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A review by thexwalrus
Bright Young Women: A Novel by Jessica Knoll
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? Yes
4.0
oh this was compelling. this was challenging and wonderful and raw and i adored it.
i read and adored the stranger beside me by ann rule when i read it a few years ago - because it showed the full spectrum of what a truly evil person is like. no person is born evil, and no person is only evil - even the most evil people will have friends and be charming in moments. ted bundy is a perfect example of that, using his charm as a weapon against these young women, as a defense mechanism in the court (and in the court of public opinion), while still having friends like the discerning ann rule who couldn't tell something was wrong from someplace so close.
this book hones in on that, and by fictionalizing the bundy murders, it allows us to really pinpoint the societal bullshit that allowed things to happen the way they did, and how it shaped the women who survived.
misogyny is a systemic, institutional problem, and watching ruth and pamela and tina under its weight was infuriating and frustrating because i knew exactly how it felt. and while ruth was never truly free of it, and pamela took a long time to break free from patriarchal expectations, there were so many little baby steps throughout of internal pushback against society's rules at the time that had me smiling. yes, girl, brian sucks! dump his ass! yes, girl, tell people no! you don't have to be nice all the time! it's sad that these are little things to cheer on, but like... we live in a society, and women who were young adults at that time had a lot of pressure on them that was hard to shake. (my own mother is a perfect example of this, because she's JUST NOW learning to stop being a people pleaser and she's in her 60s. this shit is hard to unlearn.)
pamela as a protagonist is naive and, at times, frustrating, but she has such a good heart that leads her through the entire book in a way that endears her to the reader beyond anything i expected. i adored her. seeing her try to be strong for her sisters while also desperately trying to hold herself together... i felt seen. if you're constantly doing a million things, you can't stop and think about the trauma, right? tina is an excellent foil, direct and unapologetic and kind. she's kind but not nice - like new yorkers or bostonians, who will be annoyed with you for walking slow on the sidewalk or stopping in front of them, but then they'll give you really clear directions and make sure you understand them when you ask bc google maps is fucking up. it's a kind of character i love but rarely see in books, and i will be holding tina in my heart for a while.
tldr, basically my review is this: women <3 :)
men >:(
i read and adored the stranger beside me by ann rule when i read it a few years ago - because it showed the full spectrum of what a truly evil person is like. no person is born evil, and no person is only evil - even the most evil people will have friends and be charming in moments. ted bundy is a perfect example of that, using his charm as a weapon against these young women, as a defense mechanism in the court (and in the court of public opinion), while still having friends like the discerning ann rule who couldn't tell something was wrong from someplace so close.
this book hones in on that, and by fictionalizing the bundy murders, it allows us to really pinpoint the societal bullshit that allowed things to happen the way they did, and how it shaped the women who survived.
misogyny is a systemic, institutional problem, and watching ruth and pamela and tina under its weight was infuriating and frustrating because i knew exactly how it felt. and while ruth was never truly free of it, and pamela took a long time to break free from patriarchal expectations, there were so many little baby steps throughout of internal pushback against society's rules at the time that had me smiling. yes, girl, brian sucks! dump his ass! yes, girl, tell people no! you don't have to be nice all the time! it's sad that these are little things to cheer on, but like... we live in a society, and women who were young adults at that time had a lot of pressure on them that was hard to shake. (my own mother is a perfect example of this, because she's JUST NOW learning to stop being a people pleaser and she's in her 60s. this shit is hard to unlearn.)
pamela as a protagonist is naive and, at times, frustrating, but she has such a good heart that leads her through the entire book in a way that endears her to the reader beyond anything i expected. i adored her. seeing her try to be strong for her sisters while also desperately trying to hold herself together... i felt seen. if you're constantly doing a million things, you can't stop and think about the trauma, right? tina is an excellent foil, direct and unapologetic and kind. she's kind but not nice - like new yorkers or bostonians, who will be annoyed with you for walking slow on the sidewalk or stopping in front of them, but then they'll give you really clear directions and make sure you understand them when you ask bc google maps is fucking up. it's a kind of character i love but rarely see in books, and i will be holding tina in my heart for a while.
tldr, basically my review is this: women <3 :)
men >:(