Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Penance

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).

Content Warnings

paigetatum_13's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.5

I almost stopped reading the book at least 3 times 😭 it was very slow paced and felt like it would take forever to find out what happened to joni :/

also Violet should've gotten more time idgaf!

Content Warnings

bleusargents's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

aloe_v's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The blurring between fiction and non-fiction was quite trippy when reading the book,

and given the ending guardian interview, within the fiction, which accuses the in-book author of blurring fiction and non-fiction, I realise now the interesting parallels there between the fictional readers and real readers.

It was also interesting that, as I read, I thought it was actually a male author because of the in-book author, and only reading the acknowledgements did i realise it was not. This was another interesting thing that "caught me", as I'd felt a bit uncertain about a male writing about teenage female relationships, and that it was a bit infantilising/dismissive at times, and I realise now, that was likely intentional on the real authors part - or at least, thats my intepretation.

Reading time 5h54m.

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