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booksteader 's review for:
Bright Young Women
by Jessica Knoll
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Book #2 completed in 2024
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
This was an absorbing and empowering fictional account of one of the most famous and sensationalized serial murders in American history, and as the author so cleverly omitted The Defendant's name from any mention throughout the book (to deny any more notoriety to man who committed these cowardly and abhorrent crimes), I won't give him any acknowledgement here either. I was skeptical about my ability to appreciate a true crime novel but what I found in this book was so much more than another dramatization of the same old story where The Defendant is an "evil genius". Instead, Knoll gives the women the acknowledgment and voice they should have had 45 years ago and again 5 years ago when the Netflix documentary was made. She skillfully frames the case within the context of the late 70s but it is clear that much of the misogyny that passed for normal still runs rampant today. Knoll calls it out over and over and in this small but important way, allows the women to be the center of their own stories and win some justice over their perpetrator and the system that should have stopped him before he had a chance to start.
🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 Five ferns (from the last chapter)
Would strongly recommend
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
This was an absorbing and empowering fictional account of one of the most famous and sensationalized serial murders in American history, and as the author so cleverly omitted The Defendant's name from any mention throughout the book (to deny any more notoriety to man who committed these cowardly and abhorrent crimes), I won't give him any acknowledgement here either. I was skeptical about my ability to appreciate a true crime novel but what I found in this book was so much more than another dramatization of the same old story where The Defendant is an "evil genius". Instead, Knoll gives the women the acknowledgment and voice they should have had 45 years ago and again 5 years ago when the Netflix documentary was made. She skillfully frames the case within the context of the late 70s but it is clear that much of the misogyny that passed for normal still runs rampant today. Knoll calls it out over and over and in this small but important way, allows the women to be the center of their own stories and win some justice over their perpetrator and the system that should have stopped him before he had a chance to start.
🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 Five ferns (from the last chapter)
Would strongly recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Incest, Dementia, Death of parent