I really enjoyed this book! I'll link to the review later once I put it up, but I thought it was a magnificent debut. good character work, strong relationship building, & ethical dilemmas. there was a tad bit of predictability and the ending felt a little too rushed for me in the confrontation with Julian and Angie, but otherwise I recommend it! reminded me of Jodi Picoult.

When the unimaginable happens, Angie and David must find a way to defend their 13 year old daughter from the crime that she just committed against her own brother. Angie must also face her past when her ex-boyfriend plays a pivotal role in the legal process, bringing about buried traumas and a search for the closure that was never obtained.

This book was captivating and well-paced. The depictions of the characters were nuanced and authentic. The focus of the book is not on the crime itself but rather the intricacies of familial relationships, past connections, and finding forgiveness in the most impossible situations.

PENITIENCE is an ideal companion to this seemingly endless winter season: set in snowy rural Colorado, this mystery is propulsive while still filled with depth.

The story opens when thirteen year-old Nora kills her fourteen year-old brother, Nico. Nora’s parents, David and Angie, seek legal counsel from the rural town’s best known lawyer, Martine, who is on the brink of retirement and not well versed in murder trials. Martine calls her son, a famed NYC defense attorney, Julian, for back-up. To make things even juicier, Julian and Angie have a deep romantic history.

PENITENCE reminded me of old school Jodi Picoult, the courtroom drama mystery novels I devoured on summery holidays in middle and high school. I similarly devoured this one; I looked forward to picking it up each night and to my commutes with the audiobook.

Kristin Koval executes a dual timeline brilliantly in this novel, with one timeline focusing on Angie and Julian’s history and the other focusing on the present day murder of Nico. The structure develops the key players, keeps the story propulsive, and strengthens the emotions behind the mystery.

I love nothing more than a mystery that goes beyond the blueprint set for the genre, and PENITENCE certainly does that. Though the pacing is propulsive, it is largely a character-driven novel. There are captivating family dynamics, the relatably powerful emotions of first love, discussion of the power of forgiveness, and commentary on the American legal system.

This is not, however, a perfect novel. The plot is scattered at times, the character development is inconsistent throughout, and there are elements left unresolved. It is, though, a strong and solid debut that kept me highly entertained. I’ll be on the lookout for whatever Kristin Koval writes next.

When a devastating shooting takes place in the home of Angie and David, both of their children are lost to them in the blink of an eye. Turning to a local lawyer, Martine Dumont, for help, the past rears its head and Angie is soon not only trying to save her daughter, but she is also in the throes of the past. Martine is the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a love that ended tragically. Martine is on the verge of retirement and doesn’t feel qualified to take on the case. She soon is calling on Julian to come help. Everyone must confront the past and present in this character driven debut. Broken relationships, trusts and hearts are at the center of this story, but will there be any reconciliation and forgiveness before we reach the ending? This book is written in different timelines and had me riveted from start to finish. Both past and present storylines were strong, which doesn’t always happen. The ending wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but fit right in with the rest of the story. Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This book had me all over the place. From the start, when I couldn’t stop reading, to parts where I felt I couldn’t keep reading, until the end, I was everywhere. This book, wow. Angie & David Sheehan’s lives are broken, the night their daughter kills their son. She is 13 years old and she shoots her brother dead, in their home. They don’t know who to turn to, so they reach out to an estranged friend, who happens to be a lawyer. Martine Dumont, isn’t just a lawyer, she is the mother of Angie’s first love. She isn’t the right person to handle this case, so she leans on her son. Who is a criminal defense lawyer in New York City. Julian comes to town to help Angie and her daughter and they must confront their past and make the best of the present. This novel spans declares. It has many different side stories but the author does a great job at connecting them all. There are lies, heartaches, grief and sadness. But even with this sad undertone, there is hope. That is why, this book had all the feels. It had some twists and turns and an ending, I didn’t see coming. I want to thank Netgalley & Kristin Koval for my copy of Penitence, for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this story.

Penitence is a family drama/mystery/crime story that is able to draw the reader in like a high speed chase as we examine the characters' emotions and try to solve the case.

Kristin Koval's writing in this court drama filled family narrative echoed of Liana Moriarty and Jodi Picoult virtuosic qualities for me.

The story opens with a shooting. Thirteen year old Nora has shot her fourteen year old brother, Nico, not just once, but three times - all three shots point blank in their home. Nora herself calls 911 and reports the shooting.

The two siblings were only eleven months apart; they were very close in their "Irish twin" relationship; and Nico, previously very outing and athletic, had recently been diagnosed with Huntington's disease.

There aren't too many lawyers in the small, touristy ski town of Lodgepole, CO (where the majority of the story is set) so 70 year old and nearing retirement lawyer, Martine, is called to defend the case. Criminal law is certainly not her specialty, and she knows she is going to need expertise to defend Nora properly. At the urging of Nico and Nora's father, David, she asks her son, Julian, a lawyer in NY entering his twentieth year of practicing criminal law to come home to Lodgepole and argue the case.

Now, we as the reader are presented with so many juicy tidbits in the exposition of this story. Julian and Nora's mother, Angie, dated for years while both growing up in Lodgepole. There was a traumatic incident that occurred while they were dating in their teens that prompted Martine, Julian's mother, to send her son off to NY to live with his grandmother to complete his senior year in high school and also to attend college in the NY area. Lo and behold, Angie left Lodgepole upon graduating from high school to pursue an art degree in NY. Both of their mothers were adamant about the two not seeing each other, which guess what...they did see each other for years.

In her twenties, Angie is called back to Lodgepole because of her father's diagnosis of and later death from cancer. She finally decides to stay in her hometown and help her opinionated and stern mother, Livia, run the family's Italian restaurant. She is comforted during this time by old high school acquaintance, David, who she soon marries after returning to her hometown.

Fast forward approximately 15 years to now, the time of the crime. So much has changed, yet so much hasn't. Angie and now husband, David, still live in Lodgepole - in fact, in the very house where Angie was raised. Stern and opinionated Livia is now in a nursing home in the last stages of Alzheimer's. Strangely, it is Angie husband, David, who contacts not only Martine to represent Nora, but then also encourages her to ask Julian to assist.

This book is just infused with so many secrets. They will reveal themselves, some sooner than others, but what impact will they have on the case and on the lives of its participants?

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of family saga - of crime, of consequences, of forgiveness, of retribution, of penitence. I will be honest though...I kept waiting for one more final reveal, one that would tie everything up nicely. That never came, but I think in asking for that, I was asking for too much, for tragedies such as these are not meant to be nicely tied up in a bow.

If you enjoy family drama/crime/mystery, definitely read Penitence. Thank you, Net Galley and Celadon Books, for this alluring ARC.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the Advanced Reader Copy of Penitence by Kristin Koval. I participated in the Read Together Program and enjoyed that. Angie experienced a great tragedy when she was 17 when her sister was killed in a skiing accident. Her son Nico has been diagnosed with Huntingdon’s disease at age 14, another awful tragedy. Then, her daughter Nora shoots and kills Nico. Nora goes to prison, and Angie is brought back in contact with Julian, her old boyfriend who was there when her sister died, and who is now a criminal lawyer. There is a lot to this story. I really liked the characters, and the whole quiet mystery effect. Great relationship building, family ties, and many many questions. #penitence #kristinkoval #readtogether #celadonbooks #huntingdonsdisease #gunviolence #bookstagram #lovetoread #readersofinstagram @booksandpenns @lisa8220 @runiechica4 @mkreads26 @celadonbooks @kristinkovalwriter

Ugh. Maybe the problem is I’ve read very similar books that execute this premise WAY better, but I found this so deeply tedious and shallow. It just doesn’t work.

Are you only as good as the worst thing you've done?

The Sheehan family lives in a small Colorado town, in the same house in which the mother Angie grew up. They have been struggling with two burdens of late, caring for Angie's mother Livia who is living with Alzheimer's and the even more devastating diagnosis of her fourteen year old son Nico with Juvenile Huntington's disease. Angie is the caregiver for both her mother and her son, which doesn't leave much time left over for her thirteen year old daughter Nora...but Nora has always been closer to her father anyway, or so Angie justifies things. Nico's prognosis is dire and has taken a toll on everyone in the family, but no one predicted the events of one October night. That is the night that Nora took her father David's gun from the gun safe, shot Nico three times, and called 9-1-1 to tell the responder that she had just killed her brother. Now Nora is locked up at a juvenile detention center awaiting trial, Nico is dead, and Angie and David are growing further and further apart as they assign blame and try to make sense of the senseless act. The principal lawyer in town is Martine, who used to be Livia's best friend back when Angie was close to Martine's son Julian. The two young people were high school sweethearts until a tragic occurrence ripped the families apart...and would eventually be the underlying cause of Angie and David's later breakup as well. How much grief can one person, or one family, stand? Why would a girl who loved her brother as much as Nora did Nico kill him? And by bringing first Martine, and later Julian (now an accomplished NYC attorney), back into their lives, are Angie and David inviting wounds and secrets from the past to be reopened?
Penitence is a devastating novel to read, rife with guilt, bad choices, and the effects that past events have on people long after those events have occurred. So many of the richly drawn characters in this story have secrets which they have kept from those they loved, sometimes with the best of intentions but generally resulting in unanticipated (and negative) results. The story begins with the bare facts from the night of the shooting, offering a brief introduction to each of the main players, and goes back in time first leading up to that night and later reaching back further both to the day that Angie's younger sister died and to the circumstances leading up to Angie and Julian's breakup. There are so many questions posed...when one child in a family kills another, how should the parents treat the child who killed? Can you forgive and love one without betraying the other? How does a community look upon those parents? Who is to blame? What effects can living with guilt have upon a person, even if it is kept hidden? While the pacing of the book slows down at different times, it was hard as a reader to look away as I observed the devastation felt by the family, the gulf that opened up between Angie and David, the flaws of the legal system for juveniles, and more. While the one question I hoped most would be answered was left up to the reader's interpretation, I found Penitence to be a gripping if dark novel, one that will appeal to authors like Angie Kim, Celeste Ng, and Ann Patchett. My thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for allowing me access to this debut from author Kristin Koval in exchange for my honest review,

"Penitence" is the debut novel of author Kristin Koval. Angie and David Sheehan's 13 year old daughter murders her older brother one night. They call in local attorney Martine Dumont to defend their daughter because of financial constraints even though she isn't qualified. She in turn calls in her estranged son Julian who just happens to be Angie's ex-boyfriend and a criminal defense attorney.

This novel has two timelines including the present when the upcoming court case is coming up. The second is flashbacks of when Angie and Julian were dating in late high school, college in NY, and up until their break up.

I was very engaged with this novel until the last page. Please read this if you are a fan of character driven books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advanced digital copy of the book.

Penitence starts with the murder of a teenager in a small ski town in Colorado. We know immediately who committed the crime; the remainder of the book explores the why and how the characters got to where they are. There is a bit of a mystery involved, but this novel is really more of a slow burn family drama. The few "twists" are pretty well laid out throughout the novel and are not a surprise. I am so impressed this is a debut novel. I thought she did a great job of showing a very complex situation from many viewpoints. There were several times I wondered what I would do in that situation. I really enjoyed this story that is ultimately about forgiveness, love, guilt, how to live and move on after a traumatic event. 4.25 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced e copy.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an advance reader's copy of this book. Unfortunately at this time I will be unable to read it and give it the attention it requires. I will return to the book and provide a review at the earliest possibility.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

• literary fiction
• heavy themes
• family secrets

Wow, what a heavy story. There are a lot of complex character dynamics - it is definitely a character-driven plot. The audiobook narrator did an excellent job of evoking emotion. I think I was left wanting a little more from the ending, but this is a very strong debut!

🗣 Thank you to netgalley, Celadon Books and macmillan.audio for the opportunity to read and review this book via both gifted eARC and audio! All opinions are honest and my own.

The nature of evil, if we are by nature corrupt, or redeemable, is at the heart of this novel. Do the choices we make define us forever? What if we choose to do evil for reasons we believe are for the better? What if the perpetrator is a juvenile? Should they be adjudicated as adults if the crime is murder?

Two families linked by love and pain. Two childhood friends become secret lovers, both complicit in a tragic, accidental death. They move away for school, still secretly together. But guilt consumes the man, who self medicates with alcohol. The woman returns home to care for her aging parents, unable to tell them about her boyfriend. She becomes involved with another man, and leaves her soul mate who forges a career in law, defending juveniles accused of crimes, gets a grip on his drinking, and marries.

Years later, the woman’s daughter shoots her brother and calls 911, admitting her crime. She loved her brother, who suffered from juvenile onset Huntington’s disease. The mother turns to the town lawyer, the mother of her past boyfriend–who is contacted by her husband for help.

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve done.” from Penitence by Kristin Koval

As these characters grapple with the past and the present, truths emerge. “Memory and truth are twisted sisters,” a character knows.

The DA has an election coming up, and is intent on charging the girl as an adult, showing he is tough on crime. He doesn’t care if she is thirteen, or has mental health issues. He only sees a hardened, irredeemable, criminal, supporting a criminal system built on retribution and punishment.

This emotional, heartbreaking, story is a page turner with depth and purpose. The issue at its heart is something I have struggled with after a local school shooting revealed the shooter's dysfunctional family.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

Unfortunately this book was a DNF at 15% in. I was incredibly bored and didn't care about any of the characters. I think the fact it was written in third person. For a topic like this, first person would have been way more impactful, in my opinion.

Thank you netgalley for the ears in exchange for an honest review.

Character driven, and some characters were more fully developed than others. Julian was the only fully developed character. Nora, her mother, father, and her grandmother could have made a better story. It's almost as if they were stick figures. I completed reading thinking that the story would fall in and eventually ring true, but it didn't. Readers are hit over the head with a shovel on the meaning of the title,, but I feel the only penitence is paid by Nora. Emotional but not engaging.

I knew when I saw the cover that I was going to at least enjoy this book and when I saw it was also a choice for Book of the Month, I knew I was really going to like it... and I wasn't wrong.

Penitence starts with an extremely serious topic: fratricide. From there, it goes down many paths involving relationships, especially broken ones, as the parents of the daughter who killed her brother (aka their son) must be at once victims and family of the perpetrator.

The additions of ghosts of the family's past (the lawyer and her son, who not coincidentally dated the mother of the siblings in earlier life) just complicates matters and brings even more cracks into these already tenuous relationships.

The question is never did the girl do it, as she was the one who called 911 to report her own crime, but instead why. My only gripe with this book was not the slow burn but that we never got even a hint of an answer to this question. Was it her mental health? Was she giving her brother mercy from his terminal illness? I wish I could tell you. I do understand that is probably the reality of the situation, but it just left it a bit unresolved for me as I turned the final page.

Despite this, I would highly recommend picking up this beautifully written book and see if you can figure out better than I why it doesn't matter why.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing this digital review copy in exchange for my honest review.

GENRE: literary suspense
VERDICT: elite status
MOOD: 😫😭😐🥺

PENITENCE grabbed my attention from the very first page and didn't let go until the very last. It's been a long time since I've felt so immersed in a book, let alone such a powerful story. I didn't know anything about it prior to beginning and I think it's best to know as little as possible so I'll keep it brief!

The writing style? Stunning. The characters? Flawed and complicated. The storyline? Heartbreaking and believable. Koval weaves together years of secrets and history between two families from a ski town in Colorado. With these connected families, you witness past/present tragedies & experience all of the emotions that come with it: grief, guilt, hope, blame, love and most importantly, forgiveness. Penitence is defined as "the action of feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentance." I think it goes without saying, check your TWs if you're concerned because things get heavy fast.

One thing I particularly loved was knowing the perspective of every character throughout. It really made me FEEL for them and contributed to their overall growth. I found it compelling to see how each navigated their battle with forgiveness differently, especially given the gravity of the shocking realities they faced.

I'd compare my reading experience to that of an Angie Kim, Celeste Ng or Jodi Piccoult book; however, it was still uniquely its own. Due to the setting, I found it to be the perfect wintertime read. Also, this would make an excellent book club choice!

A brilliant debut about the decisions that we make and how they affect us- are we more than the worst thing we’ve ever done?

After a shocking murder, a past incident is brought to the forefront as the involved parties are inner connected. How will family loyalty and forgiveness play out as the juvenile criminal just system is navigated in this page turner!

I absolutely enjoyed this read and did not want to put the book down. This book was not on my radar but the week before its release I started to see raving reviews and media for the upcoming release. I was thrilled to be able to read this book because it is definitely a highlight for my 2025 reads!

I’m am so grateful Celadon Books reached out with an opportunity to read this amazing book via NetGalley and that you to the author, Kristin Koval, for such a stand out read!

The drama of Penitence, by Kristin Koval, pulls you in immediately. The story opens right after Angie and David’s 13-year-old daughter, Nora, shoots their 14-year-old brother, Nico, to death, then calls 911, then stops speaking to any one. The only lawyer in town is Martine, the mother of Angie’s ex-boyfriend, Julian. Julian also happens to a successful lawyer, who comes back from NYC to help defend Nora. As the characters try to understand and cope with what’s happened.

The pacing is weird, but I can’t quite put my finger on what wasn’t working for me. There’s a lot of repetition, and a jerky back-and-forth between different timelines and viewpoints. For example, Angie keeps saying how her kids were so close, and how maybe she could have spent more time with Nora. This makes sense for Angie’s character, naturally she’s thinking constantly on the shooting and trying to make sense of it, but it’s not compelling reading after we’ve been over it 10,000 times. Another example of weird repetition is how everyone in the novel thinks and talks about how difficult Livia, Angie’s mother, could be. Again, it makes perfect sense for everyone in the small town to know this and everyone who encountered her to think about this… but it’s not interesting to read over and over.

This repetition makes some of the reveals feel strange, too. We readers know Nico was suffering from a rare disease that no one else in the family has, so when there’s a big paternity shock for characters, it’s the opposite of shocking for readers. It was interesting who announces it to whom, at least.

There is a rhythmic feel to Penitence, with each chapter ending on a different character musing on their life. Some of these are natural and moving, and some of them felt like heavy-handed, freshman-comp symbols. The moments felt realistic for each character — it made perfect sense for Julian to look out over the mass of lights representing all the human stories in NYC, or for Nora to crumple up her artwork — but knowing that each chapter was going to end on an Important Symbol added to the strange uneven pacing, which detracted from the story.

Overall, I had the strange feeling that I was reading a jerky rough draft of an amazing future novel. There’s a real eye for detail here, and the narrative explores forgiveness in different forms, for different characters, without an easy resolution. But strange pacing and a few heavy-handed moments kept me from falling fully into the story.