This is a fictionalized story from the POV of the people left behind from a serial killer. I loved that the serial killer was called "The Defendent" and not made out to be a hero or at the minimum someone to be impressed by.
The begining and end were chilling. The middle had a bit too much description for my liking.

I really appreciated Jessica Knoll's newest, "Bright Young Women." In a culture obsessed with true crime and the murderers, I appreciated this fictional account focusing on what the lives and experiences of the victims may have been like. It often bothers me that criminals' names are so highly publicized, and I LOVED that she only used "Ted" once and The Defendant every other time. It was slightly difficult to keep up with the varying plot lines and character relationships, but not so much that it made the novel too hard to follow.

I wanted to love this book and become enthralled with the story. I had high hopes from Knoll. It just didn't do it for me. The writing was fine but the story didn't capture my attention like Luckiest Girl Alive did. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a challenging book to write a review for. It was a deeply intense, thought-provoking read, but it’s hard to put into words some of my thoughts about it.

Anyone familiar with what could be considered the basics of true crime will know what real event this book was fictionalized from. It’s obvious enough to quite possibly deter people from reading it at the risk of feeling like it adds to the notoriety. At its core though, this is not about that or him. A fictional name wasn’t created or used. He’s only referred to as ‘The Defendant’ because even in fictionalized form, his name doesn’t matter and there has already been way too much media created around him over the years.

This book is about strong women daring to push back against the expectations society and their upbringing placed on them. It’s a deep examination of the urge to demure, to placate, to not make waves…to be the ‘good girl’, the helpful girl, the one who holds herself back to protect the feelings of others or make things easier. It looks at the challenge and bravery of breaking that cycle in the moments it’s most important, and how especially difficult that was during the time periods this book is set.

The book is told in various timelines from the perspective of two characters. It has Pamela’s accounts of the sorority house attack as president of the chapter and the key eyewitness in the year it happened and her perspective as an adult as there are still unanswered questions that deserve resolution. It also has perspective from Ruth, who is a victim among her own family and ultimately one of the defendant’s victims waiting for her story to be told and for answers to be given to her loved one left behind.

There is a lot to unpack among it all, and it got challenging to follow the shifting timelines at the beginning. Eventually though, I had a better understanding of the way the stories were being told and found it much more seamless. There were also some details of the crimes committed against the women that got included in fairly graphic detail more than once. I understood its inclusion but could have done with stopping at once.

I’ll reiterate one more time to close this out that this is not a book glorifying the acts of a garbage human. It’s a book of resilience, strength, and bravery in the face of heinous acts—some by strangers and some by those who are supposed to be safe.

Soon to be a Netflix adaptation!!

It's the late 1970's and Pamela is the president of her Florida Sorority. Choosing to stay in on a Saturday night she awakens to a terrible scene that will haunt her forever. After the event she struggles to have other listen to her, really listen to what she saw and who. A sign of the times, the name of the book refers to the Ted Bundy case in which the judge referred to him as a "Bright Young Man." In this story, we follow multiple story lines and viewpoints including Pamela as well as a woman named Ruth. Both are impacted greatly by a woman named Tina who hasn't stopped trying to bring justice to the death of her friend.

If you love serial killer novels, murder mysteries and thrillers this is a book that will actually keep you up all night!
#SimonElement #S&S #MarysueRucciBooks #BrightYoungWomen #JessicaKnoll

definitely was a bit slow at the start, but then it started to pick up. there were still some slow parts every now and then, but it was interesting enough to finish through.

this book centers on the women’s experience before, during, and after such brutal murders and their mission to seek justice and uncover the truth. the two different timelines along with the two povs sometimes made it a bit confusing to read at times, but i enjoyed getting the different perspectives and how one character plays an important role in connecting the two timelines. didn’t realize this was essentially a retelling of the Ted Bundy murders but told from the perspective of the women involved. appreciate that this book took that lens and focused on uplifting their voices instead of blaming them.

It is 1978; two young women are murdered and another two brutally attacked in their sorority house at Florida State University.The sorority president, dubbed “Perfect Pamela” by one of the deceased due to her fastidiousness, saw the attacker and is the lone witness. She receives a visit from Tina who says she knows who did it because he has killed women in the west and northwest and is responsible for the disappearance of her friend, Ruth.Unfortunately, the police take neither Tina nor Pamela seriously.

Flashback to 1974 and the story of Tina and Ruth.Flash forward to the present and a letter that Pamela receives results in her traveling back to Florida and the final resolution of loose threads.

The timelines alternate throughout, with that of 1978 continuing on to the trial of the killer. He is not called by name in the narrative, only referred to as “The Defendant”. While he is on trial, the press and public fawn over him; the judge calls him a “bright young man”, ignoring the stories of the bright young women who were murdered.

Does this sound a bit familiar? Yes, it was influenced by real life serial killer Ted Bundy.

This is a good story although sometimes the jumping around in timelines is wrenching.It throws light on the homophobia and misogyny of the 1970’s (perhaps not much different from today) and the failings of the justice system. It appears to have been well researched, is well written, and astute.I liked how Pamela evolved into a self actualized independent woman.

