Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

179 reviews

florenceassetto's review

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

this book was incredible! it was one i just had to keep reading, it was so hard to put down and it was IMPOSSIBLE not to think about when it wasn't in my hand. i genuinely think that this is a must read for everyone, it deals with ideas like grief and love and death in such a complex way but also in a way that is so refreshingly human and knoll does this in such a perfect way. i felt SO much for pamela and ruth and tina and denise, and i think it was a wonderful take on the complexities of true crime and serial killers because it so clearly focuses on the impact on victims (in this case, women who were sought out and dulled) and that is something which is so necessary in all our true crime consumption. genuinely a wonderful read, and i will be looking out for more that knoll has written!

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mbgibson825's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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bookish_bell's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0

I'm conflicted.

The intent was to humanize victims of a reknowned serial killer. But while the events and the perpetrator are based in reality the characters are all fictionalized. I feel uneasy about the ethics of this and wish the author had chosen to either write true crime or write a more fully fictional tale. 

The writing and story are told in a really compelling way and the author  does a great job of creating characters that are easy to connect with. So the choice for the novel to sit in this fictional-true crime limbo feels especially strange.

I enjoyed the way the author took down a lot of the mythology surrounding 'the defendant' and his supposed intellect and charms. I just kept wishing the creative licenses taken had gone a step further and told a fully fictional story that was more reminiscent of reality and an indictment on our fascination with serial killers and less a fantasy of what victims of real crimes might have been like. 



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ahopson's review against another edition

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

5.0

I was not ready for how much this book would put a hold on me. The descriptive writing really puts you into the narrator’s shoes. The mix of real life events fictionalization really pulls you in deep. I loved that it was focused on the victims and survivors and he is only known as the defendant on the writing to weaken his power. 

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biladhaa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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sadielouise05's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I never knew I needed a telling of this story from a female perspective, to think and feel in character of the girls hurt by The Defendant, but now I know that I did. 

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bellsdixon's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.25


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emmajh91's review against another edition

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challenging tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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ashley_turch's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25


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kjlewis494's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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