Reviews with content warning for Violence - Bright Young Women

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

24 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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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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mikaylarowan's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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epinyan's review

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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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autumnz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

BOOK CLUB 🍷 - I read this for the first book club I started (I now have two book clubs that I have started, I can't tell you why) but it was a solid book club read. I thought the book contained a lot of information and I praise the author for NEVER saying the defendant's name once, as I will not do in my review either.

I will say, I had some problems with the ending. I felt that some chapters were out of place and a little confusing.

Spoiler

I felt that Ruth's final chapter felt weird at the end of the book and her chapters overall felt like they did not fit but I still liked that her story was told. Also at the end of the book the author criticized the use of social media in today's society and the Netflix documentary (which I also had issues with. But then in the author's note, she was like 'shoutout to everyone who used social media to promote and preorder my book. Felt weird, idk

.

In reality, this book is a 3.5 and I recommend to anyone looking for a good book club book or a fan of true crime where the killer is not praised, like how they are in podcasts or docu-series.

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americattt's review

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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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cassidy_rain's review against another edition

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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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