What's so great about Bunny by Mona Awad?

[@mykenziemasters2793]

Mona Awad is a prof at my local university. I’m praying that local indie bookstores host her for an event because I literally just wanna live inside her mind

[@chantalmanigos3751]

you're so lucky!!

[@mykenziemasters2793]

@@chantalmanigos3751 her and George Saunders both! George has been there for a while but I really want Mona to do an event I’d die

[@val.daffodils]

I read a theory online about the whole book actually being set in a mental institution, and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. If we think about the workshop with Ursula, she absolutely never thought any of the stories or behavior was weird - she even congratulated cupcakes when she carved words in her skin with a razor blade. And she kept saying "you're working out your emotions" as if she was a therapist. Couldn't the workshops actually be a group therapy? Even Jonah goes along with anything Sam says and is written in a very naive-idiot-lost way. Also, the purple Tic Tacs really seemed weird to me because I was like - who the hell would have pills all the time, not question it? And, those pills tranquilize the bunnies. As in TRANQUILIZERS in mental institution in times of crisis. All throughout the book, Samantha clearly has issues with loneliness and creates conversation with her mother and Ava - as would someone do if they were trapped in a room and had a lot of time to themselves. The weird part where the "teachers" ties up Samantha on a chair would make a lot more sense - wouldn't it? ANYWAY, maybe it's not that at all, but I think it would make the book even more brilliant than it already is.

[@marielruz99]

I thought the same thing!!! And this is one of the first times I hear someone talk about it. Also the fact that she could never go see her dad or her dad couldn’t go see her, and that one chapter in the end where she talks about how at some point her mom was looking at her standing on the roof telling her to stop letting her imagination run etc etc.

[@somebodysomewhere358]

Omg this makes SO much sense

[@chaylenandolino3867]

Yes her being in a mental institution was my thought as well-actually only thought of it when she was graduating. I thought that was her release from the institution and we see that unfortunately she is still likely to suffer from the delusions that she has (Jonah joins her as she leaves). I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more whilst reading a book than I did with this one.

[@carlaezequiel6739]

I thought it was a college girly version of fight club with multiple personalities intead of just it being schizophrenia

[@contrapasso5456]

Nahhh that’s so hackish and lame.

[@OhkayShure]

When I finished the book I didn't really find myself connecting with the book in the same way that alot people did and while I didn't dislike and rather much enjoyed my time with it I still felt unfulfilled by the end of it. Loved the video and glad to hear your perspective on it, always happy to see you in my feed.

[@avanijain9892]

Same

[@taylore6677]

I had the exact same reaction to it. It started out fantastic, but after the first "shocking moment" ofthis book, it sort of fizzled out for me. And there was zero background on how the Bunnies are able to do what they do...why? It might have added something to the story. Not only that, but some other things in the book didn't really tie in or make sense. And I found Samantha unlikable to be perfectly honest. I was underwhelmed by the whole thing.

[@fourtreemouths]

i ultimately had a little fun with it but it was surely not as “Weeeird” as a lot of people make it out to be. Also, i know it’s intended as samantha’s narrator-voice but i had to grin & bear thru some tendencies like the habitual namedropping, the overuse of spamming words or phrases in repetition (“up, up, up” or “Think of a lie. think of a lie. Lie, lie, lie.”), and the millennial quirk of frequently injecting “fucking” anywhere in a sentence, for an edgy effect? These give her character more definite, recognizable shape, and that shape happens to be nigh insufferable. The plot, action and the love between Samantha & Ava were sweet though, and it was a nice quick read.

[@Pratikaburarak]

Agreed, I was engrossed when I first started reading it but after the twist came, my interest started to falter and the story became kinda predictable. I was disappointed with the ending as I was hoping for some jaw breaking twist or something similar. Also there are some loopholes as well in the story which could have been elaborated more like her relationship with lion( I would have loved to see more of it) or how the bunnies learnt the stuff that they used to do in workshop and how they started it etc or maybe why the bunnies decided to include Samantha to their group and many more. Overall, I loved Mona awad’s writing style but was not satisfied with the story and the ending.

[@lonnielibson]

I completely adored this book. I genuinely just resonated with Samantha, and her subconscious need for home and family. At the end of the day, everyone wants some place to belong, and for a moment, she found that with the Bunnies. She found it beforehand with Ava, and all the more. The novel’s about home, and why we should cherish it.

[@mariakalliokoski2758]

I was so confused by this book when I read it... But I can't help but think tha Samantha wrote the story herself. She's a creative writer. It could also be, tha the "cult" was somehow traumatic experience or something, that she processes through her skill of creative writing. Like, when abused kids might start calling their parents of different names when they are evil and when nice, so they can cope with the situation 🤔

[@chloeromero8684]

I also thought this was how the book was going to end, I was a little disappointed when it didn’t!

[@andreeadraginov8465]

I loved Bunny! It really is a trip of a book :) But if you lean into it and embrace the weird it's an incredible read! I also read 'All's Well' and absolutely loved it! Mona Awad has become one of my all time faves, can't wait for 'Rouge' to come out next year! As always thank you for the great video! :)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I can’t wait to read her other books as well! 💜

[@RichardCharter]

As a fan of 'Secret History,' This really looks to me like it channels its aura and mystery ... and indeed some of the fate of the character himself, Bunny, from Secret History. Sounds like a Mona Awad may have used this name as an homage. I'm so excited to read this.

[@yaeli_i_guess]

just found your channel, you're so underrated??? great content and variety

[@LoloMoore-ow1mp]

i’ve found that while most books set a solid agenda of rules, this one is most likely meant to be read without the expectation of consistency. this book creates rules that it then breaks, but that’s the beauty of it. you get the romanticism of allegorical situations with the anticipation and thrill of real events described by the narrator. if you go into this book with an open mind and take every point of interest with the idea that it may not have actually occurred, you’ll get more out of the story.

[@MarkoPopovic-jh8so]

This is going to sound very lazy from me but I've seen this book pop up EVERYWHERE, but nobody explained what it's about beyond the usual "it's a boarding school story!" so thank you so much for this wonderful review that included a bit more on the book!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh yeah it’s a lot more than that lol

[@BexMcInulty]

I just finished reading Bunny and I am just marveling at the writing. The synopsis is nothing that has never been attempted before yet I have to say the execution is what sets it apart. I gave it 5 stars.

[@edensirgu3191]

This book stayed with me for way longer than any book I've read before it. It was just this odd, disturbing but enjoyable. Not at all what I had expected when I started it.

[@JediJuniper92]

SO jealous of your book cover!! Omg I need to find one. Also, yes, this immediately became one of my favorite books of all time. Idk why I avoided it for awhile, I guess I was worried it was overhyped. But I’m on my second listen on the audiobook and I’m eating up every second.

[@missworlz]

Bunny took up half of my journal of me making annotations... Mona's brain seriously needs to be studied and framed in a museum.

[@AMilanowska96]

Consider reading Cultish by Amanda Montel. It goes into things that in a way can be considered cults but not quite, including brands, communities, etc. Super interesting and plays with the definition of what cults are.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh that sounds excellent! Thank you!

[@akr5613]

Definitely putting this on my list this sounds like something I’d love! Also your voice is really calming I would 100% listen to an audiobook read by you

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Aw thank you! Tell that to all the agencies I’ve applied to for voice work and never heard back from 🙄

[@akr5613]

@@WillowTalksBooks calling them rn smh

[@NathFBrito]

I JUST FINISHED this book and I absolutely loved it. I saw everyone trashing this book and the ending and I had such low expectations, but I completely loved it! Amazingly written. I loved it! Crazy book, amazingly written, makes me think about so many things about myself and where I'm currently at in my career. I'm doing my phD in Media Studies and dealing with my own ego and people's ego is insane. And to reflect on how sometimes we put yourselves above other people, this book is amazing. Samantha is a really unlikable character, but she is so real and I've been her before, thinking I was better than other people because I thought of myself as such a good writer (and I've never even published anything). Elitism and ego are such great themes developed througout this story, I love how it's handled here. Also selfpity, good god this is a masterpiece.

