Penitence by author Kristin Koval is a layered, emotionally rich debut that explores how the weight of past mistakes can echo across decades. Koval has crafted a thoughtful and poignant novel that will resonate with fans of literary fiction. While it’s not a traditional page-turner in the fast-paced sense, the emotional depth and complexity made it genuinely hard to put down and would make an excellent book club selection.

The story begins with a shocking crime that upends the Sheehan family and leads Angie to reconnect with Julian—her first love and the son of the small-town lawyer now representing her family. Their history adds an emotional undercurrent that builds quietly but powerfully as the narrative moves between timelines and settings, from rural Colorado to pre-9/11 New York City.

Koval explores themes of guilt, redemption, familial loyalty, and forgiveness with nuance and care. The pacing is measured, but the payoff lies in the character development and the introspective nature of the story. It asks readers to consider what defines us—our worst decisions or the growth and grace that follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for my free review copy.

Penitence offers the beautiful character development often seen in literary fiction combined with the page turning intensity of a mystery.

Two families intertwined through shared grief are forced to work together after years of estrangement to advocate for a 12 year old girl who has shot her brother in cold blood with no explanation.

Angie and Julian, childhood best friends turned high school sweethearts, are forever changed after a tragic accident that occurs on their watch. Decades later, when Angie is challenged with the inexplicable balance of grieving for her son while also navigating her daughter’s trial, she has no choice but to rely on the legal representation offered by her ex boyfriend and his mother.

There is so much character study in this story, each character has been affected by both tragedies in one way or another and grapples with how to survive the guilt and grief. There are so many blurred lines, so many morally gray decisions and actions taking place throughout the story, up until the very end.

I really enjoyed this one and found myself struggling to put it down. I think I hoped for more insight into Nora and why she shot her brother, I do feel like I wanted more from this arc. But I realized by the end that this was meant to be more Annie and Julian’s story and it was equally as engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for my copy of this book: all opinions are my own.

The news goes nationwide. A thirteen-year old girl has shot and killed her brother. Nora is the daughter of Angie and David Sheehan and everyone had always thought she adored her big brother Nick. It's been a hard year in the Sheehan family as Nick had been diagnosed with juvenile Huntington's disease and that is a death sentence. Nora had been depressed along with Nick and Angie and David had been at maximum stress as well.

This is not the first death Angie has grieved. When she was a teenager, her little sister had died skiing on a trip with Angie and her boyfriend Julian. The result of that was that Julian was sent away from the Colorado town where they all grew up to finish high school in New York and live with his grandmother. Angie's mother blamed the accident on Julian and in such a small town, Julian's parents thought it was best to send him away. All the parents believed that this ended Julian and Angie's relationship but they found a way to keep it going until college where they both went to colleges close enough to be together. But ultimately, the relationship had not worked out and Angie returned home to Colorado and married David.

The only lawyer in town with any experience in a death case is Julian's mother, Maxine. She reluctantly takes the case but knows she is over her head which she tells Angie and David. David asks if Julian, who became a criminal defense lawyer in a large New York firm, could help and he agrees although he is not really sure how things will work out as he hasn't seen or spoken to Angie in over fifteen years. But he still has enough feelings that he doesn't want to see Nora sentenced to life and since she has not spoken since she shot the gun, no one knows her reasons.

Kristin Koval is a former lawyer herself but she always wanted to write. This is her debut novel and it has received a ton of buzz. The big shocker was too clearly hinted at and I guessed it halfway through but this was a great book and I look forward to reading more by her in the future. This book is recommended for legal thriller and women's fiction readers.

When 13-year-old Nina shoots and kills her older brother, it has a ripple effect that leaves several people’s lives forever changed. Her mother, Angie, must reconcile mourning her son with forgiving her daughter. Her lawyer, Martine, is challenged by this case like no other as she tries to figure out why Nina did it. And old wounds are reopened when Martine brings in her lawyer son Julian (who is also Angie’s ex-boyfriend) to help on the case.

If you love character-driven stories, legal dramas, and family sagas, this book is for you. It’s powerful and often heartbreaking, with characters you will come to deeply care about. I guessed most of the “twists” in this book well ahead of the reveals, but this isn’t a thriller where the twists are the point of the story. More important are the characters and their relationships, which are well developed and compelling. This book also makes some poignant points about the ways the justice system often fails young offenders.

If you’re looking for a book that will immediately draw you in, this is one worth checking out.

Each of us is more than the worst thing we have ever done. - Byron Stevenson.
Angela’s family has unraveled after her daughter takes the life of her son in this incredible and heartbreaking debut. Suspenseful and beautifully written. I could not put this down. My favorite read this year!! I look forward to more from this author and wish I had read it sooner! Thank you, NetGalley!

Something ugly happened in Colorado. The kind of thing that makes small towns lock their doors at night and whisper behind closed curtains. Now Angie and David Sheehan are desperate enough to ask Martine Dumont for help - the same Martine whose son Julian left more than just footprints in their lives twenty years ago.

Here’s the thing about the past: it doesn’t stay buried in the snow. Julian’s traded his mountain boots for Italian leather, building a reputation as New York’s go-to defense attorney. But when Angie walks into his office, that carefully constructed life starts to crack. Some wounds don’t heal - they just scab over, waiting for someone to pick at them.

Between the knife-edge peaks of Colorado and Manhattan’s concrete canyons, old secrets are stirring. And in the months before the Twin Towers fall, two people who never got their ending right are about to learn that guilt, like gravity, pulls hardest when you’re trying to run from it.

Kristin Koval delivers a remarkable debut novel—one that’s truly unforgettable! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley @celadonbooks @kristinkovalwriter for the opportunity to read this arc.

Wow! This book is brilliant and remains hopeful while tackling some devastating and heavy topics. It is hard to give a summary without revealing any plot twists, but the overall plot line centers on how a family faces an impossible tragedy when their 14 year old daughter shoots and kills her 15 year old brother. The parents, Angie and David, seek assistance from their a local lawyer (and her son, Julian) who agree to represent the daughter for her upcoming trial. The reconnection of these two families dredges up a prior tragedy 25 years ago, so the novel is told with flashbacks to that past event and the prior relationship between Angie and Julian and their eventual split.

This book explores grief, guilt, regret, forgiveness, and love with poignant snapshots into the main characters’ lives. As a mother to a 3 teen kids I was completely invested in how this tragedy occurred and what the outcome would be for their child. Tightly plotted, beautiful prose, and fantastic characterization make Penitence a stand out novel of 2025. These characters go THROUGH it, and I felt as if I was living their journey with them!

A solid 4 star book for me, this story brough on so many emotions and you could truly feel for the characters and what they were going through. A fabulous debut. At times it felt a little long but I recognize that it isn't a thriller but a slow burn suspense with strong character development. I enjoyed reading how everything unraveled at the end.

I liked the premise of this book, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. It was ok but not great, in my humble opinion. The writing was good and the pace of the book fine, but I couldn't warm up to any of the characters. It makes readers wonder how they would react if faced with such a tragedy, and different points of views are described at length. Sad and heartbreaking, Penitence will make you shed a tear or two.
Thank you Netgalley and Celadon books for my advanced copy.

I truly enjoyed this novel; the characters were well-developed, and the engaging plot made it a great read.

5 Stars

Amazing! The ending had me in tears. I could put myself in the story and feel all emotions that the characters were experiencing. This book has so many layers that get peeled back. I pretty much read it straight through and finished it in one day.

Thank you to Celedon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a super solid debut novel and quickly puts this author in a comparable category to Celeste Ng or Angie Kim. The story primarily focuses on Angie Sheehan after the tragic night when her daughter kills her brother, and then Angie's first love Julian is brought in on the defense team. This is a very reflective story that frequently flashes back to the past showing Angie & Julian's relationship while the present timeline explores the fallout from that tragic night.

Penitence explores the ideas of forgiveness, people being more than the worst thing they did, and the faults in the juvenile justice system. I would recommend this for fans of the show ADOLESCENCE on Netflix.

The only things that held me back from a 5 star: the extensive time spent in the past affected the pacing a bit for me, and I would've personally found the story more compelling to my own tastes if there were more of a mystery angle introduced early in the story vs revealing some things that happened. This was a story that explores what happened & why, but it doesn't withhold a ton from the reader which I personally enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

Sadly, Penitence not on the list of books that I will excitedly recommend to friends. The story started off strong with the murder of Nico by his sister, Nora, and pulled me into the first several chapters. However, around Chapter 6 I felt the pace significantly dropped off and I had to skim the book to finish it versus totally giving up and putting it on the DNF list. The story was overwritten as we were forced to not only wait to learn a plausible reason for Nora’s actions (Is she crazy? was it mercy? Was it just murder?) but then we had to read through a long and drawn out story about Angie and Julian’s failed relationship. I did kind of enjoy the plot twist of Nico being Julian’s son, but ultimately I just couldn’t get into this book. I wouldn’t say not to read it, as others may very much enjoy the slowly flickering plot, but this just wasn’t a book that I can say I enjoyed.

4.5 stars. "You are more than the worst thing you've ever done." This book has many layers - tragedies that spill over to the next generation, secrets upon secrets, betrayal, and forgiveness. What does it mean to be a "good" parent? As a parent, what would you do to protect your child? Is forgiving yourself as important as forgiving others? The author weaves family drama with touches of a complex
legal case, the effects of shared trauma, and grief into a compelling story. The writing reallly connected with my emotions and portrayed nuance expertly.

A multi-perspective, dual-timeline story; Penitence is, at its core, about family and how our choices affect our future. Going into this I was expecting more of a thriller. I don’t know if that was a marketing choice or my own confused expectations, but this was more familial drama, literary fiction. A genre I love, but was not expecting. Because of that the pacing came off as slow, and the ending didn’t quite land. That being said, I was pulled into the plot right away, and found the characters intriguing. My heart broke for Norah, I hated Angie, and I adored Martine. The writing was very good, and for a debut I am impressed. I will pick up more books by Koval in the future. It just felt like a book that was supposed to be such a “page turner” really dragged.

Slow and chilling, this debut novel had me guessing to the end.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of pre-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness

I struggled to rate this one because the first 50% had me quickly turning pages. But, the last half of the book did not provide the closure I wanted. The family drama resonated with me in such a visceral way, especially because it involved children. I needed more clues, more evidence, and more explanation at the end.

A special thanks to Kristin Koval, NetGalley, and Celadon Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the complexity of the characters and their histories together. I thought the story would be more about the individual "why" of the shooting (ie, why did the child kill her brother--something similar to "My Sister's Keeper", which is still a good comparable for this novel). In reality it is more about the choices and events that led to the creation of the family and the focus is primarily on the parents and their pasts, and of course, the idea of forgiveness. The direction was a little unexpected, but I enjoyed it and felt the novel was the right balance of intriguing/entertaining, but still with a message. The only real critique I would have is that if the reader is at all familiar with Huntington's Disease, it is obvious very early on that there is something the book is not addressing, which ultimately makes the reveal less of a surprise and more of a "finally" type moment.

I couldn’t put this book down. Does the worst thing you have ever done define you? Should people who have taken a life be forgiven? These are important questions that are explored. I loved the characters with all their faults and loved watching them grow. I highly recommend this book.

In the debut novel Penitence, author Kristin Koval weaves an emotionally complex story of tragedy, forgiveness, and redemption.

Two families are linked together from a series of tragic events, and they are forced to confront their shared pasts and guilt, seeking forgiveness and redemption.

Angie DeLuca and Julian Dumont were high school sweethearts in Lodgepole, Colorado. When a tragic accident occurs on the ski slopes, their families decide to separate them. They carry the guilt of the accident with them through the years, and the secret that they were still together away from their families while living in New York City. Dealing with their shared past along with a series of issues: Julian's drinking and his preoccupation with his law career, eventually drove Angie to leave Julian and return home in September 2001. Fast-forward to October 2016, another tragic event brings Angie and Julian back together, not only to deal with the tragic murder in Angie's family, but also to deal with unresolved issues from their shared past: long-held secrets, guilt, and betrayal, in order to seek forgiveness and redemption.

In Penitence, author Kristin Koval weaves a gut-wrenching tale that engages the readers to follow along as Angie and Julian's story unfolds with a strong emotional pull. There is plenty of drama, long-held secrets, trials and tribulations, life challenges, and unresolved family issues that they are forced to face. The story is told in the alternating past and present timeline, and the reader is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride and will experience the full gamut of emotions as both tragic events unfold, and how it effects Angie, Julian, and their families. You can't help but feel for them as the trauma of their past resurfaces, and how they must resolve it with a hope for true forgiveness and redemption.

Penitence is a compelling story of forgiveness, especially when people deal with loss, grief, guilt, and long-held secrets.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover copy from my monthly subscription to Book Of The Month.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/03/penitence-by-kristin-koval-book-review.html

I'm surprised by some of the lower ratings for this novel. I found it pretty profound, raising important questions about juvenile crime, the impact of crime within a family, and the juvenile justice system as a whole. Most importantly, about half way through the novel, I thought it was moving toward a neat and tidy ending that would make things seem a little better. It did not, earning loads of respect. In my opinion, this is well worth your time. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.