Jessica Knoll | Book Chatter

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
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Luckiest Girl Alive (audio)
By Jessica Knoll (Read by Madeleine Maby)
Simon & Schuster Audio | ISBN 9781442380516 | May 2015

*No spoilers*

The Short of It:

How important is it to be perfect? What if it’s all a lie?

The Rest of It:

On the outside, twenty-nine year old Ani FaNelli has everything a woman could want. She’s gorgeous, is about to marry a handsome guy, has a glamorous magazine job, and everyone she knows seems to envy her. So what’s her problem?

Ani used to be known as Tiffany and when she was younger and attending a prestigious private school something happened to her that changed her life forever. Now, right before her wedding, she is forced to deal with those events from the past and her world comes crashing down around her.

I read online that Reese Witherspoon plans to direct a movie based on this book. She’s been doing this a lot lately and seems to have a good sense for what makes a good movie. So when I was offered this book to review, I quickly snatched it up. What I did not do though, was read anything about the story so I went into it cold. I wanted to be surprised.

I was surprised.

That said, there is a certain element of suspense that keeps you reading. It’s kind of like Gone Girl in that you want to keep reading. I mention it because it’s being compared to Gone Girl but they are very different in tone and the stories are nothing alike.

What I did not care for was the shallowness of the main character. Once I found out what her deal was, I empathized with her but not to the point of liking her. In the end, I came around somewhat and felt that the story came full circle but too much of the first half was spent on descriptive details regarding looks and well, just frivolous details, really.

On a technical note, I listened to the audio version and I can’t say enough about Simon & Schuster Audio. I’ve listened to a lot of audio books and so many of them have issues with the recording itself but I never have any issues with Simon & Schuster and the readers always seem to be spot on with their delivery.

In summary, once you get past the first half, the story really takes off but the main character’s shallowness held me back from really liking it.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.

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