A review by meow_meow68
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Given the synopsis, I had thought it would be a dark,twisty who dunnit. In reality, it was more so a reflective commentary on the existing true crime culture surrounding female victims and survivors of traumatic events, and how society treats these women. Not to mention how society unintentionally glorifies the preparator in trying to understand what made him commit these despicable acts that we end forgetting the victims/survivors in the process. This becomes glaringly obvious with the book set in the late 70s during the height of serial killers and their killings. Being cognizant of all this, the author repeatedly brings back the story to the female victims and survivors, and how their loved ones remember and honor their lives. Only later, we  learn the violent premise and preparator  is based on a real life serial killer. Once learning this, it did add another layer of gravitas and realism for me, but I would have preferred the killer to be a nobody. It took away the focus from the victims/survivors a bit. However, the author did an incredible job building engaging characters and relationships that I was fully immersed and wanted to know what happened next.