Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Bunny by Mona Awad

438 reviews

anoushka05's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism and Addiction

racheltrow_'s review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Minor: Rape

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Drug use and Self harm

emjbarnes's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Bunny's narrative carries you along effortlessly, blending realities at every turn. The dialogue is used really effectively to distinguish

(and intertwine)

characters' voices. Mona Awad's writing is beautiful and somehow immersive and disorienting at the same time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent

angeld's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Murder

Moderate: Bullying

justmys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I don't feel like this book was for me. 

I had to keep reminding myself that it was set in a university and not a high school campus, that the characters were grown adults and not wildly troubled teenagers. Everything just felt a little off, which was mayve intentional but left me unable to click with the story or writing. 

But, I'm also conflicted as I listened to the audio book version and found myself having to play it at double speed so as not to fall asleep from boredom with the way it was read. So, I'm unsure if I may have enjoyed the book more had I read a physical copy. 

Either way, an interesting book and premise, scary and challenging but not for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Classism

stracciastela's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

that was insane ride 
i went into this knowing practically nothing & i think that's the best way to do it (apart from any necessary CWs)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Murder

carajewels's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

want to see this in a movie would be great. didn’t like the last part all that much :/ 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book, much like the other reviews will tell you, was not at all what I expected going into it. While it is often described as The Secret History meets Heathers, I argue that it comes off more as a critique of the academia as told through a cynical Patrick Bateman (meshing that with the gritty humor and gore, you get a tale that's funny, weird, a little horrific, and leaves you in a liminal space of "huh?" when you finish reading it). For this, some might enjoy it while others will hate it. For me, I think it's a good read, but certainly, not one that you should try to make sense of on your own. It was not until seeing other reviews on Reddit and Quora that I truly believe I figured out where I stood with this story, and I recommend that others do the same thing upon reading the book. The one thing I will say is that I wish the ending went a bit slower— for a text that aimed to focus so clearly on the Body and Body horror especially, I wish the execution examined this a bit more.

Now, for those who have read the book and want my opinion (aka spoilers), here's what I made of it:

I thought that this text served more as a metaphor for the writing process than anything else. Some people believe that this is meant to be a story of a schizophrenic woman attempting to find out her place in the world— and ultimately doing that through writing. While I think this assumption is feasible, I find this interpretation to leave out the role of academia in the text. And frankly, if this were to be the point of the text, I would not like this book (instead of making a meaningful piece that critiques the lack of disability justice in academia, you turn mental illness into horror? boo!!!). One of the most impactful aspects of this story, when I read it, was how Sam speaks so candidly about the death of her passions in academia, her struggles to write unless she is with Ava (a project that ultimately serves to remind her of her drive and capabilities to create something she loves), and her loneliness as she navigates what truly makes a writer when with the rich white friend group who, no matter how much they try, cannot do what Sam can do (made most clear on both the night she led Workshop and their desires, jealousy, and fury when faced with Max (another creature that, though so much darker than Ava, is still an original piece of work that they can never recreate)). In the end, I think this text serves as a metaphor for the harshness of the creative writing process and how fine the line really is between creative genius and pure madness. I think that this is what made the text so nice for me, even if when I first read it I wouldn't have been able to put these thoughts together. I certainly want to reread it with more annotation to see if this belief I have still holds, since my brain was not as active as it should have been when reading this. Hence, why I believe it's something like an American Psycho instead of a Heathers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

sydneynorman's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood