Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Netgallery, and Kristin Koval for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

Synopsis: Angie Sheehan must turn to her first love, Julian, to salvage what is left of her family following the murder of her son Nico. For all intents and purposes, Julian and Angie have moved on since their relationship ended. However, devastating unspoken truths still linger between them as a result of a tragic accident several years prior. Angie and Julian are forced to address their shared history, their own feelings of guilt, and forgiveness.

Themes: Grief, Family Dynamics, Forgiveness

What I liked: I work in juvenile justice and was taken aback by how accurate the storyline around the justice system was. I was so taken aback that halfway through the book I had to look up Koval's biography. Needless to say, I was not surprised to learn that she is a former attorney. I also really appreciated the way in which Koval quietly and slowly painted a picture for the reader about why people hide things in relationships and the impact things left unsaid can ultimately have on relationships.

Gripe: My only gripe is the narrator of the audiobook. Therese Plummer would often articulate parts of sentences which very annoyingly broke up the cadence of the story. For instance, she would read a sentence like "'No,' said Angie" as "No. Said Angie." I nearly stopped listening because I found it to be very distracting from the writing. However, Koval's writing and storyline was enough to keep me invested.

Overall: Definitely would recommend this to readers who are interested in complex storylines and themes related to forgiveness. However, if you're someone who gets distracted by narrators, I would hold out for when the book is published (e.g., physical, ebook).

What a beautifully tragic debut novel. The main story is about Nora who has seemingly killed her older brother that has Huntington's disease.  As her parents (Angie and David) begin to pick up the pieces of their lives, they hired a local lawyer (Martine) to defend Nora in court. When Martine tells them, the case is too much for her to handle, David asks that she seek the help of her son Julian, a New York lawyer that specializes in juvenile defendants. Julian is Angie's former boyfriend. This book was full of twists and turns. A crazy twist that I didn't see coming. Family drama at it best!

5 stars

The narrator, Therese Plummer, was great, She was able to deliver multiple characters superbly.  The production quality was phenomenal.

4.5 ⭐️ This wasn’t on my radar until I came across a flood of glowing reviews on Instagram, and I had to know why. The story reads like a Jodi Picoult book and follows a shattered family in the aftermath of something unthinkable. The author brings up heavy questions and incorporates challenging themes that makes you think and feel with the characters. If you like audiobooks, the audio, with a full cast, was gripping and full of emotion.

I cannot imagine having a child with chronic disease that would be the end of that child. What I cannot imagine beyond that is having that child murdered by my other one.

This was not the first time Angie lived through a tragedy. First her sister died and circumstances around her death were little unclear (no spoilers). Then her son was diagnosed with Huntington's. The final straw that broke the camel's back was her daughter shooting her son: not once, but three times. Nora was a great kid and no one could make sense why she would do such thing. Was she a psychopath or had some other mental problem that family failed to see? Was it a mercy killing? As police was taking Nora away for processing, Angie would have to face her past and come to terms with her past deeds.

What stuck with me from Nora's sentencing was how Angie thought Nora was the only innocent one in that room. Knowing the details of the story, I cannot stop thinking about that. I'm still not sure about why did she did what she did, but I'm sad to see a child going through enough to kill her own sibling.

Lies, deceit and family drama. Penitence shows what dishonesty can do to shatter relationships within families.

Angie and Julian have grown up loving each other until mistakes are made causing a horrible accident that will change the relationships with both families forever. The two young people part, living separate lives, Julian as a successful defense attorney and Angie leaves her budding artist career to raise her two children, now thirteen and fourteen. When one of her children murders the other, Julian comes to defend Angie’s surviving child. Angie struggles with loving a child who took the life of her other child. Julian has his own struggles with the past.

This was a well written family drama that kept the reader wanting to know what other secrets would be revealed.

The narrator, Theresa Plummer, was an excellent actor who made the change from each character smoothly and obvious.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the Advanced Reader Copy. I will recommend this novel to readers who enjoy a suspenseful family drama that deals with guilt of past sins. #NetGally #Penitence @Macmillan.Audio @MacmillanAudio

Add this one tou your To Read List for 2025! Publish date is 1/28. There is some mystery in this book but I would consider it more of a family drama. The book has the same feel as Commonwealth by Ann Patchett to me. The characters felt so real to me!

I listened to this one and the narration was great!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the early readers audio book in exchange for my honest review.

🎧4⭐️

This is a domestic drama which examines the complexities of familial loyalty and redemption.

I had the audiobook read by Thérèse Plummer who does a good job with the narration adding to my enjoyment.

Julian and Angie were young and in love, then an accident effectively caused their estrangement until they attended college, although they didn’t stay together in the long term. Years later they are drawn back into each other’s orbit by another devastating incident.

The current incident is the main focus of the book, but it explores the lives of the main characters in depth in both the present and past covering decades.

