Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

24 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

sweetbean's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

uniquelymace's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jamiemamie's review against another edition

4.0

 Bright Young Women follows two characters in different timelines: Pamela, a sorority house manager who wakes up to find that an intruder has brutalized her sisters, and Ruth, a woman who goes missing without a trace. This book makes a point of not naming the man who committed the murders, but it’s a historical fiction about a very well-known serial killer.

Overall, I enjoyed this book (as much as one can enjoy a book about women being victimized) and found it simultaneously empowering and unsettling. Please be aware of the content warnings before going into this book. It’s definitely not a light read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Stalking and Alcohol

sierraclimbs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

I enjoyed this book. It’s a very unique take on a fairly well known story. I think the author did a good job representing the complexities of grief (this opinion is as someone who hasn’t experienced anything close to as tragic as this story). 
I did think the character voices were a little strange. Mostly Pamela seems very autism coded. Which is not a bad thing, but it made her actions a little less relatable. Again not a bad thing, but I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I could relate to the main character’s actions more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

emmajh91's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

themis_biblos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

 I have such mixed feelings about this. The idea, the writing, the discussions it provokes should all be five stars. However:
1. In the acknowledgements Knoll thanks Kathy Kleiner Rubin, giving the impression that Knoll spoke to her and had her permission to tell this, albeit fictional, story. I've since seen people allegedly close to Kathy saying that that never happened. I'm sceptical - if that's true, Rubin's name surely wouldn't have made it into the acknowledgements? I don't know.
2. I loved, loved, loved the way Knoll discusses what a pathetic man The Defendant in reality was - contrary to how he was and continues to be portrayed, what the women (both those who survived and those who didn't) went through - not just on the night it happened, but after in the news, in the courtroom, in the public. How they were judged, written and gossipped about without their consent or input. However - why then did Knoll choose to write about them yet again, even if in this case the focus was on the women? She could have made it entirely fictional and it still would have hit.
3. A minor detail: It drove me up the wall how Knoll had the characters speak through their body language, but then always explained what gestures meant in italics right after!

But all that said, I was still impressed and moved and sad. 

 "They just don't want her to get hysterical," I said in the family's defense. Tina scoffed. "And so? What's wrong with being hysterical? It's a hysterical thing that happened." 

 I'd been asked to go over it so many times already that I was starting to feel like certain aspects of my story were more hindrance than help, that I ought to simplify it. No one tells you that the truest stories are the messy, unwieldy ones, that you will be tempted to trim in the places that make people scratch their heads. It takes fortitude to remain a true and constant witness, and I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

alexflagg's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Incest, and Forced institutionalization