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zimlicious's reviews
1379 reviews
Penance by Eliza Clark
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As a true crime lover, I loved this book. Since I was very curious about what else Eliza Clark was up to, I immediately ordered her other books! It tells you from the very beginning what kind of murder has been committed, but as you get into the memories of those involved and their relatives, things get more complicated and darker. Not all of the narrators, even journalist Alec, the fictional author of the book, are reliable types; In fact, Alec has been accused by many readers, publishers, and witnesses who have spoken to him of exaggerating his stories. Clark has meticulously woven the stories of the girls involved, interspersing interview articles, Tumblr posts, social media and SMS messages: she has succeeded very well in giving distinct voices to such similar yet different characters. We see that adolescence is a very difficult thing; While the internet can be a tool to help you find people like you and feel like you are not alone, it can also host much darker fantasies and obsessions; The media is actually not a reliable narrator at all because, especially when focusing on big events such as Brexit, other news can get sidetracked and ignored. Clarke wrote Penance inspired by the murder of Suzanne Capper in England. The incident, which coincided with another murder, did not receive much coverage in the media. It is obvious that Clark loves true crime, but he won my heart especially with the different perspectives and details he added to it.
The New Walt Disney Treasury: 10 Favorite Stories by The Walt Disney Company
5.0
Childhood favorites packed into one book! <3
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
3.0
I do like the book a lot, that I'll admit. It gives a different twist to a time I'm sure everyone has read a lot about. I was just kind of disappointed that the way it's written doesn't really live up to the hype.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
2.0
Rather interesting and enjoyable story, but the descriptions go on FOREVER, which gets very very exhausting after the first 20 pages.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
When I first started reading this, I had a "oh, no!" moment because of all the financial, business-related talk in the beginning. I must admit that it took me about a week to get through the first 100 pages, reading it on and off. After one of the main characters (Blomkvist) starts working for Henrik Vanger, though, it really picks up, and it becomes very hard to put the book down.
There's a Vanger Family Tree chart at the beginning of the book, which is very useful since all the Vangers get mixed up in your head from time to time. I also had trouble keeping up with the real names and nicknames and everything, but you get used to that after a while as well. There's also maps of Hedeby by the author himself, which would be helpful to understand what events took place where.
I really liked the fact that there's more than one mystery going on in the book, and it's both event and character driven. While reading you might think you have solved the mystery, and even if you guess correctly who the murderer is, your jaw is pretty much gonna drop when the whole truth is revealed.
5.0
When I first started reading this, I had a "oh, no!" moment because of all the financial, business-related talk in the beginning. I must admit that it took me about a week to get through the first 100 pages, reading it on and off. After one of the main characters (Blomkvist) starts working for Henrik Vanger, though, it really picks up, and it becomes very hard to put the book down.
There's a Vanger Family Tree chart at the beginning of the book, which is very useful since all the Vangers get mixed up in your head from time to time. I also had trouble keeping up with the real names and nicknames and everything, but you get used to that after a while as well. There's also maps of Hedeby by the author himself, which would be helpful to understand what events took place where.
I really liked the fact that there's more than one mystery going on in the book, and it's both event and character driven. While reading you might think you have solved the mystery, and even if you guess correctly who the murderer is, your jaw is pretty much gonna drop when the whole truth is revealed.