Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Bunny by Mona Awad

79 reviews

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

erebus53's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This a story of art-school unlike any I have read. It is set at Warren, a campus that has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of conceptual art while also having an underground reputation as not being a safe place to be alone at night. 

The writing is poetic, weird, fanciful, evocative, and conveys a sense of claustrophobic, existential dread that could easily be described as paranoid schizophrenic. Cthulhu is mentioned more than once; whether the narrator is reliable or not, is your call.

A lot of the discomforting tone of the book is tapping deep into common stressors. Our main character Samantha is forced into group work (the horror!) with a clique of rich and sheltered young women who are completely self-involved, and codependent. She nicknames them "the Bunnies" because they use the term Bunny as an affectionate pet term for each other. This stifling environment is ruled over by an abusive tutor (treated as a mentor and carer) who is continually encouraging them to get uncomfortable and use their pain in their art.

I haven't read a story set in a school with a more real feeling of loneliness, insecurity, and anxiety.. and I have read a lot of YA authors. The girls derive their strength from subjugating their individuality, becoming a hive mind that is as oppressive as it is inclusive. To be accepted one must pay a great price, and even those on the inside are continually being torn down by the narcissistic cycle of love-bombing, gas-lighting, and passive/aggressive negativity. Every interaction feels invasively vulnerable. Every interaction feels like a trap.

The town around the campus feels barren. Although there are opulent houses, there are certain parts of town that are derelict. Samantha finds herself moving out of her stifling p*ss-yellow apartment, in a building full of people with mental illnesses, into a derelict building. She lives with an aloof gothic-punk girl who she attends tango class with, and who carries a hip-flask labelled "drink me". The Alice In Wonderland theme is riffed on, quite a bit. Their relationship is almost homo-erotic, but asexually so.

The Othering in this story is next level. Girls moon over fantasy boys who are often dead superstars like James Dean, or characters from Greek myth. They are made fantasy by being utterly unreal, un-attainable, and fetishised through being exotic or not even speaking English. I only realise this after noticing the sexualisation of the tutor who speaks with a Scottish accent. It's like they are so starved for stimulation, and yet so terrified of reality that they need to create abstracted lust. There is no vulnerability with a partner who isn't really a person, bunny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit

iohy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder

niijntjes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Abandonment

yomireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I had no real clue what I was getting into when I picked this book and if I'm being honest, I can't say I know much better now that I've finished it.

Told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, themes of belonging and self-discovery are explored in a bizarre and unsettling ways that somehow deeply resonante with the readers. Awad's use of prose to reflect the state of mind of Samantha and her relationship with the Bunnies is seamless and engulfing. The subtle foreshadowing to plot development made what was an otherwise chaotic unfolding of events feel less like a suckered punch and more like the twisting of a knife. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

This was so good and so fucked. I love Awad's writing style. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gore, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

bookishlittleme's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was an absolute mind fuck. I'm really sad that I didn't annotate this book with neon pink and yellow flags because holy moly that was a lot to think about. Awad's writing is beautiful. Extremely poetic and witty.

She really did pull an M.Knight Shyamalan there! By the end, I could not tell what was real and what was fake.

Some parts of the book I found rather confusing but I would not say this is a bad thing. Because the book takes place in a contemporary setting it's a little tricky to feel out certain plot details.

*Cough, Cough* the supernatural and the plot twist.

I know this book is sitting on a lot of lists and it's definitely worth getting your hands or your paws (because 'Hands are hard, Bunny'<3) on a copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Basically this book is R-Rated.

jkpiowa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, and Abandonment

yeimyaileen's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

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

2.25

weird weird book, honestly.  not that i loved it or hated it, just felt really lost and couldnt grasp the message.  
also, if you liked if we were villains, aka

  books with weirdly vague gay love stories between the main character and their roommate where nothing really happens between them but in the end the main character finally admits their had gay feelings but also set at university with weird cult vibes

you might like this

narratively it reminded me of nightbitch and my year of rest and relaxation.  weirdly detached and you really have to pay attention to understand whats going on.  similarly paced as well.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Sexual harassment

ghostmotel's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, and Abandonment