Scan barcode
A review by maketeaa
Bunny by Mona Awad
challenging
dark
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? No
5.0
WHAT!!!! W H A T!!!!!!! i cannot believe i put off reading this book for so long. but at the same time im so glad I read it now?? this is the kind of book that reminds you that good, creepy horror does exist in the world. my goodness!!!
like i usually do after reading i skimmed through some of the other reviews and a common remark i saw was about how confusing this story can be. and i do concede to that, it does feel like a psychedelic trip, and the middle, in particular, did feel a little labryinthine. but is this not just the perfect reflection of samantha's experience? this confusing, psychidelic journey layered with the liquour-strong mix of self loathing and self importance and the shame of wanting to fit in, only to have it all make sense at the end, that the creative power others keep at an arms' length for their own recreational use is the creative power that bedrocks your life, your thoughts your mind, 24/7? of course it is weird and unsettling and horrific watching what you use to bring love and comfort into your life become cultified, commodified, used to create Drafts and Darlings that you can just kill when you're bored of them. to create half-formed, butchered realities, to satisfy transitory pleasures, to pass the time.
the ending truly made me gasp. but it also made me yell OF COURSE!!!! WHAT a book. i loved this so much.
is it a reach for me to put forward that this could be saying something about actual writers and writing or is it actually very obvious and im just silly. because, well, to the extent of creating for fun and following 'plot bunnies' into semi creation to enjoy them and see what they become, I don't think this is as condemnable as awad seems (?) to make it look like. but i think the aspect of love is vital to this. because samantha loved ava, but the Bunnies did not love their Drafts. i think back on that particular scene where they brainstorm the new bunnies they want to make, where ideas are rejected because 'isn't this too orientalist?' or 'do we really want it to be so male focused?' the Bunnies were not creating out of love but out of creating something Technically Good, something they could praise each other for, to fit their saccharine, perfect image that, when those tic-tac drugs wear off, just turn out to be beigeness.
obsessed obsessed obsessed with all the literary-ness in this. PERFECT horror!!
like i usually do after reading i skimmed through some of the other reviews and a common remark i saw was about how confusing this story can be. and i do concede to that, it does feel like a psychedelic trip, and the middle, in particular, did feel a little labryinthine. but is this not just the perfect reflection of samantha's experience? this confusing, psychidelic journey layered with the liquour-strong mix of self loathing and self importance and the shame of wanting to fit in, only to have it all make sense at the end, that the creative power others keep at an arms' length for their own recreational use is the creative power that bedrocks your life, your thoughts your mind, 24/7? of course it is weird and unsettling and horrific watching what you use to bring love and comfort into your life become cultified, commodified, used to create Drafts and Darlings that you can just kill when you're bored of them. to create half-formed, butchered realities, to satisfy transitory pleasures, to pass the time.
the ending truly made me gasp. but it also made me yell OF COURSE!!!! WHAT a book. i loved this so much.
is it a reach for me to put forward that this could be saying something about actual writers and writing or is it actually very obvious and im just silly. because, well, to the extent of creating for fun and following 'plot bunnies' into semi creation to enjoy them and see what they become, I don't think this is as condemnable as awad seems (?) to make it look like. but i think the aspect of love is vital to this. because samantha loved ava, but the Bunnies did not love their Drafts. i think back on that particular scene where they brainstorm the new bunnies they want to make, where ideas are rejected because 'isn't this too orientalist?' or 'do we really want it to be so male focused?' the Bunnies were not creating out of love but out of creating something Technically Good, something they could praise each other for, to fit their saccharine, perfect image that, when those tic-tac drugs wear off, just turn out to be beigeness.
obsessed obsessed obsessed with all the literary-ness in this. PERFECT horror!!