Reviews with content warning for Murder - Bright Young Women

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow for me, but I was hooked. That is, until I realized the author simply took real life tragedy and repurposed it into a novel. It is one thing to take inspiration. It is another to use the exact stories of victims of unspeakable violence. I felt sick once I realized. Whatever message she wanted to share is ruined by the lack of respect for the real woman who were harmed.

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alf1990's review against another edition

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dark hopeful 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

4.5

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uniquelymace's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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stella_petit's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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heather_renae's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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kaylo88's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow!!

I am a huge true crime fan and have been since as far back as I can remember. However, one of the things that always annoys me in the telling of these stories, whether that be fiction, non-fiction, film or podcasts,s, is how the perpetrator is usually the person talked about. The victims are a sidenote, and we're lucky if we get a short introduction to their background.

This has been the case throughout history. Even looking at cases like Jack the Ripper. The other thing that has always got under my skin, and I feel like it's come to light more in recent years, is that when there is a serial killer or rapist on the loose, it's always women who are told to change.

Don't wear certain clothes, don't go out at night, don't run alone, don't walk in the dark, don't get in taxis until you confirm they are legit, don't be overly sexual, don't entice men etc and there is often an othering of women especially in the press making them seem less human and at times deserving of what happened to them.

This is why I absolutely loved reading this book. It was an absolute breath of fresh air. I loved the storytelling, and despite being a fictional account, it's obvious that Knoll has researched the case extensively and has gone to great depths to keep as much of the story as factual as possible.

I loved the complexity of the main characters, who seemed incredibly real. Women with complex personalities with both likeable and disagreeable qualities.

I also love the fact that the killer isn't named, and when they are referred to, it is only as the defendant. I can honestly see him rolling in his grave to think that a female author has written such a compelling story about some of the women in this case and highlighting just how incompetent and forgettable he is.

I loved it!

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boop123's review

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was interesting to read as it tackles on the way women are perceived during 70s to 90s, the incompetency of the police force, and how the media portrays serial killers in a sensational way which in turn can be used as an advantage for the police force to create the narrative that they are so methodical in their ways that it's hard to track them when in actuality, they just can't do their job right.

Loved the message behind it but at times, it was hard to keep up with the stories since it's an alternating views. I recommend reading this when you have a lot of free time to really immerse yourself to the story since that wasn't the case for me.

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