A review by texasdennys
Penance by Eliza Clark

dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Kind of reminiscent of Todd Haynes May December imo- i.e. when you want to write something based on a true crime but know that’s overdone and somewhat unethical and exploitative, but you still want to write a true crime novel . . . So maybe you just change the names and then make it meta and make it a criticism of true crime and that makes it okay . . . right? Genuinely I’m not sure if this book is exploitative or not. It kinda felt like Eliza Clark was trying to absolve herself with the journalist at the end criticizing the fake author asking “why not just make it a fictional novel loosely based on the true story” like does that make it any better? Truly I don’t know, but I was disappointed to find out how similar this story was to a true crime. Despite that, I really enjoyed the book. It’s rare to see media that understands how teenagers use social media (or used in 2014-2016) and how that contributes to their isolation and sense of victimization. If Eliza Clark wanted to write the Gen Z Mean Girls I feel like she could idk
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