I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from Netgalley and S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books. This has not impacted my rating and this review is voluntary.
- Genre: Thriller, Crime, Historical Fiction
- Published by: S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books
- Publish date: September 19, 2023
- Number of pages: 384 pages
- Author’s website: https://www.jessicaknoll.com/
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Two women from opposite sides of the country are brought together by violent acts of the same man, and become allies and sisters in arms as they pursue the justice that would otherwise elude them in one of the most acclaimed, highly anticipated thrillers of the year.
Masterfully blending elements of psychological suspense and true crime, Jessica Knoll–author of the bestselling novel Luckiest Girl Alive and the writer behind the Netflix adaption starring Mila Kunis–delivers a new and exhilarating thriller in Bright Young Women. The book opens on a Saturday night in 1978, hours before a soon-to-be-infamous murderer descends upon a Florida sorority house with deadly results. The lives of those who survive, including sorority president and key witness, Pamela Schumacher, are forever changed. Across the country, Tina Cannon is convinced her missing friend was targeted by the man papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer–and that he’s struck again. Determined to find justice, the two join forces as their search for answers leads to a final, shocking confrontation.
Rating: 4.5/5
As someone who went through a huge true crime phase (podcasts, documentaries, and books) in my mid-to-late twenties, the “All-American Sex Killer” that this book is based on was not new to me. I’ve read The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule and watched the confession tapes on Netflix as well as the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron. Perhaps the thing I’ve learned the most during this period is that coverage of a killer that centers–at best and glorifies–at worst, can be horrible for their victims and the victims’ families to be subjected to. I have since reckoned with what it means to “love” true crime and have made efforts to really examine what I’m consuming. In particular, is the family involved or have they given permission for their loved one’s worst moments and life to be exposed, are the victims centered, and what does the person or people creating the content have to gain from this? This is all to give a background to how I went into this novel. I give props to the author for not naming this notorious serial killer, so in my review, I won’t either. (Side note: in my advanced copy, I did find one slip-up in the last third of the novel that did use his name. I want to check a published version to see if it has been removed or if it was intentional!)
Some may be familiar with Jessica Knoll’s other novel “The Luckiest Girl Alive”. I was eager to read her new one. I felt this novel was an ambitious endeavor that she did a great job with. Bright Young Women has dual stories that intertwine and jump between many different time periods. The chapters do explicitly state what timeline and POV we are viewing, but I really was taken out of the story by one of the POVs using days (post horrible event) instead of the date. I understood why the author did this, but it distracted me because I would pause to do the math!
My favorite thing about this novel is how much the defendant would have hated it.
Fans of true crime, themes of feminism/the general badassery of women, and the movie Promising Young Woman will enjoy this.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!
Musings by Michelle 