Bunny
By Mona Awad
Viking, 9780525559733, June 2019, 320pp.
The Short of It:
Considered a dark comedy but I failed to see the humor.
The Rest of It:
I won’t pretend to know exactly what went on in this story because it could probably be interpreted many different ways. In fact, I’m sure the majority of it went right over my head. Not because I couldn’t lean in and decipher what exactly was taking place, but because I wasn’t motivated to do so. At all.
Samantha Heather Mackey is working on her MFA at a prestigious New England university. She’s part of a writing cohort that includes a group of girls who think alike, dress alike, and apparently, write alike. Think Heathers meets Mean Girls. There’s a lot of pink and shallowness but then there’s this writing program and the fact that they do seem to possess writing talent, which seems out of place. They refer to each other as “Bunny”. Thanks, Bunny. That was great, Bunny. You know what’s best, Bunny.
Samantha hates them, but also wants to be like them. There’s the problem.
As they begin to work together as a cohort, certain things come to light rather quickly. They have special parties that involve rabbits. These parties also involve imaginary creations of their doing. It’s like they “write” them into existence but with witchery and a lot of alcohol and drugs.
Are these things actually happening or is this a product of Samantha’s imagination? What you need to know is that there is a lot of darkness here. I saw some reviews that categorized it as a horror novel but others say dark comedy. There is nothing funny here and if you have a soft spot for furry, little rabbits this story won’t sit well with you. It’s disturbing and weird.
I like to think that what goes on in this novel IS a product of Samantha’s mad skills as a writer but I’m not so sure. It has a very Naked Lunch feel to it and the visuals are just so disturbing and nightmarish.
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
It sounds like I’ll be safe to skip this one.
Ummm….I’m thinking I can skip this one too. Sounds a little too convoluted to me and not all that fun to try to figure out. I mean, if it’s not fun to solve the twists, why should I read it? Ha!
Bunny sounds like an interesting read, but like one I will be missing out on. I’m glad you posted about it 🙂
It has a very surreal edge to it not unlike Murakami’s books but I never got the point of the story. Didn’t seem to have a message of any kind.
I have this one but, every time I read a few pages, I’d think that there has to be something else in my stacks that I’d like better. Disturbing, especially involving ANY animal is just not for me.
Nope, not for me. Hard pass!
I don’t like to write negative reviews but I have to be truthful. It’s especially hard to read if you have any love for animals at all and most people do.
I appreciate your honest review because I want to know what’s in the book so I don’t waste my time reading something that I don’t finish, spending hours wasting my time. Plus, sometimes that’s all you take away from a book,
Wow. This sounds intense and I think I’ll give it a miss. There’s enough dark going on in the world without me adding in confusing dark. 🙂
A pass, I think. I’m not one for dark humor or cruelty to little creatures.
A definite pass, then. Midway through, when I could not decipher any grand statements being made, I was like, what the heck is up with this book??
Odd book, but I’m passing. I love cute bunnies too much.
Gosh it sounds too disturbing for me. And perhaps it’d go right over my head as well. Glad you vetted it for me!
It was very disturbing! The visuals were nightmarish and you know me. I am not squeamish. I deleted the dupe comment BTW. Thanks for letting me know!