chasingpages1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Body horror
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Stalking, Vomit, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
knkoch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Watching an interview afterwards between Mona Awad and Maragaret Atwood helped clarify Awad’s intentions for me, and I understand a little more that I struggled with the satirical, horror, and deep fairy tale symbolism she employed. I enjoy character-driven, emotional storytelling, and this is not that (which is fine, obviously). I think the unconventional twists horror fiction takes throw me, and I struggled here to be interested in the Bunnies, their creations, Ava, and most strongly MC Samantha. I always struggle to empathize with characters who engage in self-destructive drinking, which is a personal thing for me, but so much of the plot felt pointless and absurd, and I lost touch with caring about the characters or what happened to them. Perhaps Awad was trying to say something about people rather than through them, but I strongly prefer the latter. It’s not that I need characters to be virtuous or without flaws, but I need them to be interesting, and I could not sustain interest in Bunny’s characters.
The writing felt quite fatuous at times, leaning into excessive hyperbole, and I didn’t enjoy the style. I did like what Awad said about unbridled vs. controlled creativity in her interview, but I did not pick up on that enough in the book itself. I guess my most positive feedback is that this was definitely thought-provoking, in that even though I disliked it, it made me think a lot about why that was, what the author was going for, and what I didn’t understand!
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Gore, and Vomit
aclaws'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Animal death, Death, Bullying, and Cursing
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Gore, Drug abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent
hannah_et1982's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It was certainly easy to read, I'll give it that, but I kept waiting for something that never came. I kept waiting for there to be a reason why this book was slut-shaming so much. Kept waiting for it to be funny like all the blurbs claimed it to be. Kept waiting for the characters' actions and motivations to make sense. Kept waiting to find out what was so dark about Samantha's writing that it was worse than the girls writing about rape and murder.
Honestly, I don't know what I think about this book. I know I didn't enjoy it. I didn't find the characters compelling and despite the over-the-top plot, I found the story as a whole pretty boring. I don't know what I was looking for, but this wasn't it.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Grief, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Rape and Vomit
bekiethebanished'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
3.75
Graphic: Classism, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Cursing, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, and Self harm
Minor: Dysphoria, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
alexandrabelze's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Spoiler
my favorite part of the whole book has to be max’s whole “performance piece” with the bunnies in the cave. watching their perfect, carefully curated, fake identities collapse was so satisfying and mildly humorous.Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Blood, Drug abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Bullying, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Torture, Cursing, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Stalking, Vomit, Addiction, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
porporina'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? No
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Drug use, Alcohol, Body horror, Self harm, Animal death, Vomit, Classism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
jessltrueman'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Animal death
Moderate: Classism, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Torture
amberghinii'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Classism, Gore, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault
the_first_lines's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Vomit, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Death