[@carebear8655]

I agree with most of this, except the part about Samantha being an unlikeable character. I did think she was overly cynical, which I can tell rubs people the wrong way, but put that aside, and I think she was just aware of her differences, her individual plight among her peers, how “pathetic” it was to give the bunnies nicknames like “Cupcake” and “Creepy Doll”. I also thought Jonah represented hope, which she had more of by the end of the novel. I loved it too!

[@christinab5778]

I was wondering about the cringey metaphors throughout the novel and wasn’t sure where Awad ended and Samantha began! I thought that it was probably making fun of MFA student writing but I am not familiar with Awad’s work to know how she writes outside of this novel. It was hard for me to read because so much of the prose was annoying and you never get a reprieve from it-I think it works as a bit of satire, but for me there were large swaths of the book that were too irritating to be enjoyable. So I ended up having really mixed feelings on the book as a whole.

[@lev4392]

My head cannon of this book is that Samantha is an unreliable narrator who is in an MFA program at Warren. She doesn’t like the school or her cohorts, so for her thesis she wrote a perverse retelling of her experience which is “Bunny” and she’s been bringing in drafts of the novel for her the bunnies to critique

[@kristycallaway5212]

I just read the book. I loved it! Your review is spot on!

[@TimothyCollins]

I literally just finished reading this book… I had picked it up on the kindle because it was on sale. I didn’t expect much. Wow… it is so so so excellent. I loved it.

[@jackseney7906]

I think that satire, effective satire, is the operative term with this book and I wish more people would "get it" 😄😸

[@Geraldine-l1h]

Thanks for the lovely review Willow❤

[@sophie-yq5ft]

you spoke about this book so beautifully, I really loved listening ☺️🐰🩷

[@rachel1021]

You look so pretty in this video. I couldn't stop thinking about that while I watched this. 😭 And Bunny really is a great book. It brought up the memory of me sitting alone on a bench when I still attended college, and some women approached me to invite me to what I think was a Christian meeting/discussion thingy. I told them maybe, but I never went since I have zero interest in that.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Omg when I lived in Seoul, I had two Buddhist women knock on my door and invite me to a “retreat” at a “temple” outside the city. I did not go lol

[@rachel1021]

@@WillowTalksBooks That was a smart choice! 👍

[@zan8152]

'they're masters students but they haven't grown out of that childish cliquey mentality' - okay so it's going to be *TOO* real XD this sounds great, will definitely pick it up

[@womenwotreads]

Im reading it now , over half way through and marvelling at its cleverness. I'm loving it. I still feel like an outsider much of the time : work places can do that to you too. Never on your discord though 😃❤

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh yessss I’ve always felt like an outside in every place I’ve worked. Makes you feel like you never grow up 🙄

[@parkerrose3590]

I have a copy of Bunny in my hand right now, and I'm about to read it!

[@astralasher]

does anyone understand the last line of the book 😭 is this just her starting the cycle all over again

[@LilMorphineAnnie]

Omgomgomg I'm SO glad you read this and loved it! I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks afterward. That's one of my measures of a good book. Also, can we get a jewelry tour? I'm always so mesmerized by your jewelry because I'm a bit of a magpie. 😅

[@gabrielle4714]

Great review!

[@lako417]

Surprisingly I didn't like it. What I expected from Bunny was thriller fun, more action, more shock. I was left kind of disappointed by the end when the book ended up spending most of it's time in Samantha's head and 1/4 actually spending time with this group. And by the way, I found Samantha' annoying, maybe just because we spent too much time with her. It was the samantha book, not the bunny book. Max was a very interesting concept and over all I like the themes behind the whole novel but Imo It didn't deliver on what it promised.