However, I just wasn’t comfortable with this book. I appreciate true crime non fiction and all the research that goes into it to present real information. While this story parallels the Bundy case, it is fictionalized and I didn’t like the blurring of the lines between fact and fiction. I kept wondering what was really true regarding the characters and, in particular, the victims. Perhaps if it didn’t follow the case so closely, I might have been more comfortable with it. That is my personal preference; others will respond differently.

After loving The Luckiest Girl Alive, Knoll’s other books have fallen flat for me. Bright Young Women is about an attack on a sorority house. I found the different timelines to be confusing and kept waiting for a mystery that wasn’t there. While I liked that the book focused on the victims instead of on the killer, I feel like it should have either been a nonfiction account of the actual victims or a unique type of killer since so much has been written and dramatized about Ted Bundy.

A new novel from Knoll set largely in the 70s in the midst of Ted Bundy's attacks. One of the main characters is Pamela, the president of the sorority where girls were attacked. She witnessed the killer and is now dealing with the aftermath when she meets Tina. Tina is from the Pacific Northwest and is convinced her friend was killed by the same man years ago.

So I had mixed feelings going into this. I'm a big true crime fan but always get worried when they make victims the protagonists. This gets around this by having them be witnesses or friends be the main characters (it does flashback to one of the victims in Washington but in Tallahassee, Pamela is just a witness, not a victim). Just as it got into Tina and Pamela meeting, it just felt weird. Like at that point, most people knew or assumed that the missing women in Washington were Bundy's victims. So Tina's quest felt strange. I think it would've been more successful if it had been set in Tallahassee amidst Bundy's killings and a death happens they think is him. But then TWIST it's not.

In addition, I was born, raised, and currently live in Tallahassee and there were some inaccuracies that seemed easily avoided. Like for instances, early on, Pamela and her sisters go to stay with an FSU alumni who lived "out in Red Hills." Red Hills is a general name for the area above Tallahassee/North Tallahassee, but no one calls it that! There were established neighborhoods in that area she could've used like Killearn or Betton Hills. And the hospital, Tallahassee Memorial, does exist. But the exterior facade she describes only came about like 5 years ago! So easily avoided. Small details, which to most people, won't matter, but to me it reflects some larger inaccuracies of the book.

For a book describing itself as reviving the victim's voices, I found this not really doing that, especially since it doesn't use real names and dances around even mentioning Bundy. It goes through so much of the court case/trial etc. accurately that it especially feels weird. Maybe those not familiar with the case will enjoy it more?

Spoilers ahead:
It seems like I am an outlier, but this book did not work for me. I found the three timelines – past Ruth, past Pamela, and present Pamela – to be confusing. I kept having to look at the date stamp. Additionally, I spent the whole book waiting for a mystery to be revealed. I believed from the beginning that Ruth was killed. Her mom’s theory – that she had just run away – was introduced too late in the story, so it never rang true. So, when Ruth’s timeline revealed that yes, she was killed, it was not a shocking revelation. It just confirmed what I already knew.

I also thought it was bizarre that Pamela was missing for four days as a four-year-old and returned no worse for wear. Yet no one spoke about it for decades and there was no explanation. What was the purpose of including that in the story? There had to be a more realistic way to show Pamela’s connection to Florida and her disconnection from her mother.

The description of the book says, “Bright Young Women is the story about two women from opposite sides of the country who become sisters in their fervent pursuit of the truth.” I never felt that close connection between Tina and Pamela, never believed that they were “like sisters.” In fact, Tina’s character was a mystery to me, and I was hoping that she was sinister in some way. However, early in the story, Knoll revealed that Tina and Pamela were still friends in the present day so that destroyed my suspicion.

For me, the novel did not deliver what was promised. But I really liked Knoll’s writing, so I would be interested in reading her next book.

My thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in any way.

This book will invite lots of discussion about violence that young women in particular deal with, whether it is actual violence or the ever present threat. Well written and i think my students will get a lot from reading it

This is a fictionalized version of a serial killer and two of the women deeply impacted by his crimes. It is told in the past and the present, in a victim's voice and in the voice of two women trying to get justice for the women they loved, murdered. the voices sometimes were not distinct enough for me. the focus was on the woman, the survivors and the victims rather than the killer as it should be. It was a good book , a little slow at times but good 4.5

I had high hopes for this one but it was a miss for me. I didn't realize this initially but it is a retelling of the Ted Bundy murders. So this is more of a crime novel rather than a thriller. It is told from different POVs and while I always enjoy that type of storytelling, this just wasn't executed well. I felt it was a little flat and I was bored for majority of the book. Sadly this is 2 stars for me.

Thank you to NetGallery and Simon Element for this ARC.

