This was a tough read because of the serious subject matter, but it was well-written. It kept me engaged and caring about the characters. I’d definitely read more by this author.

This story is tragic and deep. Most times dark and sad. Nora, a 13 year old girl shoots and kills her brother. Now a mother and father has to navigate life with a child that is murdered and a child that is the murderer. While burying one, and trying to support the other at court hearings you see how they cope, place blame, self soothe and try to carry on. The lawyer defending Nora is her mother's ex-boyfriend from long ago. You do get their back story from the past which involves a separate tragic incident. And secrets from that incident carries on through current times. There was a twist in the story which was very welcomed, almost like you were reading a mystery. It made me even more interested to keep turning the pages. In the end you find out if forgiveness can be attained. You can put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself if you could act in the same way as they did. Thank you Celadon Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy. I really enjoyed this debut novel by Kristin Koval.

What an amazing debut novel!! Penitence by Kristin Koval grabbed my attention with the first paragraph; the richly drawn, complex characters and the complex, interlacing storyline kept me riveted throughout. This is one of my favorite reads of the year!

Thirteen-year-old Nora Sheehan has murdered her 14-year-old brother Nico. Their parents, Angie and David, struggle to come to grips with the horrific shock of knowing their daughter has deliberately killed their son as they try to get help for their daughter. David turns to neighbor and lawyer Martine Dumont for help with Nora's defense. Martine, a small-town lawyer who knows a murder trial is out of her expertise, asks her son Julian, a NYC criminal defense attorney (and Angie's first love) to assist in the case.

This dark and emotional read is a story of two families told in two timelines (with a family tragedy happening in each of them) from the POV of most of the main characters. It looks at family loyalty, grief, loss, anger, blame, guilt, remorse, regrets, redemption and forgiveness.

This powerful debut novel is beautifully written and executed. I look forward to reading Kristin Koval's next book!

My thanks to Celadon Books for allowing me to access a DRC of this novel via NetGalley. Publication is 1/28/25. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

This book was a lot! What a first novel - complex, dark and overall well written. Koval obviously understands the dark and light of humans deeply. While I didn’t find myself championing any of the characters, you are left with a feeling of hope for each and everyone of them. This is a long and detailed book but at the end you will find yourself challenged and reflecting on humanity. It’s not an easy read, but it’s worthwhile. Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read Penitence in exchange for an honest review.

Penitence will pull you into the story from the first paragraph!
Angie and David Sheehan live in their small Colorado hometown, and have been peacefully raising their two children, Nico and Nora. After a heartbreaking medical diagnosis, they regroup, with Angie refocusing all of her energies on her sick child.
But, then, the unspeakable happens: 13 year old Nora fatally shoots her 14 year old brother. My expectation was that the focus would be on the two children, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, Penitence takes a deeper look at the stories of Angie and David, Martine (their neighbor and lawyer), and Julian, Martine’s son and Angie’s former partner.
I felt there was a missed opportunity for education about Huntington’s disease. Nico was introduced to us suffering from this fatal illness, but his story was only on the periphery. The combination of illness, legal matters, and strong character development did, however, remind me of the earlier style and subject matter tackled by Jodi Picoult.
Penitence definitely didn’t go in the direction I expected, but it was still a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Koval. Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read Penitence in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts off looking like a legal thriller but it is really a character driven novel of love, recovering from tragedy, and forgiveness. I struggled with the slow pace of the story as well as the abundance of broken characters. Although the characters were all fully developed, I didn't like any of them. The story was well written, and sometimes very moving, but it progressed at such a snail's pace that I had trouble concentrating on the multitude of subplots and flashbacks. I admit that I may be in a minority in my judgement and that maybe this book just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an advanced reader copy.

I was intrigued by the description of this debut novel, so I was excited to be approved for an ARC from NetGalley (thank you!). I was immediately drawn into this family drama. I thought the author did a phenomenal job of developing the characters, and I enjoyed the way she told the story in dual timelines. Despite being centered around a murder, this is not a mystery; it is a poignant story of family tragedy. I look forward to Koval’s next novel!

