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baielleebooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Penance is dynamic in its structure and blooms royally in relation to how of contemporary prominence it feels. A great novel exploring the egregiousness of creators and writers mining into real human suffering for the sake of intellectual propriety and fame.
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There is a real sense of embeddedess in the way Clark writes; in passages of representing darker internet subcultures to the humourous and complicated renderings of English village living to Carelli's enraging fallacies conjured around terms like 'plasticity' and 'emotional truth' that strike a chord with the current political moment.
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My only minor gripe is Angelica as a significant feature of the novel doesn't necessarily feel as flesh and blood as other characters. Penance's literary vision makes us aware that these characters come into being through Carelli's warped presentations of them, yet I still feel that Angelica doesn't necessarily harmonise as well in the book's broader framing.
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Overall, Penance dazzles and is definitely a book I am chomping at the bit to reccomend to friends. Tackling with embodiedness and deftness the muddy relationships people can share with truth and the gritty morbidity of human fascination.
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There is a real sense of embeddedess in the way Clark writes; in passages of representing darker internet subcultures to the humourous and complicated renderings of English village living to Carelli's enraging fallacies conjured around terms like 'plasticity' and 'emotional truth' that strike a chord with the current political moment.
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My only minor gripe is Angelica as a significant feature of the novel doesn't necessarily feel as flesh and blood as other characters. Penance's literary vision makes us aware that these characters come into being through Carelli's warped presentations of them, yet I still feel that Angelica doesn't necessarily harmonise as well in the book's broader framing.
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Overall, Penance dazzles and is definitely a book I am chomping at the bit to reccomend to friends. Tackling with embodiedness and deftness the muddy relationships people can share with truth and the gritty morbidity of human fascination.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence
sleaterkenneth's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Like Devil House but worse. I had similar issues with Boy Parts and I think they both just need a stronger edit, granted this is an ARC but there were parts where the same thing was repeated with only slight alterations in the same paragraph. Overall... I think it lacks empathy? A decent narrator? I understand that the narrator is unreliable but that doesn't excuse the complete lack of emotional investment and teenage slang that doesn't fit the time period/era of tumblr. I did tear through it and was interested in how everything would shake out so that has to count for something, begging everyone to read Devil House yet again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Torture, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Rape, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, and Death of parent
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