Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

35 reviews

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Rape, Torture, Grief, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Eating disorder and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Incest

thissagreads's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

Loved that the author did not glorify or glamorize the killer. But The Place was too slow. Additionally, when listening to the audio, there were too many time jumps back and forth without clarification, and I felt the story dragged out much longer than needed. Basically this is a story based on

Ted Bundy and the monstrous murder crimes he committed at a FL girls sorority house,

but no one really figures out how to move forward or heal, and it’s realistic and quite saddening. I think the book got caught in the weeds of how much men and misogynistic viewpoints by the general public are total garbage, because I feel like it’s common knowledge now. And I could be wrong, but glorifying a murderer because of his looks is terribly wild and sadistic. So while I’m glad the characters were fighting against stupid judicial systems, looking for justice, I wish the focus was more on the healing and grief journey. Lots of trauma too so reader be wary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Rape, Misogyny, and Body horror

Moderate: Homophobia

reverendmix's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Torture, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Sexual assault

lollymac's review against another edition

reflective 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Child death, Death, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Murder, Rape, Infidelity, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Sexism

whimsicalreader's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Rape, and Sexual violence

This is a very factual story about the cases involving Ted Bundy. So if you do not like true crime documentaries, I would skip this book.

lizoetic's review against another edition

It was too upsetting for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Body horror, and Murder

tigerkind's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Death, Confinement, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder and War

oz2021's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

signeskov'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

4.25

This novel is a great study of (complex) grief, survivor’s guilt, trauma, romantic and platonic love, difficult or absent parenting, and, most interestingly to me, female rage.

Do not take any of these themes lightly. If you are as disturbed by misogyny and violence as any functioning human should be, be prepared to be even further disturbed by this book. So, for this one, beware of the trigger warnings before reading. 

With that in mind, let it be said that Jessica Knoll does not glorify violence against women - herself a survivor, she handles the dark moments with as much care as I imagine one can for a story centralized on the aftermath of surviving a serial killing spree. Specifically, Knoll flips the perspective of a classic crime story on its head, instead working to connect the women and survivors left behind to deal with the trauma of losing a loved one under such horrifying circumstances. 

Conceived and written in a thriller-like pace, the novel is refreshing in its take on the famed Ted Bundy murders. Like Pamela, one of the main characters - an intelligent, brave, bright young woman full of integrity - expresses it, he was merely another man preying on women. A far cry from the charming mastermind the media made him out to be, but rather a man who sought to control and overpower the women in the world that shone brighter than him. A classic case of incel before the word was even conceived, and he was nothing special - there have been and are still many more men like him out there in the world. Scared, disturbed, and unintelligent who lash out their anger at the world through gruesome, unwarranted acts. 

A great and relevant read that provoked female rage in me and an even stronger belief in women’s ability to heal through communication and community. Would recommend others to pick it up, though with care - given the traumatic nature of the story, it will definitely not be everyone’s cup of tea.

The book could perhaps have been trimmed a little or still left a couple of loose threads that I perhaps would have liked to have had explored further. It’s a strong 4.25/5 for me at the time being!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, and Murder

hannahduda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Rape, Stalking, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Incest, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Blood, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Sexual assault