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Bunny
by
The Vegetarian meets Heathers in this darkly funny, seductively strange novel about a lonely graduate student drawn into a clique of rich girls.
'We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we?'
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program a ...more
'We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we?'
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program a ...more
Kindle Edition, 289 pages
Published
June 13th 2019
by Head of Zeus
(first published June 11th 2019)
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Community Reviews
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Start your review of Bunny

The writing style of this book gives me strange claustrophobia like I had with Normal People...paired with the stunning assumption-like writing of CMBYN....mixed in with a bit of AHS Coven. My mind is fried but I am satisfied (also as a masters student I was like AH SO THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE SEEEEEEEN)

oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for BEST HORROR 2019! what will happen?
this book is straight-up bonkers. seeing this was set “at an elite new england university” with an exclusive clique at its center and seeing it compared to Heathers, i went into it expecting a Megan Abbott-y/The Secret History-y type of deal; full of those dark and toxic currents that define adolescent girlhood, where affection shifts into power struggle at the drop of a hat, but also featuring a bunch of soulless ...more
this book is straight-up bonkers. seeing this was set “at an elite new england university” with an exclusive clique at its center and seeing it compared to Heathers, i went into it expecting a Megan Abbott-y/The Secret History-y type of deal; full of those dark and toxic currents that define adolescent girlhood, where affection shifts into power struggle at the drop of a hat, but also featuring a bunch of soulless ...more

super fucking bizarre. i loved it.
i usually don't compare titles to explain books, but i think it's the best way to explain this one soooo
heathers meets the craft meets frankenstein. if that sounds like a good time to you READ THIS. ...more
i usually don't compare titles to explain books, but i think it's the best way to explain this one soooo
heathers meets the craft meets frankenstein. if that sounds like a good time to you READ THIS. ...more

Hmmmm.....
I have no idea what I just read or how to review it. Does that work as a proper review? I'm not even going to attempt discussing the plot because...because.... See? I truly don't know how to.
Bizarre, strange, peculiar, unusual are just a few words that come to mind if I had to try and describe this mind fuck of a book. It's a very slip-streamy type of novel. A novel in which the entire time I read I had no idea what was going on and I still don't. Not a fucking clue.
"And then they hug ...more
I have no idea what I just read or how to review it. Does that work as a proper review? I'm not even going to attempt discussing the plot because...because.... See? I truly don't know how to.
Bizarre, strange, peculiar, unusual are just a few words that come to mind if I had to try and describe this mind fuck of a book. It's a very slip-streamy type of novel. A novel in which the entire time I read I had no idea what was going on and I still don't. Not a fucking clue.
"And then they hug ...more

this was the weirdest book i've read in my life and i don't know if i loved it or hated it but it was amazing and broke my brain
...more

One of the weirdest fucking books I’ve ever read.
This book is the product child of a love triangle: if Mean Girls and Alice in Wonderland fell in love with The Craft.
If you like pretentious people in cliques and sacrificial cults and exploding heads and truly WTF moments, all at the same time getting their MFAs in writing and lit?
Then this one is for you.
4 STARS
This book is the product child of a love triangle: if Mean Girls and Alice in Wonderland fell in love with The Craft.
If you like pretentious people in cliques and sacrificial cults and exploding heads and truly WTF moments, all at the same time getting their MFAs in writing and lit?
Then this one is for you.
4 STARS

Okay, what just happened here?

I'll quote one of the characters to explain my feelings about Bunny--"And then I feel like screaming JUST SAY IT. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED. TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK THIS MEANS."
The publisher's blurb doesn't even begin to capture what happens in Bunny. At first, I thought I'd be reading an R rated version of Mean Girls.

As I read, I found that wasn't quite right, so then I thought, "Okay, maybe it's Stephen King does Mean Girls."

It turned out that that description didn't ...more

I'll quote one of the characters to explain my feelings about Bunny--"And then I feel like screaming JUST SAY IT. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED. TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK THIS MEANS."
The publisher's blurb doesn't even begin to capture what happens in Bunny. At first, I thought I'd be reading an R rated version of Mean Girls.

As I read, I found that wasn't quite right, so then I thought, "Okay, maybe it's Stephen King does Mean Girls."

It turned out that that description didn't ...more

★★✰✰✰ 2 stars
There are those bizarre and experimental books that manage to be entertaining, transgressive, and on occasion even thought-provoking. And then, there are books like Bunny whose weirdness largely rests on overusing the word bunny (which appears approximately 350 times, one time too many).
An intentionally silly story that owes more to Scream Queens and The Babysitter then Heathers or Mean Girls. If you are picking up Bunny thinking that it is some sort of intriguing campus novel, yo ...more
There are those bizarre and experimental books that manage to be entertaining, transgressive, and on occasion even thought-provoking. And then, there are books like Bunny whose weirdness largely rests on overusing the word bunny (which appears approximately 350 times, one time too many).
An intentionally silly story that owes more to Scream Queens and The Babysitter then Heathers or Mean Girls. If you are picking up Bunny thinking that it is some sort of intriguing campus novel, yo ...more


Well, I didn’t like it!

And I think everyone was hitting the crack pipe. I’m weird and messed up enough without this 🤣😂


And it seems like they were blowing up bunnies or some weird shit


Yeah...
So, I’m climbing out of the rabbit hole and on to the next book!
Happy Reading!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.... ...more

This is the strangest book I’ve ever read but I kind of loved it. I recently just read this for a video having absolutely no idea what it was about or what to expect but I’m genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I think the other reviewers comparisons are completely accurate, this story is: Mean Girls meets Frankenstein meets The Secret History meets Jennifer’s Body... and it also reminds me a lot of the movie Sorry to Bother You as well..?
But this story is so fucking weird and strange ...more
But this story is so fucking weird and strange ...more

Sep 03, 2019
Johann (jobis89)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites
“The poets brace themselves for imminent, overeducated poverty.”
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England’s Warren University. She is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort - a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other “Bunny”. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies’ fabled “Smut Salon”...
Wickedly funny and deliciously dark, Bunny is a messed up fever dre ...more
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England’s Warren University. She is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort - a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other “Bunny”. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies’ fabled “Smut Salon”...
Wickedly funny and deliciously dark, Bunny is a messed up fever dre ...more

I have, like, no clue what I just read. A post-feminist Fight Club? A sort-of inverted Traumnovelle / Eyes Wide Shut? An appeal for Bunnies or an ode to wolves? The writing was interesting-very uber-millennial complete with emojis, selfies, self-indulgent musing, semi-pretentious name-dropping, sarcasm-laden descriptions.
I stare at them all through Kira's pink heart-shaped glasses. This is how she must see the world all the time. I look at their dark pink faces, so suddenly grave. I should call ...more
I stare at them all through Kira's pink heart-shaped glasses. This is how she must see the world all the time. I look at their dark pink faces, so suddenly grave. I should call ...more

★★ /5
This was interesting, but not captivating enough to hold my attention.
I liked how the author wasn‘t afraid of taking risks. I found the characters interesting, but after a while, they blend into one another. The plot itself was fine, I particularly enjoyed the first part, but second and third become less and less interesting, shook factor didn't affect me after a while.
This was a unique book, but it didn't blow me away.
...more
This was interesting, but not captivating enough to hold my attention.
I liked how the author wasn‘t afraid of taking risks. I found the characters interesting, but after a while, they blend into one another. The plot itself was fine, I particularly enjoyed the first part, but second and third become less and less interesting, shook factor didn't affect me after a while.
This was a unique book, but it didn't blow me away.
...more

Jul 17, 2019
Bark | Ladies Of Horror Fiction
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Bark | Ladies Of Horror Fiction by:
Emily
This book is pure demented madness.
I loved it. I loved all of it and I think all of you weirdos should read it because you might just love it too. Just don’t ask me what it was about because I have no idea what the heck I just read and I am perfectly fine with that, haha!
I was in a huge book funk when my friend Emily recommend this book to me as a must read. She knows her stuff and I listened and it was exactly what I needed. I blew through this book in two days on audio and was so involved at o ...more
I loved it. I loved all of it and I think all of you weirdos should read it because you might just love it too. Just don’t ask me what it was about because I have no idea what the heck I just read and I am perfectly fine with that, haha!
I was in a huge book funk when my friend Emily recommend this book to me as a must read. She knows her stuff and I listened and it was exactly what I needed. I blew through this book in two days on audio and was so involved at o ...more

Jun 20, 2019
Deece de Paor
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
absolutely-terrible
God this was truly awful. You know when you get a feel for a book and the feel is, ‘I don’t like this but I’m going to give it a chance?’ But then you give it a chance and it doesn’t improve? So that happened.
As I read I thought this author must be very young and will be embarrassed by this in ten years.
It’s like a much worse Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas but completely uninteresting.
I would not recommend this to anyone.
As I read I thought this author must be very young and will be embarrassed by this in ten years.
It’s like a much worse Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas but completely uninteresting.
I would not recommend this to anyone.

*deep, deep breath*
*lung-bursting shrieks*
*choked swear words*
*another deep breath in, then out*
Alright, with that out of the way, let's get this shit over with.
MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!
Words cannot, and I mean CANNOT, express how disappointed I am with this novel. I went from, "wow, this is so creepy, I love it!" to "well, that was a little disappointing," to "FUCK THIS SHIT SO FUCKING HARD." The best word I can use to sum up my emotions right now (aside from the obvious ones like r ...more
*lung-bursting shrieks*
*choked swear words*
*another deep breath in, then out*
Alright, with that out of the way, let's get this shit over with.
MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!
Words cannot, and I mean CANNOT, express how disappointed I am with this novel. I went from, "wow, this is so creepy, I love it!" to "well, that was a little disappointing," to "FUCK THIS SHIT SO FUCKING HARD." The best word I can use to sum up my emotions right now (aside from the obvious ones like r ...more

Loved the snarky sentences for awhile, but riding the rollercoaster of caustic commentary has only so much charm - eventually this book starts to feel as mean-spirited and vacuous as the rest of our modern discourse. The ubiquitousness of this way of telling stories makes me feel like a sick and drowning rat in a raging storm sewer. This is not a feeling I turn to literature to have.
If you suspect everyone may be a nightmare human and want to have those feelings validated, this is your book. Hav ...more
If you suspect everyone may be a nightmare human and want to have those feelings validated, this is your book. Hav ...more

Umm no! Soo I am beginning to slowly figure out that horror books are not for me. Don't get me wrong, I like creepy books but this was all kinds of messed up. Way messed up. It wasn't even creepy, it was just plain weird. I am at a loss as to how to even review this. I mean exploding bunnies?! 🐰
I don't hand out one star reviews, but this one almost got one. The only thing that made it a two star was I actually enjoyed the beginning. Samantha was struggling to fit in with a group of " girly, girl ...more
I don't hand out one star reviews, but this one almost got one. The only thing that made it a two star was I actually enjoyed the beginning. Samantha was struggling to fit in with a group of " girly, girl ...more

I don't even know , what did I even read ? I'm just realy sad because I realy wanted to love this😿. I didn't find it fun or unique but just weird and confusing🙄
2⭐⭐ ...more
2⭐⭐ ...more

Samantha is a graduate student with writer's block. She's from a poor background and doesn't really fit in at moneyed Warren University, where her four workshop partners have formed an insular clique. They call themselves the Bunnies – they literally all call each other 'Bunny' – and their conversations are studded with declarations of love, cliched Instagram-hashtag phrases and sycophantic compliments on the brilliance and originality of one another's work. From the sidelines, Samantha finds it
...more

while i overall liked this one, especially in how absurd it gets, i felt like it was lacking in the actual writing. it got lost in its own weirdness and lost the heart of the story a bit. however, i definitely want to read more by this author and would still recommend checking this one out. ESPECIALLY if you’ve ever had any experience in writing workshops.

Topping off my trio of weird reads this weekend is BUNNY. I'm not even sure that I understood everything that occurred in this book. In that regard, it was like a train wreck. The characters were so awesomely terrible, I couldn't look away! (Or is that HEAR away? Whatever.)
This was the story of a woman, Samantha Mackey, (or Smackey as her friend calls her), studying as a post graduate in a snooty New England college. It's also about this ultra-annoying group of women, (who come off more as high ...more
This was the story of a woman, Samantha Mackey, (or Smackey as her friend calls her), studying as a post graduate in a snooty New England college. It's also about this ultra-annoying group of women, (who come off more as high ...more

Nov 14, 2020
Sara (sarawithoutanH)
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2020

Okay so I have no idea what the heck happened in this book. I got the basic premise: we follow Samantha Mackey, an MFA student at Warren University, an elite college school in New England. Samantha hates the Bunnies, a clique of four rich, popular female students who hug each other a lot and say fake nice things about each other’s writing. Samantha’s feelings toward the Bunnies start to shift though when they invite her to their Smut Salon, a night entrenched in mystery and erotica. After Samant
...more

Nov 01, 2020
Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
physically-own
*Rated 3.5 stars!
I’m just gonna go ahead and join the chorus of ”what the fuck?!”
Ohhhh what to think about this one. It proved to be a quick read, it’s descent into apparent madness and the spiralling of cultish behaviour providing a claustrophobic and creepy atmosphere perfect for dark academia. BUT...sadly I needed more explanation. I can get on board with weird - and trust me, this book TESTS that claim. But whatever supernatural oddities were happening in this book had zero rhyme or reason t ...more
I’m just gonna go ahead and join the chorus of ”what the fuck?!”
Ohhhh what to think about this one. It proved to be a quick read, it’s descent into apparent madness and the spiralling of cultish behaviour providing a claustrophobic and creepy atmosphere perfect for dark academia. BUT...sadly I needed more explanation. I can get on board with weird - and trust me, this book TESTS that claim. But whatever supernatural oddities were happening in this book had zero rhyme or reason t ...more

tw// animal killings, body horror
uhm…so…. 😹😹 wasn't that weird
— overall: 4.0 —
*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless stated otherwise*
what do I even say??
No, I'm kidding. I know what to say.
Someone said that if you hate this book, you're gonna hate it. But if you're into it, you're gonna love it. And I 100% agree. If you're not into the plot and the humor doesn't sell from the beginning, you're gonna have to power through a lot. But if your humor is the surreal, witty, observa ...more
uhm…so…. 😹😹 wasn't that weird
— overall: 4.0 —
*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless stated otherwise*
what do I even say??
No, I'm kidding. I know what to say.
Someone said that if you hate this book, you're gonna hate it. But if you're into it, you're gonna love it. And I 100% agree. If you're not into the plot and the humor doesn't sell from the beginning, you're gonna have to power through a lot. But if your humor is the surreal, witty, observa ...more

Sep 23, 2019
Kate
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2019,
favorite-standalones
5/5stars
10/26/2019: honestly even better the second time i fucking adore this book Jonah is my baby boy if i could interview one author besides murakami it would be Mona Awad cause I just need to get sOME ANSWERS
9/23/2019: This was fucking FANTASTIC. If you love the same books as me you need to get this on your radar ASAP
- one of the absolute weirdest books I’ve read
- magical realism
- BEAUTIFUL but also creepy af writing
- dream like
- if murakami wrote an NA book with mostly female main characte ...more
10/26/2019: honestly even better the second time i fucking adore this book Jonah is my baby boy if i could interview one author besides murakami it would be Mona Awad cause I just need to get sOME ANSWERS
9/23/2019: This was fucking FANTASTIC. If you love the same books as me you need to get this on your radar ASAP
- one of the absolute weirdest books I’ve read
- magical realism
- BEAUTIFUL but also creepy af writing
- dream like
- if murakami wrote an NA book with mostly female main characte ...more

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
3.5 Stars
“We never joke about bunnies, Bunny.”
A new release with comparisons to an old high school fave?????
Obviously I had to read it. But now that it’s over I’m not exactly sure what to say. I stumbled across another review that said this book was so far up its own ass it wasn’t even funny. I’ll give you that Bunny is a book that is up its own ass, but that’s kind of the entire point . . . and it's most certainly pretty funny ...more
3.5 Stars
“We never joke about bunnies, Bunny.”
A new release with comparisons to an old high school fave?????

Obviously I had to read it. But now that it’s over I’m not exactly sure what to say. I stumbled across another review that said this book was so far up its own ass it wasn’t even funny. I’ll give you that Bunny is a book that is up its own ass, but that’s kind of the entire point . . . and it's most certainly pretty funny ...more

Aug 03, 2019
Jenny (Reading Envy)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read2019
This book is bananas.
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
What are the limits of creativity and friendship? In the world of this novel, the answer to that might contain more blood and guts than your average MFA program (but really, what do I know?)
I liked Awad's previous novel, and this one is a bit more gritty, a bit more fantasy-based. I was pushed over the edge to read it when Gwen and Frank from The Librarian is In podcast (NYPL) chose it for their summer read. ...more
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
What are the limits of creativity and friendship? In the world of this novel, the answer to that might contain more blood and guts than your average MFA program (but really, what do I know?)
I liked Awad's previous novel, and this one is a bit more gritty, a bit more fantasy-based. I was pushed over the edge to read it when Gwen and Frank from The Librarian is In podcast (NYPL) chose it for their summer read. ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Emilys Book Club: Other December Book Of The Month / January Pick | 20 | 18 | Dec 06, 2020 11:47AM | |
Ladies of Horror ...: September 2020 Readalong: Bunny by Mona Awad | 61 | 112 | Sep 29, 2020 07:27AM | |
YA Buddy Readers'...: Bunny by Mona Awad - Starting May 3rd 2020 | 39 | 39 | May 16, 2020 06:32AM | |
Play Book Tag: Bunny by Mona Awad - 4 Stars (cross-posted to Poll Ballot Tally) | 1 | 17 | Jan 15, 2020 04:56PM | |
Play Book Tag: Bunny by Mona Awad / 5 stars 🐇 | 2 | 42 | Aug 01, 2019 02:47PM |
Mona Awad was born in Montreal and has lived in the US since 2009. Her debut novel, 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A FAT GIRL (Penguin Books, 2016), won the Amazon Best First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Her second novel, BUNNY (Viking, 2019), was a finalist for a GoodReads Choice Award for Best Horror, the New England Book Award and the Massachusetts Book Award. It won the Ladies
...more
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“The poets brace themselves for imminent, overeducated poverty.”
—
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“We never joke about bunnies, Bunny.”
—
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