[@stargazerbird]

Just put the book down. Read it in three days and everything else seemed a bit surreal in real life. I loved it. What a wild ride. Definitely a comedy for me. The way it pierced female desires in a man was a delight. Of course I am also in love with the stag man. If I was to make sense of it ( or the point but tempting) I’d say they took the spice drug together and then told stories about their dream men which became real in their heads. So much so that they ran wild and injured themselves. Or maybe it’s part true fairy story and some it was real in that sense. Lots of Alice in Wonderland in there. Reminds me of Mr Robot, which is also a modern classic.

[@emmam1822]

I just finished this book and had no idea what the fuck was going on the last chapter. This helped me organize my thoughts a bit

[@susanalfieri4487]

This book is a masterpiece of strange. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. The story is creative; the writing is incisive. I laughed. I gasped. I cried. I wanted more when it was over. Really something special if you like speculative fiction.

[@ariannelg]

I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while Loved your review! My initial thought was that it had Otessa’s vibes What do you think? Also when you mentioned outsiders Wednesday (the tv show) came to my mind. Idk if you’re gonna watch it.

[@sleepingwillow714]

never got to read this yet, I'm definitely giving it a try now !

[@Xenomorph788]

Loooooooooved this book and Heathers is one of my favourite films of all time

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I rewatched it after reading this and it holds up sooooo well

[@JanGu1954]

I agree with everything you said. I was hoping that you would address Samantha's mental health. It left me feeling disturbed. But it was the best way to end the book with credibility. I'm speaking from my own mental health issues.

[@mariem.9349]

Adorable video.

[@CestKevvie]

This book sounds fascinating. Question: when they pop, is it like a balloon, or is it more gory?

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It’s gory :)

[@CestKevvie]

@@WillowTalksBooks fabulous! Then I definitely want to check this out!

[@ruth7855]

One of the top three books I read in 2023

[@jelisaveta10]

I thought it was OK, just finished it (after I dnfted it the first time I listened to the audio version). It definitely touches on very interesting topics. But I’m not sure if I agree it stands on it’s own. While reading it I thought of Heathers, Mean girls, the Craft, the Secret history… and finally Fight club. Why is there not more discussion that the whole book might be a figment of the protagonist’s imagination and she is quite possibly schizophrenic.

[@daisietrains9981]

Before event reading the book it reminds me of the secret history because of the name Bunny lol

[@eliza.the.earthling]

Love how you delivered this review. Though I have to say I really did not like Bunny at all which was so disappointing because I was really looking forward to it with everyone hyping it up online. Great premise but I did not click with the writing or plot at all.

[@TattleDelta]

That's too bad, Bunny.

[@Foeipoes]

Just finished it, thanks for another great reading tip Bunny ❤

[@elizabethhall3674]

Hi, I was born with a cleft lip and palate. I also read Bunny, and I was so disgusted. How she describes the male bunnies is exactly how people born with clefts have been described throughout time. "Harelip" is an incredibly deratogory term for someone with a cleft, and that slur is one of the basic premises of the book. People born with clefts have traditionally been painted as less than human -- almost human, except for their "distorted" mouths which it what lets you know that they are not really human, and are instead deformed, animal-like monsters. People with clefts were also classically described as being developmentally disabled, and unable to have complex thoughts. All of this was used as reasons to commit infanticide against those with clefts -- much like the male bunnies are carelessly slaughtered in the book. The fact that Mona Awad so carelessly takes these stereotypes and uses them in her "hip, romantic gothic story", shows that she has clearly not wrestled at all with how these descriptions have been used to hurt and degrade people throughout time. I think many people would be completely disgusted by a book with the premise that "black people are monkeys" or "jews are rats", but because they are ignorant to the slur that those with clefts are "mindless harelips", they adore this book and miss how it perpetuates a degrading depiction. People born with clefts are human, they are not monsters or animals, and they deserve to live just as much as anyone else. I understand that many people are ignorant to how hurtful this book is, but please take the time to research the history of discrimination against those who are born differently, and reexamine this book through that light.

[@TattleDelta]

Aww, don't be sad, I'm sure the author didn't mean it Bunny. Cleft people are most definitely people too. Mhm, they are.