"Penitence" by Kristin Koval is a difficult and heart-wrenching read. Readers who are sensitive to books with plots that include the death of a child, dementia, or childhood trauma/violence will probably want to steer clear of this one. I don't want to give any of the plot away, but I can say that this is a very heavy read that will break your heart over and over. The characters and plot are very well-developed, especially for a debut. The story is complex and rich, weaving together several related storylines of loss, secrets, forgiveness, and redemption. This book would make an excellent book club pick as the moral issues the characters face will lead to lively discussions. This book was particularly interesting to me as a former criminal defense attorney, but anyone interested in the criminal justice system or in family dramas will want to add this book to their TBR list. This tear jerker is filled with flawed but very realistic characters that any reader will recognize in their friends and neighbors. At first, I was a little disappointed with the ending, but the more I thought about it (and think about it I did-I can't get this book off my mind), I came to the conclusion that the ending is exactly right.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this wonderful book. More please, Ms. Koval!

thank you net galley for the arc.this was an emotinal and powerful read. nora shoot her brother who was just diagnosed with huningtons diesease.and her mom ex boyfreind comes from new york to help with the case.

Penitence is one of those books that grabs you from the beginning and never lets go. A young teen girl shoots and kills her brother. The story goes back and forth from past to present with insight into the family dynamics and and the parent’s past history. There is much drama with this family’s trauma of loosing one child to a violent death and another child who is facing a long prison time for the murder of her brother.
The final question of why this tragedy actually happened is never revealed. I was disappointed and a little frustrated with the ending. For that reason I gave it four stars instead of five.

3 stars-Nora shoots and intentionally kills her brother who has been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. That was what caught my attention. Why did she shoot her brother? What was her life like up until the trial? I was bummed that Nora was really just a minor character and plot in the story. This book was really about her mom, Angie, and her mom’s boyfriend from the past, Julian. Angie’s husband hires Julian’s mom to represent Nora for the murder. And…Julian just happens to be a criminal defense lawyer. So we get SO MUCH (mostly uninteresting) backstory of the two and their parents…and I flipped some pages. Still backstory…more pages flipped. I would have liked to have seen this written in multiple POV’s and for the story to center around Nora. Those are my thoughts, many other reviewers have loved this book. I think my expectations about what it was not matching what it turned out to be made this one a miss for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

For a book that overall moves slowly it packs a series of emotional punches. I started this one on audiobook and I liked the narrator a lot. I thought it made the story move a little better actually. I moved to the physical book because I wanted to finish it quickly. This is a book of a series of moral questions and I’m not sure I agree with where any of them landed, but that’s life and it’s grey and messy. Nora who is only thirteen shoots and kills her brother (who had just been diagnosed with Huntington’s) and then calls 911. Despite signs of a mental health crisis she is charged as an adult and her mother’s ex-boyfriend comes from New York to help with her defense. This book was beautiful but in all of the saddest ways even if it’s trying to explore the idea of forgiveness. It was a great book and I would definitely read more by this author.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I wasn't taken with this book or the storylines. A sister shoots her brother, small town, lawyer with a past/connection to the town, etc. I felt like the character development was a little all over the place and this one just didn't grab me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

This book was complex and messy, which is a really good thing as a reader this type of fiction. This story has several primary characters and 2 alternating timelines with some backstory of the supporting characters. The topics are heavy, but the characters felt real. They made terrible decisions, they were unlikable at times, but they felt human.

The author was able to weave several supporting plots into the main plot in a way that enriched the characters rather than provide distraction. I really do wish that we got more into Nora's motivation and her thought process. We got some explanation and also had to do some guessing with her. While her actions were central to the book, I felt we should have had more discussion around her and what she did.

Wow, what a wild ride this book was! I was super excited to read it because of the dual Colorado (where I live now) and New York (where I was born and raised) settings, and the mysteries behind the two tragedies intrigued me. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. I was heartbroken for many of the characters throughout the whole book, and got so angry at some of the decisions they made. I didn’t love how a few things were never explained, and I guessed a few of the big twists well before their reveals, but I still really enjoyed it. Each character felt rich and well-developed, and I really felt like I was in the vividly-described locations - the industrial, isolated, juvenile detention center, the sunny but cold and snow-filled ski slopes, the picturesque town of Lodgepole, and the varying neighborhoods of New York City. I would highly recommend this book and hope to read more by this author soon!

This is the story of secrets, heartbreak and guilt that will tear everyone
in its path apart~without consideration for how much grief each of us can be
expected to endure.
This is the book you read and you’re positive this actually has happened
to someone known to the Author~it’s just so well,written with so much
insight, and in such a way that everything, every person, every word
is actually alive and the consequences are real. And, you expect
to hear that the whole thing is a huge misunderstanding.
And, it is not…
This is a stratospheric debut! I highly recommend this book.
My thanks to Celadon Books via NetGalley for the
download copy of the book for review purposes.

A powerful and emotional tale of a family and the tragic events the surround them. I wasn't sure what I thought of this book, but by the end I found this to be a book that left a profound impact on me. The characters are deeply flawed and complex and yet resonate. Some of the thoughts on family and parenting were beautiful and profound. I don't know that it is a book for everyone, but it is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.

How do we punish the guilty? If we’re guilty, how do we atone? For some crimes, it feels like no sentence is adequate. Nothing we do to the guilty will restore what was lost. The US justice system is a punitive one, to the point where AI has been used to create “risk assessments” and sentencing guidelines for people convicted of crimes. Kristin Koval’s novel, Penitence, wrestles with the unfairness of a system that wields a sledgehammer in every violent case, regardless of mental health, drug use, and other mitigating factors.

Our primary protagonist, Martine Dumont, is used to taking on cases that no other defense attorney will. She is notorious in the town of Lodgepole, Colorado, because of her belief that everyone deserves representation and as fair a trial as possible. That reputation causes David Sheehan to wake her up in the wee hours of the morning on his daughter’s behalf. That very night, Nora shot her brother, Nico. Nora hasn’t said a word since she killed her brother. There is no doubt that she did so. Apart from her father, everyone in Lodgepole behaves as though Nora has been tried, convicted, and sentenced. Martine recognizes her lack of experience in criminal law and calls in her son, Julian, to help. Unlike Martine, who mostly does divorces, wills, and other small-town law, Julian specializes in helping teenagers, especially those who are going to be tried as adults.

I thought that this plotline would be the major focus of Penitence; surely that’s enough story for any novel, right? Early in the book, there are hints that Julian and Nora’s mother, Angie, bear a lot of guilt for the death of Angie’s little sister. (It doesn’t take long for us to get the whole story.) After the ball gets rolling on Nora’s case, Koval gives us extended scenes from Julian’s past, his doomed relationship with Angie, how he became dedicated to juvenile criminal cases, and why he avoids Lodgepole as much as possible. There are also scenes in which Angie talks to her mother, now speechless from dementia, about how torn she is between grief and anger for her children. How is she supposed to feel when her son is dead and her daughter, the guilty party, is in prison? How can she fight for a daughter who took away her son? Especially when there doesn’t seem to be any reason Angie can see?

I was frustrated by how much of the book was about Julian rather than Nora. I never quite got to the bottom of Nora’s character or her motivation. I think I know what happened but I wished we’d spent more time in Nora’s mind rather than Julian’s, who I found much easier to figure out and, therefore, much less interesting. Penitence was a miss for me, in spite of the potential I saw in its premise.

Penitence grabbed my attention from the first page - it opens with Nora Sheehan sitting in a jail cell after shooting her brother, Nico. The Sheehan family lives in a small town in Colorado and they don't have many choices for legal representation so they turn to Martine who has a history with Nora's mother. And from there the story unfolds in a dual timeline. We follow Nora and her family's legal battle and we see the history of Nora's mother and her old boyfriend, Martine's son. This was a really bleak and heartbreaking novel and I honestly had to pace myself because I just felt sad every time I sat down with it. But it's also a beautifully written page-turner. I feel like this is the perfect blend of thriller and litfic. Thanks so much to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Penitence.

Penitence is suspenseful yet emotional, mystery with human depth, horror yet compassion. In her debut novel, Koval delves into several moral dilemmas with poignant and realistic insights.
“You are more than the worst thing you’ve ever done.”
Two devastating tragedies decades apart affect two families in a small Colorado town, permanently altering their lives.
This isn’t a just a murder mystery. It’s a deep dive into the choices and mistakes made by the characters, the ramification of those choices, and the consequences of the lies they told to themselves and others and the impact on the rest of their lives.
It’s a heavy read. My heart broke for each of the characters and the mistakes they made and then the consequences of those decisions. The characters are deeply developed and realistically flawed.
I companion listened to this novel, expertly narrated by Therese Plummer. Her narration set the tone and expressed the emotions perfectly without any over dramatization.
This would make an excellent choice for a book club read, with much to discuss!
Celadon’s books are an auto read for me. They choose the most exceptional books to publish!