A review by notesofacrocodile
Penance by Eliza Clark

challenging dark tense

3.75

The crime itself, however, will live on. It will live on for as long as podcasts which covered it are available. It will live on for as long as this book is in print. A Murderpedia page with a complete list of Joni’s injuries is available to view, bordered with ads for ‘BEST EVER 18+ ONLY online games’ and the latest superhero franchise movie. It will live on in the chumbox ads that first led me to this crime. It will live on in the memories of everyone who comes to Crow – and everyone who sees Joni’s sun-bleached memorial.

a deeply absorbing, yet unsettling novel from eliza clark that is modelled on the public coverage and perception of true crime, with a focus on the harrowing torture and murder of a teenage girl at the hands of her own peers. clark does not hesitate to get into the nitty-gritty of the 'true crime industrial complex', accentuated with astutely observed replications of the 2010s tumblr landscape and the complexities of friendships amongst adolescent girls in all of its anger, rage, hurt, concern, and jealousy. the dehumanisingly voyeuristic gaze upon murders such as the one in question is critically highlighted, as well as the questionable 'fandoms' that emerge in its wake, and the depravity of the culture of commercialisation and sensationalisation that engulfs even the most personal and tragic of losses. clark has clearly done her research well, tapping into real-life instances of murders and murderers (and those who cover them for the media) to craft a story that is all the more terrifying by the sheer fact that it's all very much possible. 

my primary qualm about this novel was that it felt bogged down in parts, but was otherwise largely effective in its message and plotline. i am glad i gave the author a second chance after not liking her debut novel boy parts, because this one was so much better in how it expressed its themes, characters, and overall writing style.