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“I have no more questions,” The Defendant concluded with a parasitic smile, looking tremendously self-satisfied for doing f*** all but attach himself to a woman who was good at her job.” A pick based on this sentence alone! Never once is the culprit named; he is The Defendant throughout. The story is not about him; it is about the victims and those who fought for them and I loved this perspective. Tricky to get into but overall a good read.

This book definitely threw me back to the 70‘s when these terrifying killings were taking place. I really enjoyed this one.

This book is based on the real life murders of two sorority members by Ted Bundy,offering a different perspective than we have come to expect from books based on true crimes.I loved that we got to see crimes of Ted Bundy through a different lense than usual.We got to see these young women's lives in all of their richness and not just have them reduced down to being on a victim list of a serial killer. A well written and fascinating read.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this book and all its characters. A real life horror story. I do enjoy reading about female resilience and one of the background characters had my name.

A retelling of the Ted Bundy murders from the POV of (two) victims and their friends. This was an interesting book for sure, offering a unique perspective of using the victims‘ narrative without ever taking Bundy by name throughout the book. Part historical fiction part imagination. But I felt the author spread herself too thin with too many details and side plots that the punchiness of the novel dwindled as the book progressed.

I think I forgot to post my brackets for April. Oops! And I‘m late with May. Oh, well. Here‘s where my FICTION bracket stands currently. I‘ve got a few good contenders for June already!

#2024ReadingBrackets

Are there a few style issues with this book? Yes. But I appreciate the angle taken, one that focuses on the WOMEN —those who were victimized by The Defendant, those who survived and those who didn‘t. Their stories always deserve to be told, but too often are not. Why is it that things a woman sees and experiences with her own eyes are dismissed as less relevant than something a man says or believes? It‘s infuriating. This book will stay with me.

YES. THIS. So much this.

As a woman in my 50s who has witnessed and experienced decades of misogyny and mansplaining and “there-there-little-lady” pats on the head of condescension and dismissal of our thoughts and feelings and fears, so much of this book resonates with me. And angers me.

I read this book as part of #GabyReadsBookTroop (YouTuber) and I concur with their analysis that this is more like a HF because it is based/inspired in a true case but novel is from the victims POV😢It was interesting but sometimes I don‘t know what the author wanted to emphasize, the victims?, the main character? the legal process? In my opinion I don‘t see that integration so well but this is an unpopular opinion.⬇️

Another low pick for me. Interesting re-telling of a real life serial killer from the 70s, but from some of the victims, and the victims friends, points of view. Interesting and unique way of telling the story, but about 75 pages too long. (11)
⭐️: 3.75/5

4.5⭐️/5⭐️

Just finished this one yesterday…I would give it 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because I‘m still thinking about it the next day. I do have mixed feelings about it though.

There was a time when I was guilty of glorifying serial killers, I wrote papers about them, knew trivia, and developed a fascination. But that changed several years ago and this book cemented that decision. It‘s a fictional retelling of the Ted Bundy story without ever mentioning his name, instead it focuses on the victims and the victims who survived.

Novel chronicles two women‘s investigation of who killed their friends (Ted Bundy). I loved his name was never used and the focus was on the women, their backgrounds, and their friends. Good read.