What a Weird Little Book: A Review of Bunny by Mona Awad

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Happy Pride Month, Book Nerds! I apologize, I’m kicking Pride Month off a week late this year. But we’re going to celebrate into July to make up for it. And as Oscar Wilde once said, “Trans rights!”

It is time once again to remind you all that Reading Has Ruined My Life is, always has been, and always will be a safe space of the LGBTQIA+ community. You are safe here, you are respected here, bigotry will not be tolerated.

And kicking Pride Month off this year is Bunny by Mona Awad!

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also have a quick content and trigger warning for Bunny. There are many mentions of animal death, it’s a very big part of the novel so if you’re going to skip this post, that’s fine, I get it. There are also mentions of drug addiction; though neither topic will be discussed in detail in this review. With that, let’s get to the synopsis.

Bunny follows aspiring writer Samantha Mackey as she pursues her Master’s degree at the mythic Warren University. As a scholarship student, Samantha doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the women in the fiction writing program. Caroline, Kira, Victoria, and Eleanor, all rich, all privileged, and all nicknamed Bunny. These four move and speak as one, never leaving the others’ sides.

Samantha normally stays far away from them outside of class. But one day she receives an invitation from the Bunnies to join them for what they call a “Smut Salon.” Despite hating the Bunnies, Samantha finds herself joining. And by joining them for one evening, she ends up ditching her best and only friend Ava. Soon Samantha finds herself forgetting Ava entirely as she too becomes a Bunny.

The more Samantha hangs out with the Bunnies, the darker things become. Cults, rituals, animal sacrifices, murder. What a turn Samantha’s life has taken. As the story goes on, and the darker things become, the closer and closer Samantha gets to a deadly conclusion. Find out what happens in Bunny.

Oh how I love Weird Girl literature. Bunny has to be the premiere Weird Girl book at the moment. Not everyone is going to get this read, not everyone is going to like it, and that’s okay cause this book isn’t for everyone. Bunny is for the Girlies. Bunny is for the Chaos Gremlins, the surrealist fans, fans of satirical, dark comedy, Gothic lit enjoyers, and dark academia fiends. If not one of those things is up your alley, then this novel is not for you. If you are into the things I listed above, Bunny may be for you. If you’re really not into surrealism then don’t bother with this one.

The surrealist elements are up there with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Ok, maybe Bunny isn’t that extreme. Bunny is pretty grounded in reality in comparison to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But while Bunny is set in the real world, many events that take place aren’t realistic in the slightest. So as I said, if you hate surrealism, don’t bother with Bunny. Personally, I’m not the hugest fan of surrealism. But as I love Gothic literature, dark academia settings, and satire, Bunny is right up my alley.

And as I am a fan of Gothic literature, that means I’m also a fan of unreliable narration. Samantha is a mess! And she cannot be trusted! Everything that comes out of her mouth is incorrect; that be because she’s having a mental health crisis, she’s flat out lying, trying to evade the truth, or because her worldview is skewed. Who knows how much of this story is actually real or how much is accurate.

Because of Samantha’s unreliable narration, Bunny is a book best read twice in a row. The first time to experience what the novel has to offer, and the second time in order for the reader to decided how exactly he, she, or they wishes to read the story; that be Samantha being schizophrenic and the events that occur are all in her head, the whole thing being a drug induced haze, or something else entirely. Bunny is quite the versatile read.

There’s not much more I can really say about this novel. For all the young English majors out there, Bunny is a fantastic book choice for literary papers if you get free rein over your topics. Bunny is the premiere Weird Girl book. It’s not really a book I can recommend, nor is it one I would dissuade readers from picking up. Bunny is a book that finds its readers naturally and those who get it, get it.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you all for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you had a lovely time here and I will see you all again next week with another new review. If you can’t wait that long then go ahead and give Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I highly suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. We have episodes about haunted houses, Disney, Scooby-Doo, and weird moments and people from history; we have well over 100 episodes so there is bound to be something that strikes your fancy. Nothing to See Hear can currently be found on Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!