Bunny

A Novel

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Enter the Bunnyverse with the “wild, audacious . . . unforgettable” (Los Angeles Times) #DarkAcademia novel that started it all – the precursor to We Love You, Bunny

“[A] cult classic.” —People

“[A] viral sensation.” —USA Today

“O Bunny you are sooo genius!” —Margaret Atwood

“We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we?”

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and seem to move and speak as one.

But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision.

The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination.


Named a Best Book of the year by TIME, Vogue, Electric Literature, and The New York Public Library

A dark tragedy with elements of horror

(Spoiler at the end of the review, which acts as a trigger warning)

Let me start off by saying that Bunny is a hard book to rate. Bunny is not one story but three. There is a surface narrative that is a mixture of Heathers, Frankenstein, and Suspiria. This story is about a grad student, Samantha, who is nearing one of the most stressful times in a master's student's career: the master's thesis. Samantha attends a weekly workshop with a group of four girls known as the "Bunnies", picture Mean Girls meets the Care Bears. Samantha initially despises the Bunnies and thinks they are fake and superficial. One day, she gets an invitation to the join the Bunnies. She goes out of curiosity and winds up falling under their spell. This storyline is chock full of dark humor, surrealism, and elements of horror, including cruelty to animals.
The second narrative is about academia: the pressures, conformity that poses as individualism, fake depth. you name it. Anyone who has a Master's degree or a higher will click with this part of the story. You will feel it in your soul! If you have never experienced that level of higher education though, these parts might bore you and seem insignificant, though they ooze with meaning.
Then there is the "real" story of Samantha, and that story is an absolute gut-punch. The final scene of the novel really hammers home what is going on in Bunny, and it left me in tears. I hate including spoilers in my reviews, but I have to talk about this one because this is not a "Oh, is not mental illness cute and quirky?" story. Bunny goes into how mental illness can utterly destroy someone: their relationships, their future. their ability to care for themselves.
Bunny is one of the best books I have read. Mona Awad is an incredible voice, and I look forward to reading more by her. My only complaint with Bunny is that it does become a little over-long, and because of the nature of what's really going on, I was left with some unanswered questions, which is both good and bad, I suppose.

Totally trippy

It's the weirdest book you'll read, but I have to say that I enjoyed it. Real? Not real? In her mind? Not? The book takes you on a wild ride and you want to know more. Some of it is confusing on purpose. Narrator did a great job. A few spots when the descriptions (towards the end) of her thoughts droned on for a bit but other than that, a very unique read. I'd give it a try.

Not a fluffy novel

I actually loved this. I can see why others might not though; it’s definitely not a lazy day beach read and it’s far more cerebral than the cute, pink bunny cover would suggest. (No shade — there is def a space in literature for escape reads, but this isn’t one of them.

Anyhow, this book will make you think. It will make you uncomfortable at times. You may need to relisten to some passages to get a decent understanding of what is happening. But it is GOOD. It will leave an imprint on you. It is so, so amazing, bunny! Bunny, you should read it. And leave ANY expectations at the door.

Interesting

This was a new type of novel for me. I’m trying to keep an open mind… I suppose there are a few different ways to explain this book.

Without giving out spoilers, it was an interesting look at the power of the mind… or maybe mental illness. I guess it depends on how you interpret the story.

It was entertaining, and relatable in some ways… the performance was great, I probably wouldn’t have made it through the whole book if I had read the physical book.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it.

A masterpiece

This book was so perfect that I am afraid it set the bar waaay too high for whatever comes next in literature, both in my life and in general.
There was not a single bit of this story that wasn't incredibly written, all little stories coming together, wooing a true masterpiece.
Forever grateful to Mona Awad for this experience, forever grateful to the narrator for doing it such justice ❤️