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.

Wow. I cannot believe that this is a debut novel. This is officially the first book I am putting on my "favorite books of the year" list, for 2025.

• The Plot: A 13 year old girl shoots her 14 year old brother and gets arrested. The book follows the mystery of what happened that night, what her motives were, and what the consequences of her actions are. It also examines the people around who are affected by the murder and their own personal journeys with penitence and forgiveness.

• The Characters: The characters were so well developed that I found myself completely engrossed in their feelings, my heart being torn out along with their own. Koval does such a great job at making you feel like you understood their choices, no matter how wrong they may seem externally, and the struggle that each character faced as a consequence of those choices. This book had me thinking to myself, on several occasions, what would I have done if I was in their shoes?

• The Themes: There were a couple of really interesting themes through the book.
- Choices - those that are a split second decision and those that are pondered over for perhaps too long.
- Consequences - those that are understood and those that are not. It questioned whether or not a consequence was deserved or was too harsh or too lenient.
- Judgement - who is the right person to pass judgement? The law? The individual? The church? Peers? What if the person who is passing the judgement doesn't have the ability to consider all the facts. Should it matter?
- Forgiveness - Forgiving yourself and forgiving others, and how that might look different from person to person.
- Penitence - The amount of sorrow, guilt, and regret that someone can feel for a wrong they have committed, or a wrong that they have been affected by.

• Who would I recommend this for? Anyone who enjoys fiction that makes you think, changes the way you perceive the world, and is not afraid to explore the tough questions.

• My rating: Five Stars. So well done. This was a beautiful tragedy on so many levels. It had layer after layer of depth and emotion and it was all wrapped up really well. Bravo to Koval! What a great read.

That was a beautiful story of grief, loss, and really how much someone can go through, and still move on. Also, the exploration of forgiveness. I would put this in more of the literary fiction pile than anything thriller. It's a tragic experience any normal family can go through. This story does jump timelines and lets us know of everyone's experiences through their life. It was written very well. Thank You Netgalley and Kritin Koval for the electronic ARC. I did wait for the Audio to tandem read, and I did like the narration of this book. Please be aware of the content in this book and your mental state as losing someone can be a trigger.

This debut effort about grief and family and the frustrations of moving forward in the midst of pasts that just won't let go is excellent. There are two major events that serve as touchpoints for the "past" and "present" storylines, both involving the death of children. The families involved in the books are linked through both of these tragedies, and through enduring relational connections. Koval does well in weaving the two narratives together, taking on specific issues of health and the criminal justice system in ways that feel both informed and well-integrated into the narrative. The writing is also excellent in terms of setting, both the rugged landscape of Colorado and the streets of New York. In the end, there are reckonings to be had by all, but there is also hope that grief can be endured, and maybe even transformed. Oh, and this book has one of the most vividly written accounts of 9/11 I've read.

A heartbreaking, powerful read!
Angie and David are raising their two teenage kids, Nico 14 and Nora 13. This family was recently dealt a devastating blow. A bombshell! One child dead...the other arrested for murder.

Needing the best representation, but not having the resources to do so, David takes a bold leap in asking Martine to help. A big ask. Martine’s son Julian and Angie were not only childhood sweethearts, but were involved in an earlier tragedy that tore the families apart, eventually separating the two young lovers as well.

This is a wrenching tale of love, loss, grief and rebuilding.

It’s a slow burn, taking you back to when Angie and Julian were teens themselves. Their paths through life crossing once again when the stakes are the highest.

🎧 Therese Plummer provided the narration and did an amazing job as always. I never felt the need for an additional narrator.

💻 I also occasionally switched to an available digital copy.

My personal preference was definitely the audio! This is one of those books/audios that you can lose yourself in as the story unfolds. I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to Celadon Books and MacMillan Audio

I really really wanted to love this one after all the good reviews I saw, but I just didn’t.

Penitence is a debut novel about the twisty lives of two once teenage lovers in the future. The choices Angie and Julian make as teenagers in love twist their story for the rest of the their lives. Drawing them back into each other’s lives when Angie’s daughter, Nora, kills her brother Nico.

I was drug into the story and wanted to know what happened with Nora, but that revelation was anticlimactic and not worth it. I struggled with the lack of showing and the amount of telling. I also didn’t feel with the characters like I wanted to. They weren’t real people because of the way the prose was written. This is definitely mis-genred as a mystery and thriller. It doesn’t encompass either of the characters of those genres.

"Penitence" is a masterfully crafted narrative that delves into the complexities of human experience. Through a lifetime of events, the story expertly weaves together multiple perspectives, revealing how even the smallest actions can have far-reaching consequences. This poignant tale exposes the frailty of human nature, laying bare the struggles, mistakes, and regrets that we all face, and more importantly, forgiveness.

As the story unfolds, you're forced to confront the moral ambiguities of doing what's right versus doing what's perceived as right. The author's unflinching portrayal of tragedy and mental turmoil is both heartbreaking and thought-provoking.

While "Penitence" is a departure from my usual reading fare, I was captivated by the author's unique writing style. This haunting and deeply resonant story earns a well-deserved 5-star rating. Be prepared for a emotional and introspective journey that will linger long after you finish reading.

Wow. This might just be a top read of the year for me! This debut has stunning writing and it’s a story I won’t forget.

Penitence is a family drama that weaves together years of secrets between two families in a ski town in Colorado. I loved having the perspective of every character throughout the story and felt this really contributed to each one’s growth and arc. Every character has their own battle with forgiveness and it’s really moving to see how everyone navigates this differently, especially given the gravity of the topics and shocking realities faced throughout the story.

I can’t recommend it enough! One of those stories that makes you feel for the characters, and will continue to think about it for a long time.

A perfect wintertime read, I’m so excited for its release in February! Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for the eARC!

This was very different than I was expecting. It’s a very heavy topic. So prepare for that. It shattered my heart from the beginning. I felt like the author did an amazing job of describing some of the issues in the Juvenile justice system. You could tell she had done a lot of research for this book. I’m sure her background in law helped a lot. I loved that this book went through different levels of forgiveness and will make the reader really consider whether the worst thing we have ever done defines us. As a mother it really made me question how I would feel in these moments.