Bright Young Women – ARC Book Review

An extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America’s first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree.

January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home—a decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence—two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that’s captivated public interest for more than four decades.

On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life, a young woman with painful secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her. When she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it’s the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela—and one last impending tragedy.

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. It proposes a new narrative inspired by evidence that’s been glossed over for decades in favor of more salable headlines—that the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle was far more average than the countless books, movies, and primetime specials have led us to believe, and that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones.

This is actually a five star read for me!

This is a fictional true crime novel based on the real life events of the murders at the sorority in a university in Florida committed none other than one of America’s most infamous serious killers, Ted Bundy. Pamela Schumacher the sorority house president is awoken by a sound in the early hours of the morning and caught a fleeting glance of a man leaving the house hurriedly. She discovers two of her sorority sisters were dead and the other two were maimed and brutally beaten. This crime soon send shockwaves across the nations as people will remember this even for generations to come. Meanwhile Tina a woman from Seattle knows that the same man who committed the murders in the sorority is responsible for the disappearance of her friend Ruth who disappeared in Lake Sammamish Park back in 1974 and team up with Pamela to catch this man.

I have watched countless movies and read books all based on Ted Bundy but this is one of those books where the author did not use Bundy’s name but instead referred to him as the “The Defendant”. This is also one of the books where the whole story is based entirely on the victims and not on the murderer which actually increased my rating of the book. The book was fast paced and quiet a page turner and, in my opinion, I liked this book more than her debut books the Luckiest Girl Alive. I simply couldn’t put the book down as I really wanted to know what really happened to Tina’s friend Ruth. The names of the victims in this book have been changed (the victims of the sorority). I read in one of the reviews about how the judge referred to Ted Bundy as a “Bright Young Man “and this story is basically about young women who are bright ones recognizing their own worth and intelligence hence “Bright Young Women,” The story is told from the perspectives of Pamela and Ruth, who was dealing with her own issues and who is ready to accept her own fate. I also like how the author managed to draw the reader into that period, making us feel like we are in that era and also a part of the story. The story was captivating, there is a bit of tension and suspense in the book. I like how the author made the “The Defendant” unworthy and focused more towards the victim which is the reason why I enjoyed the book.

If you haven’t put this on your TBR list, go ahead and put this book on your TBR list. This book is a must read. A page turning, captivating, truly emotional book that will keep you up all night. Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Favorite quote

“He wants to extinguish us–we are the ones that remind him that he’s not that smart, not that good-looking, that there’s nothing particularly special about him.”

Let’s not forget the names of the real victims

Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman – The Sorority Murders

Janice Ott and Denise Nasuland – Lake Sammamish Park disappearance