Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

127 reviews

thehannahclaire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Adult/minor relationship

themis_biblos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.25

 I have such mixed feelings about this. The idea, the writing, the discussions it provokes should all be five stars. However:
1. In the acknowledgements Knoll thanks Kathy Kleiner Rubin, giving the impression that Knoll spoke to her and had her permission to tell this, albeit fictional, story. I've since seen people allegedly close to Kathy saying that that never happened. I'm sceptical - if that's true, Rubin's name surely wouldn't have made it into the acknowledgements? I don't know.
2. I loved, loved, loved the way Knoll discusses what a pathetic man The Defendant in reality was - contrary to how he was and continues to be portrayed, what the women (both those who survived and those who didn't) went through - not just on the night it happened, but after in the news, in the courtroom, in the public. How they were judged, written and gossipped about without their consent or input. However - why then did Knoll choose to write about them yet again, even if in this case the focus was on the women? She could have made it entirely fictional and it still would have hit.
3. A minor detail: It drove me up the wall how Knoll had the characters speak through their body language, but then always explained what gestures meant in italics right after!

But all that said, I was still impressed and moved and sad. 

 "They just don't want her to get hysterical," I said in the family's defense. Tina scoffed. "And so? What's wrong with being hysterical? It's a hysterical thing that happened." 

 I'd been asked to go over it so many times already that I was starting to feel like certain aspects of my story were more hindrance than help, that I ought to simplify it. No one tells you that the truest stories are the messy, unwieldy ones, that you will be tempted to trim in the places that make people scratch their heads. It takes fortitude to remain a true and constant witness, and I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexism, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Medical trauma, Rape, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Stalking, Classism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Drug use

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body horror, Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Bullying, Gun violence, Incest, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Outing, Grief, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Dementia, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, and Vomit

burnourhistory's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Dementia, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Car accident

jettaparadis's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The way the bonds between women are written, both within the sorority and otherwise is the reason I could not put this book down. It felt refreshing to not read about the deaf dent being cunning or smart. Men, and everyone, should read this 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Rape, and Body horror

itschelseaw's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Ted Bundy’s crimes through the eyes of a victim and survivor. The author points out early in the book, via Pamela, that too much attention has been paid to the defendant (as he’s referred to in the book) rather than the victims of his crimes. I appreciated the attempt to shed some (fictional) light on them.
The uncertainty of whether or not he would see justice, the betrayal of confidants of the survivors, the heartache and love shown by those left behind. This was a great book that dug into a lot of emotion and nuance of the minutia of people’s lives, before and after they were irrevocably altered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Homophobia

anna_giub's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Grief, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Kidnapping

Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

lartiglere's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Grief, Blood, Death, and Gore

mothie_girlie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting

Minor: Eating disorder

delaneydunster's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder