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A review by emilynied
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I read this for book club, and I'm really happy that I picked it up. This book is inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by Ted Bundy in his final murderous spree, and I thought it was fascinating how Knoll weaved history with her own fictional plot, adding nuance and the point of view of women who might otherwise be overlooked by the media and historically.
I think sorority girls are often disregarded and thought of as dumb blondes who succumb and enforce peer pressure and societal standards - so the fact that Pamela Schumacher, president of one of the top sororities at Florida State University, was one of our two main narrators, was really interesting to me. Her trauma and experience is thoroughly explored, from the night of to years later at the killer's sentencing.
Ruth Wachowsky is the other main narrator, her own story taking place a couple years earlier across the country. We experience her story leading up to her kidnapping and death, and again, get a story of a young women in the 1970s. I think I felt that her story could have been further explored as I felt like the POV was lacking just a little bit. The switch up between POVs could have been starker, especially because the two girls were fairly similar - I think their character voices could have been a bit stronger.
I also, for some reason, got weird vibes from Tina? I don't know if I fully trusted her and felt a bit detached from that character throughout both plots for some reason. Despite that, this story felt so important to tell and I think Knoll balanced the truth and fiction so, so well. There were specific instances of taking straight quotes and facts from real life regarding the judge and the media's response to the killer and the spoof on the "bright young man" quote was so, so well done. Knoll wrote in the author's note how she spoke to Kathy Kleiner, one of the survivors from FSU and I thought that was extremely powerful.
I think sorority girls are often disregarded and thought of as dumb blondes who succumb and enforce peer pressure and societal standards - so the fact that Pamela Schumacher, president of one of the top sororities at Florida State University, was one of our two main narrators, was really interesting to me. Her trauma and experience is thoroughly explored, from the night of to years later at the killer's sentencing.
Ruth Wachowsky is the other main narrator, her own story taking place a couple years earlier across the country. We experience her story leading up to her kidnapping and death, and again, get a story of a young women in the 1970s. I think I felt that her story could have been further explored as I felt like the POV was lacking just a little bit. The switch up between POVs could have been starker, especially because the two girls were fairly similar - I think their character voices could have been a bit stronger.
I also, for some reason, got weird vibes from Tina? I don't know if I fully trusted her and felt a bit detached from that character throughout both plots for some reason. Despite that, this story felt so important to tell and I think Knoll balanced the truth and fiction so, so well. There were specific instances of taking straight quotes and facts from real life regarding the judge and the media's response to the killer and the spoof on the "bright young man" quote was so, so well done. Knoll wrote in the author's note how she spoke to Kathy Kleiner, one of the survivors from FSU and I thought that was extremely powerful.