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izypup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
booklover_04's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
marielcariker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, and Death of parent
samflowerv6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I WORSHIP YOU MONA AWAD!! Any freaks who like this book (myself included) are my favorite.
“Can I take your coat?” Cupcake offers. I turn to her. She’s looking at me so hopefully. So willing to take a coat I’m not wearing, I almost want to give her my skin.”
“What do you think, Samantha?” Fosco asks me. That it’s a piece of pretentious shit. That it says nothing, gives nothing. That I don’t understand it, that probably no one does and no one ever will. That not being understood is a privilege I can’t afford. That I can’t believe this woman got paid to come here. That I think she should apologize to trees. Spend a whole day on her knees in the forest, looking up at the trembling aspens and oaks and whatever other trees paper is made of with tears in her languid eyes and say, I’m fucking sorry. I’m sorry that I think I’m so goddamned interesting when it is clear that I am not interesting. Here’s what I am: I’m a boring tree murderess. But I look at Vignette, at Creepy Doll, at Cupcake, the Duchess. All of them staring at me now with shy smiles. “I think I’d like to see more of the soup too,” I hear myself say.”
“I look at all of my dreams and nightmares distilled into one man-shaped shape. All the love and hate I have in my heart plus one fucking bunny.”
“Behold the lavish tent under which the overeducated mingle, well versed in every art but the one of conversation.”
“They laugh. What’s so fucking funny? I want to say. But I don’t. I laugh with them. Ha. Haha. Hahaha.”
How empty and emptied I felt walking away with all my words still on his floor. Wanting so badly to pick them back up. Take it all back. Wipe away the night, my dumb tears, my endless tumbling out of words. I never meant to give this to you.
“Their cheeks are plump and pink and shining like they’ve been eating too much sugar, but actually it’s Gossip Glow, the flushed look that comes from throwing another woman under the bus.”
“We've read Jane Eyre too, you cunt, and we've read The Waves, and when we read it, you know, we wept for minutes."
“Whenever I read one of Victoria’s vignettes, I always feel so dumb because I can hardly understand them at all. And then I blame myself. I think, Kira, this must be just too brilliant for you to grasp. Surely you must have missed something. Even though there’s always been this small voice inside of me that says, Um, what the fuck is this, please? This makes no sense. This is coy and this is willfully obscure and no one but Victoria will ever get this. I would in fact need to live inside Victoria’s spoiled, fragmented, lazy, pretentious little mind to get it. And who apart from us, apart from me, is going to be willing to do that? To work all night with a Victoria Decoder? Who would even care to? And then I feel like screaming JUST SAY IT. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED. TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK THIS MEANS AND WHAT YOU DID WITH HIM EXACTLY.”
“Read. Be a guest in other worlds.”
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
rosemaryandrue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a dark and satirical read which pokes plenty of fun at the pretentious streak that can run deep in the people who attend MFA programs - considering the author was one of them, the mockery is more authentic and amusing. But it's also an off-kilter exploration of intense loneliness and imagination which themes I found fascinating.
I didn't always like Samantha, but the space to disagree with her makes the book more enjoyable. I enjoyed the fantastical elements of the story and various twists and turns that burst out at me, all perfectly unpredictable. The writing is vivid and easy to follow even when things turn psychedelic, which is not always easy to do.
However, the book is definitely structured in distinct acts, and I thought that they did not always blend together as they ought. The various parts of the story - the Bunnies, Samantha's relationship with Ava, and Samantha's acute writer's block - coexist and sometimes overlap, but don't successfully gel together, which in the end lowered my overall enjoyment of the book.
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Body horror
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, and Grief
piepatch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Death of parent, and Classism
citrusandwords's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Grief, and Toxic friendship
seawarrior's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Samantha has been struggling in her MFA program. She has been having a hard time writing and an even harder time connecting with her fellow students. The four other girls in her class have created a strange codependent clique, the 'Bunny's.' Samantha has always felt distant from them and has instead found a singular friend who lives in town but doesn't attend her college, Ava. When the Bunny's suddenly start showing interest in Samantha and invite her to be part of her group, Samantha lets her curiosity lead her. But what she finds out about the group and about herself will have a lasting impact on her.
This is such a strange book. There are aspects that I really appreciate, such as its commentary on academia and MFA programs in particular. Sam is an interesting character though I did feel quite distant from all of the characters in the story. I believe it is intentional, but Samantha's life before college is only hinted at and left me feeling as if I didn't have a full idea of who she was as a character. With the ending, I have a lot of questions and things that don't exactly make sense. I think I follow the gist of what is happening but there is also a lot that feels left open. One of the things that Awad nails is the atmosphere. This story has a creeping dread that is only added to by body horror. I would love to read more about what people think happened in this book because it is quite loose. I think this would make a great book club selection as it would be a lot of fun (and very helpful) to discuss.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Grief
scmiller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, and Alcohol