A review by sarah984
Penance by Eliza Clark

dark funny 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

3.0

This book was fine, it captured the voices of the teens and (most of) the internet culture of the era really well, but I do think it fell into its own trap a bit in over focusing on the perpetrators without a lot of self awareness, and a few things about the internet culture of the time are inaccurate in a way that annoyed me (especially the assertion about ao3 because I think the truth actually adds to the book's point). The twist is so obvious from pretty much the beginning that the epilogue feels like a joke.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic