This one is for the tumblr girlies from 2010! A look at toxic internet culture, the dangers of true crime and the dangers of subjectivity in telling an objective story, and about girlhood as well.

I very much struggled with this audiobook. I am not sure if I just was not getting on with the narrator(s) or the story. I would very much try it again in print format.

I liked this so much more than I thought I was going to, maybe because like a good majority of the world, I'm obsessed with true crime. Penance is a novel by acclaimed author, Sarah Clark, that tells the story of a shocking murder among teenagers in a sleepy northern seaside town on the eve of the Brexit vote. The novel uses various sources, including witness accounts, interviews, news articles, podcast transcripts, tumblr posts, and correspondence, to explore the decay of north/seaside towns and the dangers of political and class divides. Clark also provides a disturbing look at the true-crime industrial complex, particularly in relation to internet fandom culture. The novel explores the online radicalization of young, vulnerable people, and the cruelty of teenage female friendship groups. Overall, Penance is a compulsive and unsettling examination of true-crime cases in a post-truth world.

Thank you so much to #Netgalley for this free reader's listening copy for an honest review.

Too many characters and storylines to keep straight. And I wasn't invested in any of them.
I really tried, but I couldn't finish it.

This was incredible! The audiobook with a full cast brought the multi-media feel of this novel to life very well. I think I would still prefer it in print just to see the different formatting of things, but I really enjoyed this one.

The pacing was incredible--it really feels like a true crime book. Incredibly nuanced look into the lives of teen girls who spend too much time alone on the wrong side of the internet. It makes me glad I lived on the nerdy side of Tumblr back in the day.

Happy Pub Day to Penance!!!

Eliza Clark is wickedly addicting and has done a remarkable job researching the facts of an unspeakable crime amongst children. I typically gravitate toward the suspense/thriller genre but something about reading true crime makes it that more intense.

This isn't a book I could throw some witty humor into, because quite frankly, this book isn't funny, its heartbreaking.
As heartbreaking as it is, Clark orchestrated a factual storyline that will grab your attention early on and keep you captivated until the very last word.

Check out this teaser :

One of Granta's Best Young British Novelists 2023

From the author of the cult hit Boy Parts comes a chilling, brilliantly told story of murder among a group of teenage girls—a powerful and disturbing novel as piercing in its portrait of young women as Emma Cline’s The Girls.

On a beach in a run-down seaside town on the Yorkshire coastline, sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson is set on fire by three other schoolgirls.

Nearly a decade after the horrifying murder, journalist Alec Z. Carelli has written the definitive account of the crime, drawn from hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research, and most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves. The result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil.

But how much of the story is true?

Compulsively enjoyable, provocative, and disturbing, Penance is a cleverly nuanced, unflinching exploration of gender, class, and power that raises troubling questions about the media and our obsession with true crime while bringing to light the depraved side of human nature and our darkest proclivities.

10 years after 3 teenage girls set 16 year-old Joan Wilson on fire, Alec Z. Carelli is writing the definitive true-crime novel about the horrific incident. There's the premise, however, this book completely blew me away. It definitely reads like a real true-crime novel with bits and pieces of podcasts, interviews with family members, and even the girls themselves. It's not such a black and white crime once you read this fictional account of a horrible crime.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

This is it. This is the novel. This is THE novel about 2010s internet culture, and in such an authentic way. Anyone who was active on tumblr between 2010-2016 will find <i>Penance</i> incredibly accurate (I giggled after being reminded of what a "factkin" was after forgetting about it for almost a decade). The final chapter was a bit heavy-handed in its messaging, but I think it was a well-deserved slap to the face after the reading everything that proceeds it. <i>Penance</i>'s in-universe public response to the fictional murder of Joan Wilson, with flower crowns and "she's just like me for real," is painstakingly accurate to certain corners of the internet. This is a voyeuristic novel that wants you to really think about what you're reading, and never fails to remind you that this is not something to be enjoyed. Although I've never been one for true crime, I found myself often feeling guilty for becoming so invested in such horrible people and such a horrible sequence of events, even if they were completely made up. Fantastic unreliable/contradictory narrator, too. <i>Penance</i> voices a lot of my own criticisms of true crime as a genre yet still creates a narrative with incredible depth. It was difficult for me to imagine any single character as being fictional. I've said this to some colleagues already, but in the same idea that there is some nonfiction that reads like fiction, <i>Penance</i> is a fictional work that reads like nonfiction (and does a great job with this). Alec Carelli unfortunately feels like a very, very real true crime "journalist" and as heavy-handed as the final chapter is at criticizing him, it feels justified. I think I'd take half-star off for parts of that ending, and another half-star off for this book being a little bit longer than needed.

I also consumed this book in audio form, which I would highly recommend. The entire cast does a wonderful job at creating living, breathing characters. I loved the direction of having distinct voices for different key characters, as well. George Weightman in Carelli's voice is phenomenal.

Just a heads up though, alllllllllllll the content warnings for this one. I think <i>Penance</i> is very justified in its inclusion of disturbing content, as Clark criticizes true crime media that glamorizes, romanticizes, and embellishes gruesome crimes. However, I recommend starting this book with caution.

CW: murder, self-harm, suicide, gun violence, SA, amongst many others. Complete list can be found here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/bacfda5e-e53d-42aa-b150-0c5611516605

This was a very good novel surrounding the True Crime phenomenon. I liked the progression of the crime told through different perspectives and the ambiguous ending as well!

As a former Tumblr user, I have so many feelings about this book. After reading this book, I’m glad I got off Tumblr before the company added chat functions and other Facebook-like features.

In this novel, Eliza Clark transports us to a small seaside town where a brutal murder of a teenager occurred a decade prior at the hands of her “friends.” The main narrator is an investigative journalist who uses interviews, podcasts, transcripts, Tumblr posts, and eyewitness accounts to share the story of the gruesome murder.
This was a rollercoaster of a novel. I love how well Clark portrayed the anxieties and melodrama of teenagers, the toxicity of bullying, mainly social media bullying and the negative impacts of the true crime industry. That being said, the novel kept detracting from the main story of the group of girls with interjections of town history, family history, town politics, etc. Focusing on what was happening with the main storyline became quite confusing. Although I found the storytelling format interesting, it was also confusing how the novel would switch from the main narrator telling the story one minute to switching over to a Tumblr post and a different perspective. The ending of the book was quite surprising and unexpected.

Lately, I have noticed, at least with the books i'm reading, that there has been mash up of genres, all in the same book. The way this is written and the tone, had me checking to see if it was fiction or narrative non fiction..Regardless, it is an intense and horrifying story. True crime has once again become very popular and their is certainly much to.choose from. This is a journalist writing the story, ten years after it happened, so we get interviews, text messages, but we also question if the truth has been told. What was added, left.out?

Websites, chat rooms, so easy for troubled teens to find like minded people, so many playing into a already unhealthy psyche. I am so glad my.children were mostly grown before everyone had a smart phone.

Narrators were fantastic. Made the story seem so real.

Thanks to Harper Audio & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book opens with a description of the injuries and the timeline for Joan "Joni" Wilson, a teenager tortured and then burned alive by a group of girls her own age. Man, it's a rough entry to the story, but it tells you right away that Eliza Clark is not fucking around.

Clark switches from the POV of the true crime author writing the book about the murder, who has his own issues and is extremely unreliable, to that of the perpetrators and their family members. On the audio, each character has a different voice actor, so it's easy to tell them apart and provides excellent nuance - the book, much like Joseph Knox's True Crime Story, which I also loved, reads very much like a true crime non fiction book.

Some have complained the book is too long, and goes into too much detail about the (fictional) town of Crow-on-Sea, but I didn't mind it. From what I could tell, Clark is saying something about English society and the depravity therein (I don't live there so any finer points were wasted on me, unfortunately), but of course those comments could be made of just about any first world country with an excess of young people lacking adult oversight/suffering from abuse. Clark really goes in on the toxicity of the internet and the lack of parental awareness of what is going on with these girls, and it's very well done. The parts that deal with Dolly's obsession with a convicted school shooter are absolutely chilling.

Apparently this one is tame compared to the author's first book, but that one was described as "American Psycho but for hot girls" so imma pass.

Wow! This blew me away. This is one of those stories that sticks with you; I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks after finishing. While I know this was based on some real-life cases, it read like a true-crime piece of non-fiction. Absolutely heart wrenching, but so believable. I can't wait to follow Eliza Clark from now on!

Thank you, Harper Audio, for an advanced listener’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Penance by Eliza Clark chillingly pieces together the story of a group of teen girls who brutally murdered their classmate, Jodi Wilson. Told a decade later from the perspective of a faux true crime novel by the disgraced journalist Alec C. Carelli using interviews and Tumblr posts, Penance is a deconstruction and critique of the 2010s internet culture and the True Crime community along with other social and political commentary in the backdrop.

I absolutely loved this novel. It has been weeks since I read it, and I have stuck into almost every conversation I’ve had. It takes a very skillful author to write a book that feels like a time capsule. Everything about this book embodies the socio-political atmosphere of 2016 and accurately portrays what internet culture was for teenage girls fitting this demographic at that time.

I was hooked from beginning to end. This book is perfect for former Tumblr teens and those who enjoy critically engaging with the conversation around True Crime as entertainment. My only two notes on this one are that, while the narrator did a great job, it would likely be easier to follow along with a physical copy and that it was a fairly slow-paced novel.

Phenomenal. This is bound to be one of the most talked about crime novels of the year. A recommended first purchase for all collections.

Still weighing out my feelings on this one and expect to be for a long while..

While it isn't quite the same as Clark's first novel, I do think that lovers of Boy Parts will enjoy this one too. A gripe I have is that it has a lot of names/characters to keep track of. And it did feel a bit long - mostly because some of the background info chapters felt like a big of a drag at times. However, I do think that the mixed media aspect of this one helps that. I loved the tumblr aspect.. given my age lol This really captures teenage cruelty.. or does it?!

I do think that starting the novel with the podcast side of the mixed media really gets the audiobook up with a rough start. Transcription like this is hard to convey well in an audiobook and to start with it is a sure-fire way to lose listeners.

Overall, I would recommend this!

On a beach in the rundown seaside town, Crow-on-Sea, 16 year Joni is tortured and then set on fire by three of her fellow classmates in 2016. Almost a decade later, and after years of research, journalist Alec Carelli publishes his book Penance. A book he believes to be a definitive account of what led to the events of Joni’s death and the turbulent aftermath.

Eliza Clark’s sophomore novel is quite the departure from her disturbing debut, Boy Parts. While still showcasing her immense talent as a writer, Penance feels much more experimental and while I’m sure something like this has been written, I have not read it. Penance is intentionally written to feel like a nonfiction book. It is a love letter and also a critique of true crime.

Eliza Clark takes on the persona of Alec with masterful precision. In fact, if I hadn’t seen the cover or known the author of the book, I would’ve assumed I was reading a nonfiction book written by the fictional character Alec Carelli. Clark uses this character to highlight the disgusting and exploitative nature of true crime while also showcasing some of the better elements of of this particular media. I’d be interested to see what people think of this book if they have never been in true crime spaces. It is very clear that Clark was once engaged in true crime media. From the segments on tumblr, true crime fandoms, podcasts, etc. it’s very clear this novel was written for people who were present in the same spaces. From 2015-2018 I had a huge true crime phase and I’m not sure I would appreciate this novel as much as I do if not for that phase.

My only flaw with Penance is that I felt a lack of connection to any of the characters. However, this is a feature not a bug. I don’t feel as though you are intended to connect with this characters. Eliza Clark is writing as if she is Alec Carelli, a man who cares more for the story and for shock rather than the people this crime affected. Obviously you will not feel any intimate connections to the characters since Alec never writes the story that way. However, it did impact my reading and I felt a few parts of this book dragged because of that.

Overall, Clark’s second novel is flawless in execution. It does exactly what it sets out to do and offers some fascinatingly rich commentary on class, power, and gender. Teenage girls can be vicious and cruel. The way Clark analyzed the unique experience of girlhood kept me engaged through the entire book. She handles themes with such nuance and I am excited to read whatever she puts out next!

Author: Eliza Clark
Narrators; Hollie- Jay Bowes, Anna Gilthrope, Emily Goldie, Evue Hargreaves, Salima Saxton, and
George Weightman
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Publisher: Harper Audio
Pub Date: September 26, 2023
My Rating: 2.3 Stars!
Pages: 400

This story is relayed by a true crime journalist who uses interviews witness accounts, news articles, podcast transcripts, tumblr posts, and correspondence.
The crime is the murder of Joan Wilson a student from the seaside town of Crow-on-Sea, and the killers are believed to be three teens.

Mean girls and the cruelty of teens is something that is always difficult for me to comprehend. ~ I am guessing it has something to do with the development of the frontal lobe - which manages our thinking, emotions, personality, judgement as well as self-control ~ it isn’t fully developed until mid-twenties.

I did like that there were many narrators who did a great job in performing the nasty characters but it was not an enjoyable read. 😯

About the author: Eliza Clark.
In 2018, she received a grant from New Writing North’s ‘Young Writers’ Talent Fund’. Clark’s short horror fiction has been published with Tales to Terrify, with an upcoming novelette expected this year. With her partner they host the podcast “You Just Don’t Get It, Do You?
" Boy Parts" was her first novel.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audiobook.
Publishing Release Day scheduled for: September 26, 2023.

I listened to the audiobook and I felt like the cast did a great job with narration. The challenge for me was remembering all the characters and their roles in the novel. I may have done better reading a physical copy where I could refer back when I lost track. The story itself seemed to jump around a bit, but I enjoyed the use of a journalist in putting all the pieces together. If you listen to podcasts and enjoy true crime I think this may be the book for you!

Audiobook Version of Penance by Eliza Clark 3 Stars

My brain is still trying to wrap around what I read. Is it a true story? Is it a true-crime podcast? Is it a fiction mystery thriller? Is it all of those things. I think that's the point... I think we are supposed to be left spinning. I don't know if I love that or hate that.

A small town on the Yorkshire coastline, a group of teenage girls brutally kill sixteen year old Joan Wilson, by setting her on fire. I know, I almost couldn't read the rest either. It's on the eve of the Brexet vote and the world is in chaos and the murder is lost in the shuffle. 10 years later a journalist decides to tell the story. Using interviews, notes, police reports, and the creepiest part... she talks to the killers themselves.

I can't decide if this book is just so disturbing that I can't get in to it or if that what makes it so good? I think if you are really into dark thrillers, this could be your next favorite read. I love me a good murder mystery, but this felt so real it was creepy.

Should you decide to read this, check the content warnings and know that it's pretty dark pretty fast. That being said, the writing is supreme and it reads fast. Buckle your seat belts...