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Bright Young Women
By Jessica Knoll
S&s/ Marysue Rucci Books, 9781501153235, August 2024, 400pp.

The Short of It:

A killer, a house full of sorority girls, what could go wrong?

The Rest of It:

Plenty! Knoll wastes no time, we learn very early on what happened to those sorority girls, we just don’t know who did it. Pamela, the sorority president takes her role very seriously. In the aftermath of what’s happened, she feels the weight of the world on her shoulders. Contact the parents, get the other girls to safety, talk to the police and yes, the press.

She is the only one who saw his face. As a law students, she knows the importance of this and knows that cases can go sideways quickly. For that to happen though, they have to have the suspect in custody.

That’s where Tina comes in. She shows up out of nowhere, offers to help. Offers a place to stay. Gives Pamela pointers on who to talk to in the press and who to steer clear from. Tina is a problem. She lost her friend Ruth years earlier and has been hell bent on finding her killer. Tina’s instincts and intentions seem good but is she taking Pamela down the wrong path? Plus, Tina has a horrible reputation with law enforcement so her friendship with Pamela is questioned.

I was very invested in this story for the first half. The details as they unraveled piqued my interest. Pamela is a strong, likable character but Tina is not and her opinions take up much of the story. I also felt that although Pamela’s closeness to one of the victims is what drives her to look for her killer, I did not know enough about the girl to really care for her. Sure, no one wants someone to be murdered but besides her being a sorority sister, what gives?

The author makes some decisions with some of the characters that raised my eyebrows. They felt like an addendum rather than part of the story. Kind of tacked on for mystery’s sake. I didn’t care for it. Also, the sexual orientation of the girls was woven into the story, but I’m not sure it was needed or if it brought anything else to the story, really. My opinion.

My book club chose this book for January’s meeting. I really liked that first half but it left me a little frustrated by the end. I looked back at another book by this author, Luckiest Girl Alive, and felt the same way.

Source: Borrowed
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The Great Believers
By Rebecca Makkai
Penguin, 9780735223530, June 2019, 448pp.

The Short of It:

A wide, expansive novel.

The Rest of It:

“A dazzling novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister.” ~ the publisher

This novel encompasses so much. Yale is on the cusp of acquiring an art collection that would really put his name on the map, but there are complications. The current owner of the pieces, an elderly lady by the name of Nora, has specific desires for each piece, and her family, doesn’t approve of any of it. True, it would leave them without the inheritance but it’s art, beautiful art and meant to be enjoyed in a gallery.

Alternating between moments of beauty, there is the AIDS epidemic of the 80s. We find these characters just at the beginning of the downward spiral. Nico, is the first to be lost. Leaving a behind a handful of loyal friends who don’t really know how to go on without his constant presence.

Chicago’s gay pride scene is just starting to ramp up, along with the number of people stricken with this terrible disease. Medications are not readily available or even invented yet and the ones that do exist are too costly for the average Joe to afford. That part, has not changed has it?

Yale and his friends do their best to support the ones that get hit with the virus, but isn’t it only a matter of time before they are all affected by it in some way, directly or indirectly. They are terrified and often find themselves hopeless so this art collection is really the only thing holding Yale together.

In addition to these very serious issues, Fiona is searching desperately for her adult daughter and her grand-daughter who left the states for Paris with absolutely no trace at all. Fiona is going mad trying to find them and enlists the help of friends.

This is a beautiful, yet sad novel about friendships, love, art, everything. As depressing as the storyline is, I found myself looking forward to reading it. It seemed very hopeful in places and I appreciated those moments. We picked this for our book club pick this month and it will get a lot of discussion I think.

I will say, that as I read this book, I kept searching through my blog to see if I had read it before. According to my blog and GoodReads, no. I’ve not read it before but it felt very familiar. It did remind me a little bit of A Little Life. The Great Believers doesn’t deliver the gut punch that A Little Life did, but the tone and the friendships are similar.

I highly recommend this one. The art bits are lovely and the relationships are strong.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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