It has a decent mix of a plot with good complexity and character development, there’s enough going on with revelations to keep my interest. It’s relatively slow paced throughout with the pace dipping even more in areas. The themes covered are love, family relationships, guilt and repentance.

I wasn’t drawn to either Julian or Angie, I’m not sure why, my empathy went to David ( Angie’s husband) and their daughter Nora.

I enjoyed this book, although it didn’t quite give me what I was expecting and wanted, and incorporated an event which I didn’t think it needed at all.

It put me in mind of the style of Jodi Picoult, so think you might like this if you love her books.

Heart-strings are still recovering from this book.

This book epitomizes that we're more than our worst moment. Most of the characters are very sympathetic and brutally honest with the reader about the lies they have told and the consequences of said lies. So many things contributed to the situation these people are in, where a sister shoots and kills her brother, and while many elements of the past played a part, it also carves out a devastating path for the futures of all involved. Lots of inteconnected parts, pay attention, and you may figure out some of the secrets early on, but the book is unrelenting in its ability to evoke emotion.

Title: Penitence
Author: Kristin M.E. Koval (Debut Author)
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Therese Plummer
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Suspense, Family Drama
Audiobook Pub Date January 28, 2025
My Rating: 4.2 Stars
Pages: 320


Story takes place in Lodgepe, Colorado a small ski town
Angie and David Sheehan have two children thirteen year old daughter, Nora and fourteen year old son Nico. Angie is an art teacher and David a park ranger, Nico has always been active as well as an excellent skier. However once he learned he had juvenile Huntington’s disease his life as well as family’s changed. The nightmare the family was experiencing turned to a horror movie as Nico is now dead and Nora is responsible.

The Sheehan’s hire lawyer Martine Dumont, who is the best lawyer in Lodgep. However to add to this drama -Martine and Angie have history. Martine is the mother of Julian- Angie’s first love,
Angie and Julian were ‘THE’ couple in high school. And then something terrible that happened.

We learn Angie, Julian and Angie’s young sister Diana were out skiing when a tragic accident happened and Diana died. Ruled an accident when she hit a tree but guilt still follows both Angie and Julian.
Story goes back and forth between what is happening now and what happened nearly twenty years ago. Although the back story was somewhat slow I was curious and hang onto every word.
That might be due to audiobook performer Thérèse Plummer, one of my favorite narrators.

Things are looking bad for Nora and although Martine is working pro bono she doesn’t have a lot of experience. Daniel did research on her son Julian and saw he is one of New York City’s best criminal defense attorneys. Daniel asks Martine if perhaps her son might help.
Angie is furious with Daniel for asking. Julian is surprised about being asking and considers that helping Angie’s daughter might bring the release of guilt he has been carrying all these years

Nora kept me curious (I read a lot of thrillers and had an idea why she did it.)

No doubt the story stirs up many emotional, Felt terrible for Nora as well as Nico.
I was angry at times as well as liked and disliked these adults, with all their drama and secrets.
~Some of the secrets weren’t all THAT secretive. ~
However the entire story held my attention and I will definitely read another story by Ms. Koval.

I believe this story would be great for a book club discussion.

As for Penitence – I did look up the difference between penance and penitence…Penance refers to a prescribed act of atonement for sins, as guided by religious authority.
Penitence, however, is an internal state of remorse or regret for past wrongdoings, which can lead to acts of penance.

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and Celadon Books for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 28, 2025.

Beautifully written debut novel! The narration is perfect.
Penitence is a very well written dual timeline family drama with excellent character development. I look forward to future books by this author.

This was a really good book about mistakes and hidden secrets that destroy families. I would not call this a thriller though there is a murder in the beginning but rather than finding out some twist with the crime, you are given more of a peek into a family destroyed by losses. I found the audio really compelling and sped listened in about a day. Definitely one to look out for next year. I loved it.

Thirteen year old Nora shot her brother, Nico. No one knows why- even Nora. She can't remember. The murder of Nico brings people from Angie's (Nico and Nora's mother) past. Including her high school and college boyfriend and his mother, both attorneys. Everyone is tense as there are a lot of secrets among them. Can they all put their past aside to help Nora?

The premise of this book was kind of a mash up of older Jodi Picoult books. Style is very different, but the events are what made me think of books like Plain Truth and My Sister’s Keeper.

I really, really enjoyed it. I am not sure if all of the secrets were supposed to be surprise revelations, but they weren't. I knew instantly why Nora did it. I also knew Angie's secret immediately.

Being able to predict some future drama didn't make me enjoy the story any less.

Thérèse Plummer narrates and I always enjoy her narrations. I'm not sure she was the best fit for this book, but that may be because I am used to her narrating romance.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Huge thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook!

Title: Penitence
Author: Kristin Koval
Pub Date: January 28, 2025
Audiobook Narrator: Thérèse Plummer
Audiobook Length: 12 hrs, 13 mins

Wow- this book absolutely blew me away. I'm adding this to my list of mind-blowing debuts. This is a perfect example of why debut books excite me so much! This is the exact kind of book that I want to read, but finding an author capable of writing family dramas with this level of reality and depth is so rare. Kristin Koval just became an instant auto-read author for me!

I can't even begin to describe how well Koval captured so much of the human experience in this book. You can read the synopsis to see what the book is about on a surface level, but on deeper level this book is about everything that makes us human: relationships, fear, trauma, healing, redemption, forgiveness, anger, love, etc. etc. It's impossible to even put into words what Koval accomplished here.

As always, when there is a beautiful character-driven literally fiction/family drama story that also can be categorized as a mystery, there will be people that will go in expecting a mystery or a thrilling "gotcha" moment and be disappointed that "nothing happened". I can already see this happening and BEG you to go into this book with an open mind and try to take it out of a nice and tidy "genre box". In my opinion, the best books don't fit perfectly into a single genre because they are so much MORE than what is typically expected from a certain genre. In this case, this book is more than a genre label could give it .

This audiobook was 12 hours, but while I was listening to it it felt like no time passed at all because I was literally hanging on every word these character's spoke. The characters are messy people, many of them making terribly messed up choices, but I was so invested in what was happening to each and every one of them the entire time.

This book took me through such a wide range of emotions, so be prepared to feel everything from horror, sadness, disappointment, excitement, hope, and healing.

The book is called Penitence which is literally defined as "the action of feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentance." So be aware that there are some HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY things in this book that may be extremely upsetting for readers. If you have concerns, check CW.

As far as the audiobook itself, Thérèse Plummer was absolutely the perfect choice. She read with such emotion, it didn't feel like reading or even acting, it felt like she truly was one with the book. I absolutely recommend the audiobook version if possible!

Kristin Koval's stunning debut Penitence is the story of a family ripped apart the night that 13-year-old Nora shoots and kills her brother Nico. As their parents Angie and David struggle to support their daughter and mourn the loss of their son, we see that there were cracks in their happy life before the night that changed everything.

Angie's long lost love Julian is a successful lawyer in New York, and he has gotten the drinking that cost him their relationship under control. He flies back to Colorado to help his mother Martine, an attorney on the cusp of retirement, defend the desperate teenager who has no memory of what happened the night of the murder. Was it a mercy killing because 14-year-old Nico was suffering from Huntington's disease? Or was there more to it that Nora can't- or won't- recall?

Told in alternating time frames, from the ups and downs of Angie and Julian's relationship to Nora's sentencing to the accidental death of Angie's sister years ago, this is a beautiful and heartbreaking look at family, love, and secrets. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this powerful and unforgettable novel.

It's hard to talk about this one without spoilers -- but there were several very clever moves here. Recommended.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Wow wow wow!! Put this on your TBR peeps! One of the best books I’ve read this year. Complex family dynamics, betrayal, so many regrets, love and consequences. Amazing all around!
Narration was also perfect.

This book had a lot of secrets going on in it which I did not expect. The book focused more on Angie and her relationships with David and Julian and the parents of both. I wish there had been more written about Nora. I felt like the book was slow and not quite what I expected after reading the synopsis. Overall I the book was good. Does one bad think define us? Can we right our wrongs? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I give this a 3.5.

This novel is about the burden of secrets and their ability to either bind or rend families. It's told through a devastating killing in a small town as well as a death from a generation earlier. There is heart-wrenching detail about a child going through the criminal justice system. The author's background as an attorney grounds this in reality. It's a well-told story about complicated questions of fault with no easy answers. 4.5 rounded up.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #Penitence for review purposes. Publication date: Jan. 28, 2025.

This book has been placed in the “mystery” genre but it certainly isn’t a murder mystery. We know very quickly who died in each of the two timelines and who is responsible for the deaths so the mystery is “why” and “how”. This story is very complex and there are so many facets that seem designed to make the reader think about them even after finishing the book. Both timelines offer completely different but engaging stories and there’s a lot to unpack in both. This debut novel is very well written and offers aspects of mystery, complicated family of origin relationships, impossible romance situations, legal drama, ethical dilemma and so much more. So much going on in a fairly short and fast paced novel. I certainly wasn’t bored! I also enjoyed that the story doesn’t have a happy ending - situations like these characters deal with aren’t realistically wrapped up neatly and I appreciate this style of writing. I look forward to future books by this talented author. I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator was very good - engaging to listen to.

This was an interesting book. A small town murder, the accused is a teenage girl.

The blurb describes it as ‘a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness’. The murder and the trial is downplayed while the story goes deep into the lives, loves and relationships of the characters.

The characters are extremely well developed, thoughts, feelings and memories. There’s a tendency to flit through time so you need to pay attention. There are plenty of characters, and making a list or a family tree wouldn’t hurt.

While the murder / trial / life in juvenile detention aspects were initially the most appealing I did get into the larger story. Yes, it dragged a little in places but there are plenty of captivating moments and it all ties together really well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio