THE PLOT: ‘Penance’ by Eliza Clarke is a novel about a teenage girl who is burned alive by her school friends on the night of the 2016 Brexit referendum. Written as a factual account of the incident, the book is presented from the point of view of a journalist investigating the tragedy. Set in Crow-On-Sea, a northern English seaside town with a close-knit conservative community, the murder investigation reveals allegations of sexual abuse, community cover-ups and disturbing online forums that glorify school shootings. But the real question is whether we can trust our journalist narrator and how much of his account is true?

RATING:  This book started with a bang and I honestly thought it could be my top read of the year but, sadly, it ended with a whimper. I cannot overstate how much I loved this book at the start. From the first page I was fully invested because there were so many curiosity seeds and I didn’t know who to trust. The murder is shrouded in mystery and the added layers of the creepy community and Brexit xenophobia created so much tension. I also loved the use of mixed media, with fake podcast transcripts and textbook excerpts that enrich the worldbuilding and misdirect the reader. Yet this novel failed to capitalise on all of the possible plot threads and didn’t resolve many elements, which I feel could’ve been brought together for a more satisfying story arc. Too much time was devoted to confusing tumblr and reddit posts, and it felt like the core story got lost along the way. With a five-star beginning and a two-star ending, I’m giving this four stars overall.

GOOD BITS: The first 100 pages of this book are perfect. I had a million theories about the central murder because there were so many different story threads and small clues to pick up on. The complex themes appeared to weave together perfectly, with nods to bullying, abuse and xenophobia that could all have been the motive. Utilising the “book within a book” format to its full effect, I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone, particularly not our narrator, which created such a strong atmosphere. Most importantly, this book made me think. It challenged my own biases and assumptions, as well as the idea of true crime as entertainment.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: Although I didn’t trust any characters, the use of mixed media and intricate plotting made me trust the author’s mastery of craft. Therefore, I felt even more let down when the story didn’t resolve a lot of threads. I’m not a reader who needs every question answered but a lot of tension was built in certain directions and then abandoned. I kept waiting for a climax or twist that never materialised, so the story stayed on the same pitch from the midpoint until the end. As much as I’m a 2012 Live Journal girlie, the book became too bogged down in Tumblr and Reddit, and lost sight of the core narrative.

*SPOILER ALERT*

These are specific criticisms and how I would’ve ended the story.

1. There needed to be another person involved in the murder. Someone who had not stood trial and was previously believed to be completely innocent. As the book makes so much of the wrongly accused ‘Girl D’ (Jayde), I feel like there should have been another ‘Girl D’ revealed at the end of her section. This could have been Lauren (potentially too obvious), Kayleigh (would’ve needed more characterisation) or a member of the Dowd family (as revenge for Aleesha’s death). This would provide the much-needed shock/twist moment but also feed into the unreliable narrator angle, with a footnote making clear there was no evidence and this was speculation by our fake journalist.
2. There needed to be a stronger link between the central murder and the ‘closed community’. The Violet assault storyline was easily missed as it was overshadowed by bigger events. This could have been tied into Vance Diamond and made into a bigger element that motivated the murder.
3. I think there needed to be a link between the journalists’ daughter and the main storyline. Bringing those threads together in an unusual way would have provided a twist for the reader and made the story feel more insidious. I think this could’ve been accomplished via linking their social media posts. Or, via a reveal in the final “interview” that the journalists’ daughter didn’t exist.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The Girls of Summer’ by Katie Bishop and ‘Big Little Lies’ by Liane Moriarty. With very dark themes, including sexual abuse, murder and torture, this is a book for those who love literary thrillers and unreliable narrators. Thank you to Sabs, Debs, Katie and Ruth for buddy reading this with me. This feels like a very British book and I’d be interested in different interpretations as there are a lot of niche references.