august_18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm, Classism, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking
Minor: Bullying, Car accident, and Addiction
mair_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If you just read part 1 and part 2 you'll be thinking um it's intense but like it's fine part 3 let me tell YOUU I was tense on the edge of my seat I hatteeeddd it but in a good way it was so difficult to read.
Definitely don't read this if you don't like an unreliable narrator, Samantha is like the most unreliable narrator ever but I loved it. I questioned so much what was real and you can really see the shift of how she sees the world throughout the book, and it definitely feels like you're living through it with her, it's crazy.
Spoiler
Also can i just say... max is so hot I cannot believe he was KILLED I want him BACK like I know he's a freak but PLEASE 🙄🙄Graphic: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Animal death
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Death
Minor: Rape, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, and Stalking
finleyfrogreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, and Stalking
maryoliverenjoyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wow. WHAT a book. A wild ride for the weirdo kids— I screamed, I laughed, I cried. Still reeling after finishing this page turner 3 days after I got it lol. Bunny is equal parts about the horror of being in college with a bunch of assholes, writers fighting to live in a world killing creativity, the genetic itch to belong combating one’s individuality, and of course a fun helping of what the fuck is happening to reality kind of eerie horror, too.
Bunny is that type of thing where if you want this book to freak you out and make you jump, it’ll do so quite well, but if you prefer coming up with a billion theories after a read, there’s a whole lot to go on! The tastefully placed gaps for readers to make their own interpretations by Mona Awad are really well done, if a little disappointing if not warned beforehand about the ending not wrapping them all up. But Mona Awad’s dialogue, sentence structure, killer subtle parallels… when it slaps it slaps hard.
It feels worth noting to potential readers that “horror comedy” doesn’t quite sum Bunny up— a fairly short ride but still a nuanced book. Heathers is an overdone but truly great comparison in terms of getting you to feel all types of feelings about horrible people the way this book does. People with unreality (as well as drugging w/o consent) as a trigger might want to read with caution. It’s genuinely disturbing at getting you in the head scape of someone totally disconnected from the world, whether it’s because they’re lost in their own loneliness or another person. (Some really interesting takes on codependency in friendships here I didn’t expect!)
Got SO attached to the characters (though that might be just be me)— Jonah, Ava, and Max were just amazing. The Bunnies were the candy-coated, poisonous, gaslighting, hatable-but-not-just-hatable characters I wanted them to be. I cared for them all and still hate them dammit. (There was a part of the book where I genuinely empathized with them and I came out of it like EW NO WHAT THE HECK. That’s the mark of good awful characters! Done by a dang good writer!!!!) And of course, Smackie, a wonderfully complex pathetic meow meow of a woman, Kendall Roy style, works as such a fantastic unreliable narrator. I’m going to miss her honestly, wishing her all the best forever <3
So if that sounds intriguing, grab your plastic pinkie pies or a rabbit mask and strap in for a horror show like nothing else you’ve ever seen! Join me in the rabbit hole, if it ever ends and doesn’t just keep going down, down, down…
(Oh also it’s GAY. I don’t care that it’s not completely explicit, Sam is head over heels for a girl the whole book and I adored it. If you disagree you’re wrong. Thanks for reading my whole TED Talk lmao <3)
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Blood, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Classism, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Rape, Stalking, and Vomit
ghostmotel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Kidnapping
Minor: Abandonment, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
henrygravesprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
- some of the surrealist passages are fantastic, and the author is very good at writing things in a surreal way, especially portraying normal things as such
- the dynamic between Ava and Samantha is very interesting in contrast to Samantha, the Bunnies, and men
- some of the stylistic grammar-breaking choices work, but a lot of them don’t; particularly the recurring all-caps and multi-exclamation point moments irked me
- the “gore” moments were honestly more silly than anything, particularly when half of the time it’s just “and then [xyz] literally exploded”
- there are a lot of really out of place, pointless moments of bigotry that would not alter the story or tone at all if they were removed, particularly the weird references to lizard people conspiracies, the R slur & derogatory comparisons to disabled people, and the usage of the G slur to describe a Romani woman; it comes across very much as the author just not giving a shit about it
I think there could be a good book chipped out of Bunny with more editing, but it just fell flat to me. People also misrepresent what this book actually is a lot when recommending it; I wish I had actually known what sort of book this was when going into it rather than what it gets portrayed as.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Bullying, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Stalking, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Injury/injury detail, and Kidnapping
Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Gore, Death of parent, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
eatingbrains's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
To put it simply, it's not my cup of tea but I understand it being someone else's. Well written, probably improves on re-reading.
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Murder, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
grboph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Gore
Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
alexis_mai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Gore, Violence, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Stalking, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use
owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Well-paced and compelling for the first two-thirds. Literally couldn't put it down during that period. The ending then felt a little more rushed or insecure, and some of the late stage reveals felt unearned or not foregrounded. That said it was extremely funny to read this after being on a creative writing course for a few years.
Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Stalking, and Self harm
Minor: Addiction