A review by quinnjuliac
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

2.5

This book was really unusual. I couldn’t get a handle on the characters or feel like I got to know them. It seemed like they were intentionally created to be very unpredictable as kind of a “gotcha” to say something about the way we see women as a monolith. I think this may have been partly because the voices of the characters were a bit anachronistic in my opinion — like if a woman today were living in the 70s. The views and ideas of Ruth and especially Pamela would be HIGHLY radical if a woman in the 70s had possessed them, but I don’t think the characters were meant to be highly radical. Tina was obviously portrayed as highly progressive and radical, but for the other two it just didn’t quite fit. 

It’s an interesting story and I appreciated the themes that came up of gender,  and the impact of our past. But ultimately the book kind of left me feeling like - what was the point of that? There was a lot of kind of bizarre detail that didn’t seem to add much. It was definitely unpredictable and a quick read, good for the beach I think!
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