Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Summary of Bright Young Women
When a sorority house becomes a serial killer’s latest target, sorority president Pamela Schumacher finds herself in the middle of a terrifying mystery. Soon enough, she meets Tina Cannon–a woman many people have warned her to stay away from–and joins forces to investigate the killer’s past deeds–and how media and law enforcement treat the victims of his crimes.
Likes
Perspective: Jessica Knoll wrote a story based on true events and told it from the perspective of the women who were affected by a serial killer’s heinous crimes. If you look at how the media has portrayed Ted Bundy over the years, you’ll see how he was described as “brilliant”, “charming”, and “good-looking.” A tortured soul. But what about his victims? Those whose lives were ended or changed forever because of what he did? There’s not as sensational a story there, I guess, so they were shoved to the back burner, so to speak, and left to put the pieces back together while the monster was basically romanticized.
I digress.
I found Knoll’s depiction to be a breath of fresh air. Not once is Bundy’s name mentioned in the book, something that undermines his fame as the “charming” serial killer, and something I greatly admired and appreciated of Knoll. She humanized the victims, both those who were attacked and/or killed by Bundy and those who were left in the aftermath of his crimes, in a way that is long, long overdue.
Eh
Pacing: There were times when the book dragged a bit. Important pieces of the puzzle started to come together within these moments so you can’t really skip them, but sometimes a description or a dialogue went on a little too long for me.
Dual POV: Ruth’s POV was obviously important, but I felt that it was a bit disjointed going in the past to Ruth’s story and then to Pamela’s story in the present. I had to keep reminding myself where I was in the story when it came to each woman.
Thriller?: I wouldn’t necessarily consider this book a thriller, at least not in the way I typically define a thriller. After the initial few pages, it’s much more of a mystery, a bit of a slow burn.
Recommendation & Rating
Do I recommend? Yes! It’s not “thrilling” per se, but it’s still a good book for those who are interested in historical fiction and fiction that’s based on true crime. It’s interesting, emotional, and it’ll make you want to smack some men (and a couple of women) upside the head. What more could you ask for?
Book source: I borrowed this book from my local library.
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