[@elizabethhall3674]

@@TattleDelta It doesn't matter whether she "meant it" or not. She still used her platform to push hurtful stereotypes. Can you imagine how painful it is to read a book devoted to people murdering "creatures" that look like you?

[@TattleDelta]

@@elizabethhall3674 "creatures" They're hybrids, or drafts if you will. They aren't people. You should already know this, bunny.

[@elizabethhall3674]

@@TattleDelta but part of what makes them a “draft” is that they have a cleft.

[@elizabethhall3674]

@@TattleDelta Please read up on cleft lip and palate infanticide. That might help you understand why it’s such a negative picture to have young women creating life that happens to have clefts only to systematically cull them.

[@lainiwakura7556]

I cried when I finished this book

[@elisazouza]

So shall I read it? My favourite book is the picture of Dorian Gray and I love moral gray characters that make me reflect

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I don’t know. Probably

[@TattleDelta]

You must only read it when you're high bunny, it will absolutely make the most sense then. This is a weird book, but in the best way!

[@elisazouza]

Please do your favourite books of 2023! ❤

[@WillowTalksBooks]

You might have to wait a year but I will :)

[@SnowRavenn]

Do you have stroygraph we can follow what you’re reading

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I’m getting one! But my patrons have actually put together a Books and Bao reading challenge on Storygraph :)

[@heatherfaust7643]

I need to go give my bunny extra treats and love right now. Nooooooooo

[@knutthecute]

The difference between a community and a cult? You can only belong to one cult.

[@xoxoMotel]

Ive always wanted to read Bunny but instead I bought Rouge recently. Rouge started off really great and promising but the middle parts were just so laggy and taxing and the bit about Tom Cruise was so overdone. I feel like the author has a tendency to describe really mundane things in great detail over and over and that frustrates me. Alot of qs remained unaswered and honestly, Rouge felt like reading someones dream journal. It tried too hard to be mysterious and cult-y and the climax was underewhelming. The description of it is much more interesting than the book itself and I kindof regret buying it. Can someone tell me if Bunny is similar to Rouge? If it is, I wont read it. Rouge just frustrated me from the middle onwards. Had so much promise but failed to reach the mark. Im really interestd in Bunny but im scared id be dissapointed with her writing style if its similar to Rouge.

[@halimamuslimah]

💜

[@WillowTalksBooks]

💜💜💜

[@WittyWisdomRider]

I couldn’t really connect with the book. Over hyped in my opinion. Nothing like Heathers either, the comparison is misleading.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Or it’s the compassion I drew and maybe that’s cool

[@susanalfieri4487]

It shares DNA with "Heathers" and "Mean Girls." They're not exactly the same (of course), but the vibes are there. I think it's a valid comparison.

[@ampisthebest3139]

I'd love to talk about cults with you

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Now that’s a comment

[@NR-jr4sf]

Religions are not cults!?

[@WillowTalksBooks]

That’s quite a big question?! I would argue that they are?! But it’s a bit more nuanced than that?!

[@karonesalgado3313]

Am I the only one that really didn’t like this book?

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Nope

[@kefinkamed]

Definitely not. Personally, I don't see the appeal at all.

[@bluegirl4079]

Great review but...this book is not my cup of tea. The killing of the bunnies and the young men made me nauseous and very sad...at first I thought "the bunny" girls might be part of a satanic or witches coven. Then I began to think the Bunnies had somehow felt threatened by Samantha's writing talents and went after her to destroy a potential rival by filling her full of psychotropic drugs (aka TicTacs) which she willingly took. Whether the gruesome acts were imagined or real, it isn't something I want to read. It was particularly sad how quickly she dumped her friend Ava for these horrible people.

[@M1ntt806]

I think the satire done in this book was really jammed into your face and there was no wit/ subtlety/ nuance to it and I wish more people would get that enjoying something this inane and problematic doesn't make you special

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Seems like you’re more mad at the book’s fans and that’s something for you to work through, babe. I hope you get there x