Lisa of Troy's Reviews > Bright Young Women

Several years ago, I was enchanted by an extremely famous podcast.

The Accused was declaring his innocence, spending his life behind bars as a result of an unjust and inaccurate conviction.

This was a serious allegation against the legal system, and The Accused sounded so sincere.

Of course, Super Lisa was going to solve this crime. I became obsessed with the case: reading the trial transcripts, pleadings, attorney notes, and reviewing the police file.

Spoiler Alert: The Accused is guilty.

But the thing is…..the thing that moved me the most was The Victim’s diary.

The media gave all of the airtime to The Accused, that The Victim’s voice was lost in the circus of amateur sleuthing and sensationalism.

The Victim’s diary transported me back to my teenage years, back to the exquisite, boundless hope of the future, endless possibilities. The Victim was experiencing all of the firsts of adulthood: getting her first car, preparing for college, waiting for decision letters, planning for her first trip to Europe. She was still enjoying the naïve innocent days of being a giddy teenager before the cynicism of life could creep in.

Not only did The Victim prove The Accused was lying, but she made me realize all that she would miss: going to college, earning a living wage (actually enjoying not being broke as a joke), sharing her life with a partner, holding her newborn baby in her arms, watching it grow up, guiding it, traveling the world.

Bright Young Women is a fictional story which focuses on the victims and survivors instead of the offenders. It proposes taking back the narrative from attention-seeking criminals.

Personally, I love the concept (especially given my above experience with True Crime), but the execution left much to be desired.

The book has two POV’s in different timelines. One follows Pamela, the sorority President who is reeling after discovering four of her sisters were attacked in her own house. The other POV is with Ruth, one of the victims.

This is one of those cases where less is more. If the author had Ruth’s diary and wove in Pamela’s experience of mourning the loss of her friend, the book could have been more moving. It felt like the author was trying to do too much. Even though this book is a bit long for a thriller, I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters—the characters didn’t speak to me. The author spent too much time on backstory, covering what seems to be the entire lives of multiple characters.

Further, the pacing was too slow. The book could use a trim of about 100-200 pages. I wanted to feel Pamela’s thoughts flicking back and forth like she couldn’t catch her breath or still her mind. Some pages I just wanted to skip to the dialogue. Ruth’s part was overly depressing with nearly everyone in her life doing her wrong.

Overall, a good reminder to question the media portrayal of true crime and a perfect book to discuss at a book club.

*Thanks, NetGalley and Edelweiss, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.

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