Mona Awad: Bunny (2019, Penguin Canada)
320 pages
English language
Published July 15, 2019 by Penguin Canada.
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and seem to move and speak as one.
But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision.
The spellbinding new …
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and seem to move and speak as one.
But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision.
The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination.
I gotta stew on this. I liked it, I’m just not sure how much I liked it overall. I liked the writing quite a bit. It’s just…does the story work for me?
This book should be the definition of a fever dream. I have no idea what was going on. But I was fully invested in the characters and the story. The writing was fantastic. Awad did an amazing job with really immersing your view as the MC is being absorbed into the Bunnies.
I just have no idea if this was schizophrenia (which is referenced MANY times throughout the book) or magical realism. I spent the whole book wondering if this was actually happening or not because of some of the events that go on. An absolute trip. Highly recommend.
Hahahahaha what the fuck
The Craft meets Heathers meets Jawbreaker meets Mean Girls! What more can I say?
A tad disappointed by the ending, I feel like it could have been more. But, entertaining as hell, funny, witty, and oh so ALMOST perfect, Bunny. Really.
I loved how absurd and unhinged this book was. The writing style was a treat and I enjoyed the satire a great deal. I was a bit afraid of the horror aspects, but I could handle them just fine. If you're not usually into horror, please don't skip this book just because of that!
So much of this book reminds me of Life is Strange, Black Swan, and Mean Girls. But in the best way! When I finished this, I was left with so many questions wanted to do a re-read straight away.
fuck you
I find it difficult to rate this book. It left me so confused that I started questioning my ability to follow a story in a foreign language. If other reviews are to be trusted I am not alone in my confusion, but contrary to them I cannot know whether my own lack of awareness is at fault here.
It started well though. I was intrigued to see what the premise and setting would lead to. But further in the book, as more and more pages were turned, I became perplexed then disinterested then annoyed. And I had made it as far as the last thirty pages so I had to finish, didn't I? Fortunately skipping even entire paragraghs did not seem to matter much for the actual plot, especially by the end.
Because if I had to make a succinct description of this novel: 300+ pages of self pitied rambling …
I find it difficult to rate this book. It left me so confused that I started questioning my ability to follow a story in a foreign language. If other reviews are to be trusted I am not alone in my confusion, but contrary to them I cannot know whether my own lack of awareness is at fault here.
It started well though. I was intrigued to see what the premise and setting would lead to. But further in the book, as more and more pages were turned, I became perplexed then disinterested then annoyed. And I had made it as far as the last thirty pages so I had to finish, didn't I? Fortunately skipping even entire paragraghs did not seem to matter much for the actual plot, especially by the end.
Because if I had to make a succinct description of this novel: 300+ pages of self pitied rambling dusted with teenage drama. The latter could have been interesting if the main character had stopped wallowing in her misery so that we had time to focus on the rest of the cast. If you're looking for horror, which I did expect a bit of given how this book was advertised, just keep moving because there is no meat to it.
I might come back to this in a while and spit at my past self for not realizing how brilliant this piece of work has been all along. But for now I'll have to accept that I'm missing out.
The Secret History meets Mean Girls meets…well, one other book and one other movie which, if I name either, will reveal too much about this story. While it always feels like a cop-out because it means that I can’t say much, the less you know about this book, the better. Seriously, don’t even look at other reviews. There are inadvertent spoilers there too. Suffice to say, this was a dark, twisted, adamantium-razor-sharp story and a thoroughly gripping read. Also, there were times when I identified so strongly with the main character and felt so intensely seen that I wondered how Mona Awad knew so much about my past. It tapped into an old well of anxious, interpersonal woe that I seldom think about these days, but was surprised to find felt no less vivid for the passing of years. Equal parts distressing and validating in an ‘I thought it was …
The Secret History meets Mean Girls meets…well, one other book and one other movie which, if I name either, will reveal too much about this story. While it always feels like a cop-out because it means that I can’t say much, the less you know about this book, the better. Seriously, don’t even look at other reviews. There are inadvertent spoilers there too. Suffice to say, this was a dark, twisted, adamantium-razor-sharp story and a thoroughly gripping read. Also, there were times when I identified so strongly with the main character and felt so intensely seen that I wondered how Mona Awad knew so much about my past. It tapped into an old well of anxious, interpersonal woe that I seldom think about these days, but was surprised to find felt no less vivid for the passing of years. Equal parts distressing and validating in an ‘I thought it was just me’ sort of way. Oh, the magic of books.
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this was great but also. what?
