Bright Young Women

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Nov 16

Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll

my review : ✮✮✮✮✮

I was hesitant to start this book because while I love a thriller, I knew this was based on Ted Bundy’s atrocious crimes at Florida State, and I just didn’t know if I could stomach it. I was picturing another retelling in the vein of Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile (starring Zach Efron) or the other TEN MOVIES THAT EXIST ABOUT HIM where the storytelling glamorizes these killings and elevates this monster to celebrity status I am disgusted by. Instead, this book offered a fresh take focusing on the Bright Young Women whose lives were cut short and the surprisingly large amount of men who enabled these atrocities (typically via incompetence).

The story is told from two different points of view, Pamela Schumacher & Ruth Wachowsky’s, and is told in two different timelines. Pam is the president of the sorority that Ted Bundy attacked, and Ruth is one of Ted Bundy’s victims. This is a fictional story, so names are changed, and some details are tweaked to assist in the clear storytelling, but my understanding is the bulk of the material is based on fact.

I know many of you are like me and can’t stomach the gruesome stuff. This story covers the crimes in a respectful way, but obviously, much of it is hard to read due to the nature of the crimes. The author only shares what is necessary, and there is no gore for the sake of shock value, which I found refreshing and ultimately made the story more palatable. Nevertheless, this is an incredibly disturbing book.

I have so much I want to say, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I hesitate to say this is an excellent book club book because while it undoubtedly sparks excellent conversation, I would hate to subject anyone to the material who didn’t know what they were getting into. While I had so much anger while reading this book and found sleep hard a few nights, I am so glad I picked it up.