Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Title: Bright Young Women

Author:  Jessica Knoll

Narrated by:  Sutton Foster, Imani Jade Powers, Corey Brill, Chris Henry Coffey

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 58 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you!

Do you like true crime stories?  Bright Young Women is a historical thriller that tells a fictionalized version of the killings involving Ted Bundy.

In 1978, a serial killer attacks a sorority at Florida State University killing two and severely wounding two others.  The sorority president, Pamela Schumaker briefly sees the killer when she goes to investigate a sound.  Will she be able to help put the killer behind bars?

Tina Cannon has been looking for her friend Ruth since she disappeared.  She feels her disappearance has something to do with the serial killer.  Will she be able to find out what happened to Ruth?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I thought this novel was very interesting.  I liked how the story focused on telling the victims story rather than focusing on the killer.  This is a fictional account of the Ted Bundy murders and trial.  It shows how the press and public made Ted Bundy a “sexy” character and imbibed him with smarts and charm that he did not possess.

·       A Florida judge called Ted Bundy a “Bright Young Man.”  The title of this book is a play on this.

·       I had a feeling of dread while reading this novel.  This eventually turned to hope by the end of the novel.

·       I also felt frustrated while reading the novel.  Tina and Pamela were often dismissed because of being women or because of relationships they had in the past.

·       The story is told through multiple point of views which I enjoyed.  The audiobook had different narrators for the different point of views which I thought really added to the audiobook experience.

·       The story also is told in the past in the 1970s when it was experienced as well as in the present as Pamela and Tina work to uncover what happened to Ruth.

·       I thought the overall message on how a crime is portrayed by the media may be vastly different than reality was very powerful.

Overall, Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll is a historical thriller that tells the story of the victims that are often behind in the media portrayal of a crime.