Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Bunny by Mona Awad

30 reviews

katerina_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gore, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Blood

erinoconnor's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Oh I loved this. It was twisted. It was surreal. It was weird. I found myself wanting to know more and hoping the protagonist put herself in danger to do so. 😬 Normally I’m like, “no don’t go in there” but this book was so intriguing I kept hoping she’d go where she shouldn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug abuse, Violence, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Torture, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Body horror, Drug use, and Stalking

paperkindle's review

dark mysterious medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence, Animal death, and Death

Oooookay?

alexiconic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

well-written thriller, i really enjoyed the writing style and the mystery and twists. it was a very engaging book, and i enjoyed the unreliable narrator that samantha was. the vibes put in by the book, and the writing style, put in enough doubts early on that the twists feel just unexpected enough. the mysteries and weirdness really worked for me, and that was a huge surprise. the setting of creative writing majors in a pretentious college writing a final work worked so well, it was fascinating and relatable because i, too, am starting my final thesis.

but that was also frustrating. we got so lost in samantha's mind (which is an impressive writing feat, so clearly masterfully done), that it was incredibly hard to find the "point" of the story. the book feels like it has so much to say, so much that it can say, and i wish for there to be a "point" to it all. for the book, or the author, to tell me how to read it, how to interpret it. but maybe the beauty is in how multi-interpretable it is, in the end, and maybe the fact that i feel this frustration only means the writing is that good, because this is a book that i keep coming back to and re-thinking about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Violence

booklover_04's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

1.0

First of all, I wasn’t sure what I was going into when I picked up this book. Not my cup of tea in terms of the genre, but I wanted to give it a fair shot so I read until the end. I found that the writing style was very immature. To me, it sounded like something I would’ve read in high school. But the content was disturbing. 

I didnt feel like the end was satisfying, though it felt like it was supposed to be a closed ending with the scene where Max attacks the Bunnies. It didn’t feel like there was a smooth transition (or any transition for that matter) between Samantha coming out of the trance-like state and going back to Ava.

It felt rushed but drawn out at the same time. I think the length of the book was enough to do a better job of building up the characters and the plot. I wouldn’t recommend it personally, even putting aside my distaste for the plot, due to the writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Sexual content, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, and Torture

samflowerv6's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“We never joke about bunnies, Bunny.”
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.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, Classism, Violence, Body shaming, and Cursing

scmiller's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Classism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Self harm, Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Stalking, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

livcab's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Animal death

bold_badger's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Drug use

jo_lzr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This is one of those books that I could sit here for hours and try to express my thoughts about it but I just don't know what to say. 
Firstly, there were some quotes and scenes in this book that I really did enjoy, whether they were poetic or completely insane. 
Honestly, I could just describe this book as creepy, crazy and sad (and a bit horny). 
Also, I enjoyed the author's sarcasm for the pretentiousness of some people in the art world. I think that it was done in a very smart way. 
On the other hand, there were some parts in the story where I couldn't understand what was happening, but I understand that this is the author's purpose. 
Overall, this was an interesting read hence why I am giving it 3 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Classism, Cursing, and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape