Hardcover, 320 pages
Published June 10, 2019 by Viking.
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 …
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.
This was an absolutely incredible read. From evil to comical to jarringly emotional, Bunny was one hell of a ride
Samantha—loner and outsider at prestigious Warren University—finds the rest of her writing cohort beneath her and relentlessly denigrates them with her arty friend, Ava, until an invitation arrives.
I did not care for this at all. I found it predictable, and irritatingly coy about its predictability. The protagonist is the worst mean girl of all the mean girls, and a tedious, self-absorbed one at that. I just found everything about it silly and boring, and wouldn't have read it had I known it was magical realism, which I despise. Absolutely not for me.
Samantha—loner and outsider at prestigious Warren University—finds the rest of her writing cohort beneath her and relentlessly denigrates them with her arty friend, Ava, until an invitation arrives.
I did not care for this at all. I found it predictable, and irritatingly coy about its predictability. The protagonist is the worst mean girl of all the mean girls, and a tedious, self-absorbed one at that. I just found everything about it silly and boring, and wouldn't have read it had I known it was magical realism, which I despise. Absolutely not for me.
A kafkaesque nightmare, a 200-page lsd trip, Fight Club for lit majors
This book should be the definition of a fever dream. I have no idea what was going on. But I was fully invested in the characters and the story. The writing was fantastic. Awad did an amazing job with really immersing your view as the MC is being absorbed into the Bunnies.
I just have no idea if this was schizophrenia (which is referenced MANY times throughout the book) or magical realism. I spent the whole book wondering if this was actually happening or not because of some of the events that go on. An absolute trip. Highly recommend.
twisted, funny, with writing that sings and screams.
