I uttered “What the fuck?” an unprecedented number of times while reading Bunny.
That’s pretty much the only reaction you can have to this novel by Mona Awad. It’s a complete What the actual eff??? ride from beginning to end.
Bunny takes place at a prestigious art school. There’s a pack of hoity-toity, grad school women there who behave like middle schoolers; they roam around in a pack, affectionately calling each other “Bunny” like demented sorority sisters. Then there’s loner Samantha, who claims to hate the Bunnies but is, of course, secretly dying to be part of their clique.
I almost stopped reading Bunny about a dozen times. The book description just kept pulling me back in; the premise is so Frankstein-ishly fantastical, and the first part of the book really piques your curiosity. I pressed on, eagerly anticipating the part where all is revealed.
Eventually, I got there. At least… I think I did.
Awad definitely reveals — in unnecessarily rich detail, I might add – exactly what the Bunnies do in their downtime. But I was still left floundering in the Why? How? In god’s name, WHY?!?! department.
I kept reading. But instead of getting answers, I only grew more and more confused about what was happening: What’s real? What’s not real?? Wait…maybe ALL the things are real??? Can that really be? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?!?! Someone please tell me.
Did I read the entire book? Yes. Yes, I did, although it was painful. The phrase that most often crossed my mind while reading Bunny was “flaming hot garbage.”
Honestly, maybe it’s just too avant-garde for me. Some of the most brilliant writing minds in the world adore this book. Maybe the story is just SO avant-garde and abstract that “the point” goes completely over my head.
If you’re a fan of Mean Girls, you’ll definitely like Bunny, up to a point. The satirical aspect of the novel is darkly amusing. We all know someone like the pretentious Bunnies who we’d like to bash over the head with something heavy, so it’s quite satisfying to watch Awad poke fun at them. It’s a literary comeuppance, if you will, and that part is great.
The rest of it…ehhh. If you’re a fan of Grady Hendrix, I think you’ll like this.
If you’re a fan of fluffy little rabbits and support PETA? Welllll, you might wanna give this one a miss.
I can’t say that I would recommend Bunny to anyone. But, if you’re looking for a story that’s really, REALLY out there? Bunny‘s got ya covered.
Lol! Now I want to read this one just to see if I say, “What the fuck?!” a lot. 🤣 New follower here! Love your IG, too.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