Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

34 reviews

yourstrulytay's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Inspired by the real women who were murdered by an extremely pathetic man, this book flips the narrative from the traditional and focuses on the "bright young women" whose lives were cut short by someone who could not stand his own mediocrity.

This was an amazing portrayal of a case that has all too often been centred on the perpetrator, who has been made out to be some handsome, brilliant mastermind, instead of the small, pathetic man who held conflated ideas of his own importance. This story is about the women whose lives he stole, specifically, but also all women who have had to dim themselves to make the men around them feel brighter, and those who have been vilified and punished for daring to outshine.

This book was viscerally satisfying to read, and I will recommend it will my whole entire being to anyone and everyone.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Outing, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Infidelity, Grief, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Rape, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Incest and Eating disorder

imstephtacular's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexism, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Mental illness, Body shaming, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Classism, Cursing, Sexual content, Dementia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol

Minor: War, Vomit, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gun violence, Racism, Kidnapping, Incest, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Physical abuse

epinyan's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

Bright Young Women was so incredible that it made me rethink giving some previous reads 5 stars. As a crime junkie and empath, I appreciated the insight given into the lives of the victims and the friends and family throughout the journey. While a somewhat fictional novel, it provided lessons and meaning that can be carried into how I (and society) approach crime within the media. If you enjoy this book read Know My Name by Chanel Miller (or vice versa). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Dementia, Eating disorder, and Vomit

americattt's review

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

“‘And so? What’s wrong with being hysterical? It’s a hysterical thing that happened.’
‘We have more dignity than that’, I said, lifting my head with enormous effort. Never let them see you sweat, I was always saying except I could see the filmy residue my glands had deposited on the window.
‘I’ll tell you something from experience. ‘ Tina said, flexing her fingers on the wheel. ‘They will call you hysterical no matter how much dignity you have. So you might as well do whatever the hell you want.’”

A captivating read that is much needed amongst all the true-crime content that puts too much emphasis and thought on the killers and not enough on the victims and their loved ones, who should be the ones remembered and supported.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death and Homophobia

porshainielsen's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

4.75- maybe even a 5 after I sit on it for a few days. 

My opinion of true crime has shifted quite a bit in the last few years. I do not want to hear about the handsome mysterious man who murdered nameless women. I do not want to hear about the killers  turbulent childhood. I want to hear about the victims and how they loved to listen to Fleetwood Mac, how they loved reading horoscopes and how they were people. This style of story telling made me quite emotional as these women could easily be myself or one of my friends. The person that this story is about killed thirty women. Yet, it is always his face in the paper or on the homescreen of your Netflix app. I also loved the narrative change of the killer being a brooding, handsome man- no, he was actually fucking annoying and prayed on the societal norm of women feeling obligated to help/entertain a man in need. 

While I loved reading hearing this story told in a perspective based upon court documents and eye-witness reports, I can't help but think about how the victims feel about this portrayal. The two main characters, Ruth and Pamela, are based on real people. People who haven't or cannot confirm that these were the thoughts and feelings they were having at the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, and Homophobia

cassidy_rain's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

This is intense! Scenes are pretty graphic. While the characters and novel is fictional, it is based on true events. If you like true crime this is the perfect book for you. The writing is very good and descriptive, you can tell the author really did her research. I found it a bit slow and confusing at times but the ending wrapped the story up in a way that left me satisfied. I like that it focuses on the women/victims, as so many true crime stories fail to do. The story takes place in a few different characters perspectives and timeframes. It took me a while to realize that the scenes taking place in the 70s were recollections, so when it randomly switched in the middle of the chapter to that characters real time thoughts or POV it could be a tad confusing. Check triggers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Incest, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Dementia, Gore, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Rape

marpaige's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Murder, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

kelleywithanextrae's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexism, Gun violence, Eating disorder, and Lesbophobia

starrfishandcoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad 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

5 million stars for this absolute fxxking knockout of a book. Fxxk everyone who focuses on the utter bullshit “intelligence”, “promise” and - I will never understand - “attractiveness” of The Defendant, aka the OG incel. 
All of the women who were killed by that pathetic, small, insolent loser are the ones who were intelligent, had promising futures, and were robbed of a chance to fulfill their dreams.  
Read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Homophobia