Jessica Knoll is one of those authors that is hit or miss for me - I enjoyed Luckiest Girl Alive and loathed The Favorite Sister. I was really excited to delve into Bright Young Women and see where I landed on this one - I was intrigued by the premise - a take on the Ted Bundy cases, while amplify the victims rather than the killer. In theory, this should have been right up my alley, however, in execution, I wasn't as invested as I expected to be and ended up rather middle of the road here.

ARC releasing on 10/3. A man attacks and kills women inside a sorority house and later is revealed to kill women on a beach while wearing a sling and escape from jail all while being just soooo attractive. This was one step away from being a Ted Bundy book and at that point just make it one? It felt so lazy to take all the elements and even name the killer Ted but still make it fiction.

I enjoyed this book, but quickly realized it was almost a retelling of Ted Bundy killings. I am unsure of how much of this was “real” versus fictional, so it makes me a bit uncomfortable how much Knoll used of the victims’ stories to write this. If this was meant to be a biopic, write that. However, the story was enthralling and I appreciated the emphasis about the women being the bright ones, rather than how the media focused so much of Bundy’s looks and “smarts”. Again, just not knowing enough about the real case made it hard to separate fact from fiction, and I wish she could’ve separated them a bit more (i.e. use a different college than where he killed even). It feels a little icky to the family to dramatize this, even if the overarching theme is positive. Also, I need Knoll to take a step back with mass murders and write about something a little less traumatizing

Pamela Schumacher, the chapter president of her sorority at Florida State University in Tallahassee, is the only witness to a man escaping the sorority about 3 a.m. on January 14, 1978, in the new book from Jessica Knoll, Bright Young Women, due out October 3. While at first she thinks the guy she sees is one of the sister’s boyfriend Roger, at a second glance she realizes it is not Roger at all, but once she tells that to the police, they arrest Roger and stop right there.

Two members of the sorority died that night while two others were brutally beaten. While the police have settled on Roger to be the guilty party, the real attacker strikes again, harming others in the vicinity of the school.

In the aftermath, a woman named Tina Cannon confronts Pamela and shares a story about her friend Ruth Wachowsky in Washington state who disappeared in 1974, and Tina believes the description of the killer matches what Pamela remembers about the man she saw leaving her building that horrible night.

From there, the story is told over two timelines --1974 and 1978-- with Tina and the killer the only intersecting characters. Tina has pushed law enforcement so much to find Ruth’s killer that she created an off-putting reputation with the police. When Tina shows Pamela a sketch of the man who has kidnapped and killed women in other places, Pamela recognizes him as the one she actually saw that night. Pamela grows increasingly frustrated that the police seem stuck on her first impression of the man in the sorority rather than the clearer consciousness that develops.

Bright Young Women is a fictionalized account of the 30 assaults and murders confessed by the serial killer Ted Bundy.

Jessica Knoll has seen one of her books, The Luckiest Girl Alive, transformed into a Netflix film starring Mila Kunis. A former senior editor at Cosmopolitan, Knoll grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 16, 2023.

I would like to thank Marysue Rucci Books/Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

I loved this book. While it’s very clearly a fictionalized account of a victim of Ted Bundy’s, it still makes for an extremely compelling read that I couldn’t put down. I also loved our narrator.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll was stupendous! I couldn't put it down, I couldn't stop reading, and I haven't stopped thinking about it. People talk abut a book hangover--reader, this book will absolutely give you one. An extraordinary book that takes a story you think you know and flips it on its head.

We all know the name, but The Defendant isn't named until one of the last pages in the book. We've seen his pictures, heard how charming he was, how brilliant he was, and how terrifying he was. But the story is always about him. What of the women he murdered? What of those left behind? What's THEIR story?

The book takes place in multiple timelines, multiple locations, and with multiple narrators: Ruth, Pamela, Tina. We are carted from Florida to Colorado to Washington to New York as we follow the trail these women and come with them in their searches for truth. The women are witness, victim, friend and they weave throughout each others' lives in a seamless way.

Knoll takes a story we all know, changes the names and a few details here and there, but the overarching story is not about The Defendant. It's about the bright young women who were hunted, patronized, laughed at, assaulted, dismissed, mocked, and ignored. Knoll takes their experiences, mostly in the 1970s, and shows us what it was like to live in an era when women were barely able to get a credit card without a husband's signature. Where being gay was such a horrific concept that a parent would prefer to hide their child away in shame than welcome them with open arms (I fully realize this is still the case for many people). Where women overachieved men but were pressured to make their accomplishments level or even below their boyfriends'. Knoll uses the stories and experiences of the bright young women left behind in the wake of one of the country's most notious serial killers and creates an exceptional commentary on justice, feminism, homophobia. I highly recommend this book.

I loved reading this book to the point where I feel as though my thoughts are jambled because there are so many racing through my mind. I can't wait to find a friend who read it because I cannot WAIT to discuss.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC. A truly exceptional book.

Wow and she returns with a ahhh amassing story
When golds kept saying it was inspired by Ted bundy that peaked my interest and I needed to read this asap.

I loved it I cared so much for the characters and wanted Justice for the girls
This author is turning into an automatic buy for me I give it 5 stars