Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

24 reviews

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

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

casandra_lovealwaysbooks's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a book I’ll be thinking about for a while. It said a lot of what I’ve thought on this topic for a long time and I’m grateful it was written and that it was written in this way. 
To never use the defendant’s name was the best choice. To give names and voices to the women that have consistently been ignored in all of this, an even better one. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Eating disorder

tigerkind's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Death, Confinement, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder and War

grunbean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I could not thank Jessica Knoll enough for treating this man as he ought to be. Bitter, angry, and sad, this is a book that will fill you with a resentment for decades of media manipulation and publicity for a nose picking incel. I have never read anything quite like it, and it had me near tears.

The portrayal of the leading women and their relationships is some of the best characterisation for women I’ve seen. I was rooting for them the whole way through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Rape, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Death, Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

emma_vb's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Murder, Death, Misogyny, Dementia, and Death of parent

hannahduda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Rape, Stalking, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Incest, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Blood, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Sexual assault

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Murder, Death, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Medical content

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Confinement, Grief, Eating disorder, and Alcohol

daybreakreads's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

Why do I listen to coworkers’ book recs before looking up a book? I have a Criminology degree that’s collecting dust, and despite my distaste for many women’s obsession with true crime (in the sense it has made close friends and family anxious and paranoid about living in a ground floor apartment, in addition to it glamorizing or romanticizing the worst aspects of humanity) I found the concept intriguing. Ah yes, here is a novel that supposedly focuses on the real human effect of heinous crimes, rather than obsessing over the monster that committed them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, and Dementia

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Rape, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts