Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Bunny by Mona Awad

721 reviews

keightychandelier's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

dark, funny, unexpectedly emotional, and a bit campy. an interesting take on self-interest and self-pity and what we’d tolerate for a sense of belonging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcohol

aespaldon24's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Honestly, wtf did I just read? I was interested in some parts and intrigued enough to finish the book, but felt very confused by a lot of it. I enjoyed the writing particularly in the first half, but the rest of it was too bizarre for my liking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

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

abimyers_reads's review against another edition

DNF. 
Was not enjoying this book at all. I have been reading it for 4 months now and I'm only 50% through it. It isn't the typical genre I read and I found it very weird and confusing. 
I might re visit this book in the future but not anytime soon.

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Content Warnings

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

madmai's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

bibliomich's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't even know where to begin with Bunny. I loved it. It was weird and funny and dark and surprising, and Mona Awad is a brilliant writer. I need to read more of her work.

Sometimes books that satirize the pretentiousness of academia end up coming across as, well, pretentious. But Bunny is funny and unhinged, and it doesn't feel elitist, even though Awad is clearly very clever. I can see why this one wouldn't work for everyone, but I devoured it.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying and Toxic relationship

ella_ruby's review against another edition

dark mysterious

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

3.0

Yes to messed up main characters. My rating also includes that I was too dumb to understand the book

because my friend who lent it to me had to spell out how unreliable the narrator was that nothing happened and suddenly it all made sense

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Blood

squiggly_cj's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

What, and I don't say this lightly, the fuck.

I need to read a discussion of this book because I'm struggling to fully understand it, but wow it still felt like effective writing in that I think my reading experience properly reflected the narrator's experience - so much chaos and tension and mystery.

Horror/thrillers aren't my usual genre, but I'm enjoying Awad's work here and in Rouge. The feminist and class-based commentary definitely helps, but I also enjoy her use of language - she wields a beautiful vocabulary.

I found it very interesting to see some repeated themes from Rouge, with the narrator's whimsical almost-dissociated voice describing her detachment from her previous relationships as she gets sucked into a coercive insidious cult. Rouge and Bunny are definitely different books with different themes and arcs, but I definitely still felt Awad's style in both.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

natyourusual_'s review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense fast-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

5.0

Very tense and creepy most of the time. The whole thing sort of creeps up on you and leaves you with this overall feeling of dread. I was going to give it a 4 since a lot of the plot beats felt predictable but some of the newer elements introduced in the second half/last third and the ending made me bump it up a lot. It felt a LOT like dark academia Heathers with heavy influences from a particular classic novel that gives a lot away if I mention it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Torture, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Misogyny

kaylokay_'s review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body horror, Drug use, Murder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual content