I remember when I originally saw the trailer for Promising Young Woman – from that first teaser, it looked like something in the spirit of Hard Candy except that the protagonist was now an adult and punishing men for transgressions. And then I saw a spoiler thread of “this movie is not what you think” and after reading the actual plot, immediately lost interest. I still haven’t seen it or Saltburn.
This book, on the other hand, is exactly what I wanted that movie to be and fully delivers on its promise.
Set up as a dual narrative, the novel follows Scarlet, a professor in the English department with special urges and hobbies. She kills bad men, the kind that would otherwise get away with it or simply get a slap on the wrist for ruining a young woman’s life. From the college’s promising football star participating in a gang rape to janitors watching students through peep holes – Scarlet kills men she deems as deserving. Since she is at a university, she has to limit herself and space out her kills, staging them to look like accidents or suicides, since the death rate for the town can’t raise any flags. Unfortunately, after her latest kill, the university puts together a task force to analyze the suicide rates and find a pattern. Not only does Scarlet have to worry about dealing with her sexist colleagues and department head, competing for a position to do research and a casual sex partner who is starting to get a bit clingy, now she has to hope the committee isn’t on to her. And it doesn’t help that the head of the task force is brilliant, interesting, beautiful and the ex-wife of her arch nemesis, the earlier mentioned department head.
The other half of the novel follows Carly as she begins her freshmen year. Carly is intelligent and studious but also socially awkward. She comes from a complicated home life, and in many ways, she is still a bit repressed when it comes to expressing her sexuality or feeling comfortable with those around her doing it. In other ways, it’s this hesitance that makes her dig in so hard for right and wrong, and unwilling to shrug off bad behaviors. Scarlet is fascinated by her roommate, Allison, who is glamorous, adventurous and outgoing – classic theater kid energy. Allison and her best friend Wes accept Carly into their friend circle, and when one night goes bad, Carly’s protectiveness starts complicating everything.
While I quite enjoyed the read, it didn’t blow me away – as much as I enjoyed the chapters with Scarlet, Carly was a harder character to enjoy, this odd mix of jaded and sheltered from the world. I felt like I was missing something about her character and how she interacted with the world beyond her emotionally abusive and controlling father.