra layer of authorial distortion, demanding you constantly question the legitimacy and trustworthiness of every word you consume.

I particularly love writing that refuses to sit idly within binaries and instead adventures around all the boundaries of a topic, and this book does that. From the subject matter, it seems like there would be an obvious right and wrong, and while there is in the grand scheme of things, the layers and nuances offer a much more complex story. Clark, in my opinion, is quite clear in her stances, but they are thoughtful, balanced opinions that filter in through the story while still leaving room for personal moral engagement as the reader. 

I think Clark also does a fantastic job of depicting teenage-hood, especially in the mid 2010s, and the involvement of the internet at the time. Tumblr basically being a main character really transported me back to what teenage life was like in 2015.  

I did feel like there was perhaps some unnecessary historical backstory to the town, which did enrich the story and make it feel like a real place, but felt somewhat too much at times and I think some parts could’ve been edited down to streamline things a little. 

Overall this was an incredible story and one I’ll be thinking about for a long time! As a warning though, please be sure to check the content warnings first as it covers some difficult topics (though I believe it handles them all well and with respect). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Misogyny, Drug use, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, Suicide, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder and Vomit

indiaj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Child abuse, and Death

aquariusvintage's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Murder, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse