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A review by frantomlimb
Penance by Eliza Clark
5.0
I started reading this when I woke up this morning and just finished it now around 11 at night. I haven't read an entire book in one day in years but this was just so compelling I couldn't stop. I read her book Boy Parts earlier this year and also loved that so was so excited to hear she had a new book coming out so soon and this one did not disappoint.
To the satire on true crime podcasts and the minutiae on several specific types of Internet drama and fandoms Clark understands pop culture and the way people talk on the Internet so clearly and her writing is just so insightful. I felt myself in so many of the characters little quirks that it gave me chills with how similar it was to my own life, staying up in the middle of the night to play The Sims hit particularly hard.
I also loved all the lore she created about this little town, beyond Virginia Andrews I don't really read much "family saga" type things but all the little vignettes about the towns history like the deadly waterpark, the mad uncle with the crossbow who shoots seagulls, the arsons, it was just all very fascinating and it almost made me understand how people can get into big fantasy novels filled with intricate worldbuilding in a weird way.
I almost regret reading this so quickly because I'm worried I didn't give myself enough time to really let it sink in and think about the story properly but it's just such an enthralling read that I needed to know what happened.
To the satire on true crime podcasts and the minutiae on several specific types of Internet drama and fandoms Clark understands pop culture and the way people talk on the Internet so clearly and her writing is just so insightful. I felt myself in so many of the characters little quirks that it gave me chills with how similar it was to my own life, staying up in the middle of the night to play The Sims hit particularly hard.
I also loved all the lore she created about this little town, beyond Virginia Andrews I don't really read much "family saga" type things but all the little vignettes about the towns history like the deadly waterpark, the mad uncle with the crossbow who shoots seagulls, the arsons, it was just all very fascinating and it almost made me understand how people can get into big fantasy novels filled with intricate worldbuilding in a weird way.
I almost regret reading this so quickly because I'm worried I didn't give myself enough time to really let it sink in and think about the story properly but it's just such an enthralling read that I needed to know what happened.