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A review by mstall_
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
There is an ethical way to do true crime and Bright Young Women nails it.
Bright Young Women is a fictionalized story of one particular serial killer who killed women in Seattle, Utah, Denver and Florida. Jessica Knoll does a fantastic job of centering the stories of the women who were impacted (again, fictionalized to protect the actual victim's stories) and never mentioning the murder's name once. I call this the ultimate diss track to that guy and all men like him who need to harm women to feel powerful.
Bright Young Women centers on two main characters, Pamela and Ruth. The story lines are happening a few years apart, so there is some timeline jumping around. Pamela, the president of her sorority house in Tallahassee, is awoken late one January night in 1978 to four of her sisters being harmed. She is the only one who sees the culprit, and this moment in time changes the trajectory of her life forever. Ruth, a young women grappling with what it means to come home, beings to attend a complex grief group in Issaquah, Washington in 1973. That one night begins to pull a thread in Ruth that will be both her salvation and her downfall.
I listened to Bright Young Women as an audio book and had no trouble following the time jumps. The fact that I could listen to this book all the way through is also a testament to how well it is written. I hate audio books and will usually start one and then buy the book so I can finish it faster. Bright Young Women, however, kept me captivated until the very end.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Like I said there is a way to do true crime by elevating the stories of the victims and never uttering the perps name. I love you for this, Jessica Knoll.
Bright Young Women is a fictionalized story of one particular serial killer who killed women in Seattle, Utah, Denver and Florida. Jessica Knoll does a fantastic job of centering the stories of the women who were impacted (again, fictionalized to protect the actual victim's stories) and never mentioning the murder's name once. I call this the ultimate diss track to that guy and all men like him who need to harm women to feel powerful.
Bright Young Women centers on two main characters, Pamela and Ruth. The story lines are happening a few years apart, so there is some timeline jumping around. Pamela, the president of her sorority house in Tallahassee, is awoken late one January night in 1978 to four of her sisters being harmed. She is the only one who sees the culprit, and this moment in time changes the trajectory of her life forever. Ruth, a young women grappling with what it means to come home, beings to attend a complex grief group in Issaquah, Washington in 1973. That one night begins to pull a thread in Ruth that will be both her salvation and her downfall.
I listened to Bright Young Women as an audio book and had no trouble following the time jumps. The fact that I could listen to this book all the way through is also a testament to how well it is written. I hate audio books and will usually start one and then buy the book so I can finish it faster. Bright Young Women, however, kept me captivated until the very end.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Like I said there is a way to do true crime by elevating the stories of the victims and never uttering the perps name. I love you for this, Jessica Knoll.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Grief, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Rape