Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

246 reviews

tyreadsbooks_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

⁕ 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 : 

-feminism + female empowerment

-true crime + crime fiction

-based on true events

- emotional writing

-nonlinear timelines

-multiple POVs
-character driven plots
-LGBTQIA+ Representation

-psychological suspense

-Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka 

 ⁕ 𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 :

Bright Young Women is an absolute gem of a book I let sit on my TBR for too long. 

Knoll blends facts with fiction seamlessly with a clever combination of true crime, 1970s historical fiction, thriller, & psychological suspense. She tears apart the narrative that this killer was some sort of “brilliant mastermind” & exposes him for what he was - a mediocre, incompetent misogynist - without ever saying his name. 

This story highlights the exceptional women whose lives were cut short rather than sensationalizing the man behind their vicious attacks. It’s complex & chilling, it's graphic without being exploitative, it’s disturbing & heartbreaking & poetic. It was so completely believable that at times I was convinced I was reading a memoir. I was blown away by how emotionally invested I was in these characters. 

The nonlinear timeline & multiple POVS made following the plot a bit confusing at times, but that didn’t stop me from being completely engrossed in the story. I highly recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

stineistrying's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

jofisherwrites's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Dementia, and Death of parent

6dan13la's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Murder

allyloufox's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Misogyny

adavis25's review

challenging dark tense 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

juliareste's review

dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

 EDIT: THIS IS ABOUT TED BUNDY??? WHO WAS GOING TO TELL ME. This is insane I do not care who did it but more that this is based on a REAL STORY and I was blissfully (although, is any of this story blissful?) unaware that this was based on reality. I feel sick to my stomach. 

I really appreciated this book, especially as a girl who goes to a women's college interested in law. I appreciated how it chastised true crime as a concept and developed the story. I also really appreciate books with sapphic representation! This falls just short of five stars, as it didn't have the je ne sais quoi that five stars usually possess, but still, an interesting story I'm glad I read. (Honestly, trigger warning for literally everything. Protect your peace!)

4.75/5 stars

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

Minor: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Dementia, and Alcohol

ffejssej's review

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest

davschi's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Kidnapping

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Death, Eating disorder, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Outing

grumpyreading's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.5

Yeahhhh I didn’t like this book. While I appreciate the general idea of bringing focus away from the killer in this story, and focusing on the women and their stories, I feel like this missed the mark. Though the author doesn’t say the name Ted Bundy (or a fictionalized version of it), this book was intended to portray the victims and survivors of his crimes. While it was supposed to offer a commentary on the exploitative nature of true crime, and the people who idolize serial killers, it felt exploitative in itself. The very very graphic accounts of what was done to the victims and survivors felt unnecessary at many points for the way the story was being told, and at many points it was confusing what was fact and what was fiction. By using some facts, real names, and real details, alongside fictional details, the story was blurred, and it felt as though the author was concerned with telling the stories of real victims, but did this in a way that was not very tasteful, was potentially insensitive to the victims and their families, and that took away from their actual stories (that many have told themselves as well). 

I also felt that some of the subplots were very surface level, and added confusion or unnecessary details at best. In general, the book was very slow and there wasn’t a ton that happened, and there was nothing outstanding about the writing or the way this was told. It definitely dragged on. 

While I appreciate the intention, I feel like this book could have been told as a new story (not based on a true one) and gotten the same points across in a better way, rather than continuing to be somewhat exploitative about these crimes. The author could have focused on this theme through fiction, and could have drawn attention to accounts written by victims/survivors/families of the crimes she is portraying. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Toxic friendship