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

A 13-year-old girl steals her father's gun and intentionally shoots and kills her 13-year-old brother.

The brother, BTW, was recently diagnosed with Huntington's Disease and his prognosis was grim.

A small-town lawyer/family friend is hired to defend the young female protagonist.

What's there not to like?

1) Pacing.
Waaaay too slow.

2) Flowery text.
Not a fan of flowery text.

Although the book's "forgiveness and letting go" premise was ultra-compelling, the book did not work for me.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Thérèse Plummer, one of my favorite narrators.

Even with a Thérèse Plummer narration, I struggled to keep my eyes open.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in audiobook format.

Penitence

Writing was solid, the storyline followed two deaths, one a deliberate murder, one (years before the other) due to an accident with hidden and transformative implications.

Narration was merely okay. I am a stickler for details and nothing pulls me from a story as when an audiobook narrator makes mistakes in pronunciation, that and pacing IS their JOB. The narrator who was the voice of Anna obviously does not understand the difference between winded (pronounced "wine ded" as in wrapped around), and winded (pronounced "wind ed" as in out of wind) as she used the latter pronunciation incorrectly in the story when the circumstances demanded use of the former. Hopefully this will be corrected prior to general release.

Regarding this story, it was engaging and the legal aspects were well researched, although it was more general fiction than mystery.