Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

30 reviews

bella_cavicchi's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

Stunning and startling in equal turn. I greatly admire how Knoll weaves the theme of sisterhood throughout, not in an icky "girl boss"/white feminism way but, rather, in a profound call to reconsider—to remember—the shared responsibility we hold to do better for each other. A true sucker punch of a novel, one that I'd think would pair well with A Tiny Upward Shove.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Eating disorder and Pregnancy

bookishevy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

January 15th, 1978, president of the top sorority at Florida State University Pamela Schumacher is startled awake at 3am by a sound she decides to investigate. She discovers four of her sisters badly injured, two would succumb to their injuries, inficted by a serial killer who escaped prison in Aspen, Colorado. Pamela soon meets Tina Cannon, a young woman whose friend Ruth Wachowsky went missing four years prior. Tina believes the man responsible for the sorority murders is the same one who took her friend.

The story is told from the perspectives of Pamela and Ruth. Pamela's is from the present when she receives a letter summoning her return to Florida and through flashbacks. Ruth's is from winter 1974 until her disappearance that summer and provides insight into how unhappy she was before meeting Tina.

Inspired by true events, the novel's name comes from the judge, who called Ted Bundy a "bright young man," which is ridiculous because the only thing Bundy had going for him was that he was a white male. Pamela often points out that The Defendent's (how Knoll refers to Bundy here to keep the focus on his victims and their families) good looks and intelligence are exaggerated. 

He was able to carry out this final killing spree due to the ineptitude of law endorsement in Colorado. It made officers look less incompetent to paint him as this slippery genius, and the press was just as complicit in his glamorization. 

It's up to Pamela and Tina to do what the men in charge of the investigation failed to do.

Ruth put her own happiness aside to appease her mother. The Defendent targeted young women because they are conditioned to please others. While reading Ruth's heartbreaking account, I was reminded of the killer's monologue in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher's version) when he tells Mikael "It's hard to believe that the fear of offending can be stronger than the fear of pain. But you know what? It is. And they always come willingly."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Toxic relationship

lollymac's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Grief

Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

summerofsoaps's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest

fiction_addiction_1994's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child death

eleanorareads's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Grief

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

Minor: Sexual assault

lisa00's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Minor: Incest and Pandemic/Epidemic

maddiet425's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-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

3.5

So many people see Ted Bundy as an evil genius. This book says that there is more to the story; he was just a good liar who was protected by law enforcement and by the media. I love how this story doesn’t focus on Bundy, but on the victims and their friends and family. It also doesn’t describe gory details simply for shock value, and detailed descriptions of assaults are written in a way that is extremely respectful to the victims. However, I can’t say I loved this story overall, The multiple timelines and POV’s were hard to keep straight and I found it difficult to relate to and understand the characters. Multiple storylines were left unfinished, and I ended the book wanting to know more. It’s such a shame because I absolutely love the idea of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

bumblebee12's review

dark emotional informative 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Child death