Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Bunny

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Bunny, by Mona Awad

175 reviews

krittyko's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I literally don’t know how to rate this. I love the way Awad writes and I was confused the entire time I was reading. Fuck dude. Art school is just Like That.

EDIT: coming back to this a day later i have to rate it 5 stars simply for its staying power. i keep thinking about the ending and getting choked up. god.

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rozmaran's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was confusing as hell, the ending disappointed me slightly but it kept me invested to the last page. Overall enjoyable read but overhyped.

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skyeuqx's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Half wondering if the contents change with the reader. Some of this was too specific!

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lana_bannanah03's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

5.0

I´m speechless, wtf was that? Anyways I loved it.

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abibliophobic_nerd's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I think I liked it. Just like I think I understood what went on in this book. You know what, this was just a big fever dream so maybe I didn’t get anything. At all.🐇

🌷🪓🧌👻

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bagelexpert's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I don’t know how to capture the qualities of this book in a review. You had to be there. Holy. Wow. I don’t study literature anymore but every fiber of my body is twitching to write a ten-page analysis. This book is a great read for women in academia.

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littlelines's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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alexiaruxandra's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

General thoughts~

--- i did not appreciate the use of the G slur in the book (by an author who, as far as i know, is not Romani), which is why i subtracted a star. using slurs and stereotypes in media perpetuates violence against Romani people, and makes it seem normal, which is even more fucked up considering how many Romani people are assaulted and even killed on a day to day basis in North America and Europe, just for being Romani. not cool, dude... not cool ---

- the book is about Samantha Mackey, a graduate writing student who doesn’t fit in with her cohort, a group of four girls who call themselves Bunnies (and Samantha hates them because they are rich, spoiled, and fake). however, things take a gnarly turn when they invite her to one of their gatherings, and it only gets more fucked up as the book goes on
- i first heard about it from Books and Bao, who recommended it as a less known dark academia book
- Bao shared some of the details inside the book, and i really liked the idea of girls doing magic

Spoiler

to turn bunnies into guys

(it turned out to be a lot more messed up in the book, and i liked that)
- i think it’s definitely a unique take of the dark academia genre, especially the critique of it through an unlikeable character (because Samantha is a bit of a bitch lol). it shows her indoctrination into the bunny cult, which is an aspect i have not yet read in other DA books
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Writing~

- i found the writing a bit jarring at first, i’m not gonna lie. first person writing is usually a hit or miss for me, because it’s not my favorite. also, present tense writing reads like nails on a chalkboard (don’t know why, it just does), so it was a bit hard to get through at first, until i got used to it
- however, it makes sense narratively. Samantha is going through a lot of shit, so the inconsistent descriptions of what she’s doing and feeling feel accurate considering her mental state throughout the novel. sometimes the writing felt really slow, otherwise it was speeding through the actions, and while it was unexpected at times, i think the moments where these differences are noticeable made sense for the story
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Characters~

- absolutely everybody was pretentious, which was to be expect in a dark academia novel. i found Ava really interesting, especially her relationship with Samantha (who she affectionately calls Smackie)
- considering the fact that this book reads like a fever dream you experience while tripping on acid, the tender moments between Sam and Ava, like dancing tango badly on the rooftop were incredibly wholesome and provided much needed respite from the bunny stuff
- i hope poor Samantha gets a break after this book though. the girl needs a break and some love
- also, Jonah was so fucking cute. i did not know i could love a soft poetry guy so much, but every interaction he had with Samantha radiated warmth and i loved every second of it
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Setting/worldbuilding~

- the setting being a pretentious, experimental university fits 100% into my expectations when reading a dark academia book. professors who use increasingly more obnoxious terms to describe the creative process? yes, sign me the fuck up
- what i wish we could’ve seen more is a more detailed explanation as to why there was so much crime happening on campus. and i don’t mean stuff like theft or assault, which we see in real life on a daily basis, but instances like decapitations (which are mentioned at least a few times over the entire novel). what’s up with that? why was it only mentioned in passing and never expanded upon? i need to know more, and i understand that arts students (regardless of type) are a bunch of weirdos, but c’mon, you can’t tell me people are legit being decapitated with machetes on a university campus on a regular basis and expect me not to ask questions!
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Conclusion~

all in all, it was a great way to start my reading year, and i enjoyed it despite how feverishly fucked up it is. i would recommend it if you want to read a dark academia book that features a cult, murders, and bloody bunny guts flying all over the place.

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codecat's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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ella_1203's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Initial Thoughts → First of all, this book is bizarre. It gets pretty hard to follow at times too: the writing becomes very stylised at certain points, the narrator is unreliable, often on drugs, and some of it takes place during an actual fever dream. Aesthetically, it has the vibe of a cult classic high school movie, with a dark academia twist. Think Jennifer’s Body or Heathers, combined with the traditional dark academia themes of obsession, elitism, and murder, and its university setting. Also, think of an acid trip. Note: Even though this book includes gore and cults, I wouldn’t call it horror.

Samantha → Samantha, the main character, is an incredibly lonely and lost person. She reminds me of Alice, from Alice in Wonderland in many respects: she’s often unsure why she’s doing what she’s doing; she never feels good enough; she doesn’t have a sense of who she is, just an understanding that she isn’t who she’s supposed to be. Despite being a creative writing student, Samantha is unable to write because she feels so disconnected from herself and the world around her. However, she can also come across as whiny and judgemental at times, especially regarding the bunnies, the other four women on her creative writing course. It’s intentional, and Samantha often does deliver some interesting commentary on elitism, but can also be annoying.

Obsession → Unable to trust herself, Samantha instead allows herself to be guided by other people - people who appear solid, and self-assured - intertwining her sense of identity with theirs to the point of obsession. Samantha had previously attached herself to her professor, who she refers to as “The Lion”, in what the reader and the people around her assume was a sexual relationship. But in this story, the physical is always secondary to the psychological. What she actually got from the Lion was a sense of self (even if it wasn't necessarily her self, it was something close enough). When that support system collapses, Samantha is left vulnerable to the bunnies and falls down the metaphorical rabbit hole again.

Gore & Femininity → This story treats gore in a similar way to the film Jennifer’s Body, in that it’s graphic and visceral and yet at the same time feels so much like an extension of the surreal, psychological fever dream the character is experiencing that it’s hard to feel put off by it. In essence, gore is secondary to the psychological horror elements of the story. Furthermore, it contrasts so severely with the pastel pop aesthetic of the bunny girls that it ends up being absorbed by it, becoming an extension of their hyper-femininity. Additionally, the bunnies engage in this performative, hyper-femininity to the point where it becomes uncanny. Not only are gore and horror extensions of femininity, femininity is an extension of horror and gore. It's masterful, and what gives this book its unique tone.

Queer? → Initially, Samantha hates the bunnies and is critical of them in a way that comes across as very not-like-other-girls, but at the same time, she’s completely obsessed with them. This obsession and, more obviously, her obsession with her friend Ava (who performs her femininity in a very elegant, mysterious, dark, manic-pixie-dream girl sort of way), is implied to be queer, and although Samantha is in love with Ava, I prefer to think of their relationship as more complex than just a standard queer love story.

Spoiler

Since Ava is Samantha’s creation, a manifestation of who Samantha wants to be and who she has the potential to become, I read her love for Ava more as love for herself. In a way, their relationship becomes more meaningful when interpreted like this, because it doesn’t represent Samantha falling back into old patterns of hinging her identity on someone else. Additionally, Samantha’s sexual desire for Ava certainly feels less important than their emotional connection, the time they spend dancing and creating together, and Ava’s role in pulling her out of the Bunny cult.

Max & Physical Desire

Spoiler

Even though Samantha begins to regain her sense of self after escaping the bunnies, she still doesn’t trust herself to act. Like Alice when she meets the Cheshire Cat, Samantha doesn’t know which way to go. She just knows she wants to end up somewhere. However, she doesn’t have someone to tell her, “Oh, you’re sure to do that. If only you walk long enough”. So Samantha creates Max, who has the confidence to enact her subconscious physical desires: starting a sexual relationship with Ava; taking revenge on the bunnies. This secondary, separate, confident and physical part of her is able to take action when she cannot.

Final Thoughts → This book is not for everyone: it’s weird and confusing and the gore/horror elements are definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. However, it’s ambitious and creative, and I do think this is a cult classic and a dark academic staple, so if you want to get into that genre and you’ve already read The Secret History and watched Dead Poets Society, then definitely add this to your tbr. Personally, this wasn’t my favourite book ever: it’s just too stylised for my taste, and that made it quite hard to become fully absorbed in the story, but I was also intrigued by it, and (evidently) I thought about quite a lot afterwards, and even if my thoughts were mostly just, “what the fuck did I just read?”, that’s definitely a point in the book’s favour.

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