I'm sure you've heard about this very odd and very wicked book by now (it has over 80,000 Goodreads reviews!!) As 2022 drew to a close, was anxious to get to some of the books on my TBR, and this one was at the top of my list.
The first half of the book was everything I hoped for. Sarcastic, funny and so, so smart. Mona Awad is an extremely gifted writer.
I highlighted so many memorable passages. When the main character Samantha is observing her all-female creative writing cohort: "Their cheeks are plump and pink and shining like they've been eating too much sugar, but actually it's Gossip Glow, the flushed look that comes from throwing another woman under the bus.”
Ms. Awad delightfully skewers graduate fiction programs and I loved that part of the book. I also loved the wordplay on the name of the college: Warren. Samantha struggles mightily to get along with not only her pretentious professor, but also the other members of the highly-coveted creative writing program. ("My smile is fixed on my face, nailed there, though it jerks under the pins.")
When I reached the halfway mark, I thought to myself, oh okay, now I see where all the 1 and 2-star ratings came from. The story just gets WEIRD. But push though. I promise the payoff is worth it!
This book is reminiscent of 'Mean Girls' but on acid. I couldn’t even get angry at what seemed to be cruelty to animals because I think (?) some was fantasy. I was frustrated at Samantha being such a docile participant in the “Bunny” clique, but she really pulled it together in the end.
“I’ve never really not written, never not had another world of my own making to escape to, never known how to be in this world without most of my soul dreaming up and living in another. Until I came here.”
I really loved the conclusion and felt like it tied the whole story together. Overall I recommend this very inventive and strange book!
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Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2023
This was one of those books that sat on my TBR for a long time. I ended up giving it 3.5-3.75 out of 5 stars. I’m not going to go into the plot because I don’t like to give out spoilers by accident. I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this book, but it was one of those that you might feel the need to look up some theories afterwards! It was bizarre and quite a rollercoaster, I felt like I couldn’t put it down! I think it's such a toss up whether you may like it or not, but I think it's worth giving it a shot just to experience the strange universe Awad thought up.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2022
Well this was a bizarre book. It's funny, disorienting and a bit wild. There's dark academia, magical realism and horror. Naturally I loved it. I must say I had to think about the storyline for a few days after finishing. There's ways to interpret it I guess and I have my own theories. The writing is clever and everything has its place and meaning, even if it doesn't seem like that at first.You can read it as a crazy story without even analyzing the meaning and still get a kick out of it. I really don't know how to further review it without spoilers hmm.
⛔ SPOILERS AHEAD! ⛔
Was it even real? The whole of it, the making people out of bunnies part, the weird cult she was drawn into? Because, as we learned, Samantha had the ability to turn other animals into human beings, the other girls only could use rabbits. Her best friend, Ava, was unknowingly summoned alive from a swan. When Samantha started engaging more with the Bunny cult, Ava disappeared. And what happened during that time? She was given some sort of pills. It was never specified what kind of pills they were. She could have been a psych patient for all we know. And Max, who she also "made", took revenge on the bunnies. Ava and Max were like the opposite sides of Samantha's personality that were fighting her inner fights in the "real world". But it doesn't totally add up since she did witness making people out of rabbits during that time. Or was it all a psychotic episode? Or could we look at it as an outsider's view of the "normal" that seems incomprehensible to her? Such a weird story.
Dark academia, magical realism and horror, can't go wrong!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2022
Samantha is a MFA creative writing scholarship student in the elite Warren University. She doesn't seem to have anything in common with other students in her course, who are all from rich families, do everything together and for whatever the reasons - call each other Bunnies. One day she gets a surprising invitation to their creative get-together evening, Smut Salon. Soon enough Samantha has to question reality as she knows it. And you as a reader will follow shortly.Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2022
Well this was a bizarre book. It's funny, disorienting and a bit wild. There's dark academia, magical realism and horror. Naturally I loved it. I must say I had to think about the storyline for a few days after finishing. There's ways to interpret it I guess and I have my own theories. The writing is clever and everything has its place and meaning, even if it doesn't seem like that at first.You can read it as a crazy story without even analyzing the meaning and still get a kick out of it. I really don't know how to further review it without spoilers hmm.
⛔ SPOILERS AHEAD! ⛔
Was it even real? The whole of it, the making people out of bunnies part, the weird cult she was drawn into? Because, as we learned, Samantha had the ability to turn other animals into human beings, the other girls only could use rabbits. Her best friend, Ava, was unknowingly summoned alive from a swan. When Samantha started engaging more with the Bunny cult, Ava disappeared. And what happened during that time? She was given some sort of pills. It was never specified what kind of pills they were. She could have been a psych patient for all we know. And Max, who she also "made", took revenge on the bunnies. Ava and Max were like the opposite sides of Samantha's personality that were fighting her inner fights in the "real world". But it doesn't totally add up since she did witness making people out of rabbits during that time. Or was it all a psychotic episode? Or could we look at it as an outsider's view of the "normal" that seems incomprehensible to her? Such a weird story.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2023
Top reviews from other countries
Nishita Sarkar
Satire- which is an attack on the rich, preppy school girls.
Reviewed in India on March 30, 2023
Nishita Sarkar
Reviewed in India on March 30, 2023
This book is a satire about female friendship and definitely is a attack on the preppy, rich school girls which is honestly so funny, along with which it's a creepy, cult fiction.
The imagery is very distinct. Like imagine if you combine Barbie with Final Destination. It's gore but with bright, rainbow kind background. The paradox in this book is amazing.
The narrator- Samantha, on the other hand seems unreliable when it comes to explaining everything. Our main character here is one delusional, sociopathic person or more like just an angry, lonely teen of the female species. At first the way she decribes the "Bunnies" as individual and a group, she seems angry and like she hates them. Later we know her point of view on them was just because of jealousy and her relationship with Ava that also affected it.
With the start of part 2 we see the narrator has officially become a Bunny herself. Which makes the book more creepier. The cultness (if that's even a word) enhances 10 fold because the narrator has lost all sense of identity. It's like all of the "bunnies" are together just one entity.
By the end of part 2 I thought I knew what was going on but honestly part 3 changes everything about this book. A whole other thing comes to light and we actually get to know what is up with all these weirdos.
But I would say I was disappointed by the ending. That could've been better. Overall a very unique and gross but funny story.
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Lisa *OwlBeSatReading*
Oddly satisfying - in a dark, disturbing kind of way..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2020
bookrantswithj
for people who like being confused
Reviewed in Australia on September 14, 2023
