Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

7 reviews

puffinthedog's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the books that got me back into reading after a bit of a slump. A well written, women-centered, victim-centered novelization of one of the most well known crimes of one of the most infamous serial killers in America’s history - without ever saying the nose picker’s name. A true crime novel that reframes the narrative to lift up the women affected and poke holes in the media driven narrative of a charismatic, brilliant man who was anything but. A powerful look at the way that societal expectations and misogyny -not charisma - enabled a mediocre man to target brilliant women, escape prison, elude capture, and continue killing (while getting glorified in the press)

A great book for anyone who likes true crime - but is sick of True Crime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Death, Blood, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Gore, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

donnaroja's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

yourstrulytay's review against another edition

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

austenite93's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape

sarahsbookss's review

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Outing, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Stalking

aileron's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Murder, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, and Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death of parent, Sexism, Child death, Violence, Dementia, and Pedophilia

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Car accident, Incest, Animal cruelty, and Eating disorder

pomoevareads's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Thank you to @simonschusterca for sending me an ARC of Bright Young Women for me to read and review. This is a winner!

Author Jessica Knoll has written a fresh perspective on the killings by serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy has always been glamorized as the handsome and intelligent man who killed many women in the 1970s. In Bright Young Women, the reader is asked to see the man for who he really was and he wasn’t all that bright. The focus of this story is from the perspective of one of his victims (Ruth), an important person in her life (Martina) and a friend (Pamela) of two women murdered at a Florida university. The two women come together to see if there is a connection between the murder in Issaquah, Washington and the sorority murders in Tallahassee, Florida. With so much distance between the missing person case in Washington state and the murders in Florida, Tina and Pam don’t have much support from officials in linking the cases but that doesn’t stop them from continuing.

This book is marketed as a thriller but I would say it reads more like women’s fiction/historical fiction.  There is an emphasis on character development and shifting the perspectives of people who have been made by media and those in positions of power to see Bundy as clever and “Kennedyesque.”  While The name Ted is only used once during the entire book those who know the case will recognize the details. I thought it very smart to refer to him as The Defendant thus further minimizing his importance.

I will not be shocked to see this one picked up by celebrity book clubs and now want to pick up this author’s previous novel, Luckiest Girl Alive, which has been made into a Netflix program. 

Bright Young Women is in stores September 19, 2023 and I recommend this one to fans of thrillers, true crime, historical fiction with a more recent focus (1970s) and character driven stories of strong women. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Incest and Death of parent