Scan barcode
otherworlds'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
well, it had its redeeming qualities, but ultimately this book came across to me as confused, especially in terms of the themes it put forward. when there is so much surrealism in the plot that you're relying so heavily on themes, those themes could have been delivered more effectively imo!
and idk if the bitter feelings re: her own pretentiousness among other pretentious art students was a feature of the character or the author, but either way it really grated on my nerves. no, more than that, the narration was SO self-deprecating that it made me outright uncomfortable. i can see how it aids the theme insofar as talking about the empty performative nature of the professional art scene, but it still wasn't my cup of tea.
the reason i'm taking a good half-star off this review, though, is that the author uses slurs in her prose to make it sound more edgy. saying someone looked like "a r*tarded baby", or referring to romani people by the g slur in fetishistic imagery, or using 'schizophrenic' as an insult... idk what she was going for with this but whatever it was, it fell flat for me.
that being said the plot was very interesting and original, the prose was engaging, the relationship between the main character and her best friend really tugged a chord with me, and i liked the ending. just, not enough to overlook the issues i had with this book.
and idk if the bitter feelings re: her own pretentiousness among other pretentious art students was a feature of the character or the author, but either way it really grated on my nerves. no, more than that, the narration was SO self-deprecating that it made me outright uncomfortable. i can see how it aids the theme insofar as talking about the empty performative nature of the professional art scene, but it still wasn't my cup of tea.
the reason i'm taking a good half-star off this review, though, is that the author uses slurs in her prose to make it sound more edgy. saying someone looked like "a r*tarded baby", or referring to romani people by the g slur in fetishistic imagery, or using 'schizophrenic' as an insult... idk what she was going for with this but whatever it was, it fell flat for me.
that being said the plot was very interesting and original, the prose was engaging, the relationship between the main character and her best friend really tugged a chord with me, and i liked the ending. just, not enough to overlook the issues i had with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, and Body horror
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Racism, Ableism, Murder, and Racial slurs
Main character is non-consensually drugged at many points.madarauchiha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Saved. ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
An odd, weird, phantasmagorical, interesting, horrifying novel. note if you're bored skip to ch 13 it starts to pick up there.
Content warnings.
minor medical content, ableism, ableist r slur, animal death, anti Rromani g slur, gore, cannibalism, racial fetishization, racism, self harm, drug use smoking tobacco, whorephobic language, antisemitism lizard people topic. its brief and not obviously aimed towards Jewish people but that hardly matters, and it does come up often enough.
medium alcohol use, animal death, animal hunting, anti Rromani g slur, anti Rromani sentiment, classism, drug abuse, parental death, rape, sexual content, sexual harassment, suicide ideation, whorephobic language
major alcohol use, animal death, confinement?, death, drug use, gore, kidnapping, self harm, sexual content, toxic friendships, unreality
An odd, weird, phantasmagorical, interesting, horrifying novel. note if you're bored skip to ch 13 it starts to pick up there.
Content warnings.
minor medical content, ableism, ableist r slur, animal death, anti Rromani g slur, gore, cannibalism, racial fetishization, racism, self harm, drug use smoking tobacco, whorephobic language, antisemitism lizard people topic. its brief and not obviously aimed towards Jewish people but that hardly matters, and it does come up often enough.
medium alcohol use, animal death, animal hunting, anti Rromani g slur, anti Rromani sentiment, classism, drug abuse, parental death, rape, sexual content, sexual harassment, suicide ideation, whorephobic language
major alcohol use, animal death, confinement?, death, drug use, gore, kidnapping, self harm, sexual content, toxic friendships, unreality
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Drug use, Self harm, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Ableism, Animal death, Racism, Cannibalism, Medical content, Racial slurs, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
sarah984's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.0
This book made me so angry. I do feel like there's something there about desire, that these girls can grant any of their own darkest desires but still come up with these like unthreatening neutered ken doll Disney princes, but the story doesn't really engage with that. Instead it delves into this extremely unrelatable portrait of female friendship where the main character hates the Bunnies while simultaneously being desperate for their approval (if they're so stupid why do you care if they don't like your story?????).
There is this bizarre extended sequence near the end that involves a twisted hallucination of two characters critiquing the book and honestly I agreed with everything they said so clearly this book was not for me.
There is this bizarre extended sequence near the end that involves a twisted hallucination of two characters critiquing the book and honestly I agreed with everything they said so clearly this book was not for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
damage's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Rape
angel_kiiss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? Yes
3.5
2022:
Second time round it still feels like a I’m not like other girls, anti-woman/high femininity, I’m better than then story where the Bunnies are condemned, not because they’re rich or come from wealthy families, but because they reach for and achieve some of the highest forms of femininity and that is bad.
It follows in step with her other books which also felt too mean spirited and anti-women from the perspective of woman. Because you can be a woman but god forbid you practice too much femininity.
It follows the same moral story line as The Craft, but doesn’t have the excuse of being made in the 90s. Comes off as the same cautionary tale for women and the dangers of female power.
An interesting concept but the focus wasn’t on the most interesting part. Women creating people out of bunnies is a best seller, but the focus shifts away and goes on about unimportant things
It’s like a more renowned version of The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block
The Lena Dunham quote on the front of this book still waves the red flag.
It’s like a more renowned version of The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block
The Lena Dunham quote on the front of this book still waves the red flag.
2021:
If this is supposed to be some great feminist novel, it really is a deterrent to put a quote by Lena Dunham on the cover.
So, I guess this is supposed to be some kind of horror story, but the initial introduction to the Bunnies plays out as some “I’m not like other girls,” “these girls like pink and girly things so they are lesser,” fourteen year old who hates the popular girls kind of bullshit. We’re supposed to hate them for such superficial reasons yet then they sound kind of cool once our main girl actually describes them and their interests.
What’s supposed to make them sound sketchy or “creepy” or any other horror red flags simply comes off as one woman (and woman is key since they’re all in graduate school) hating on a group of other women. I’d by the old patriarcal feminist ideals if it was set in a high school, but setting grown women in graduate school makes it come off as misogynistic and immature.
I honestly found it more pretentious than provocative. And the, not-so-subtle, subtext of the protagonists writings felt as if Awad was preemptively addressing critiques of her in-real-life work.
I’ve read surreal literature, so it’s not like it’s something I can’t get my head around, but this troubled and confused me more than I feel that it should have. The plot was undefined and the writing unclear and at times clunky. Horror mysteries are one thing, but writing so that nothing at all makes sense is another. At no point did things feel connected until the very end when it’s revealed to be a The Craft plot twist. But, just like in The Craft, it leaves us to question the message. We’re told that the witches in The Craft “go to far” with their use of magic, and that their marginalized lives don’t excuse the harmful things they do with magic. Bunny plays out the same way with the main girl being the most powerful and the most “right” and the deliverer of the other girls “just do’s.”
Why do the Bunnies get what they deserve? What - other than ritual sacrifice, I guess - makes them bad people? The only thing presented to us is their high-femininity and close female-relationships. Are we supposed to believe that this makes them evil? Is Awad villainizing femininity?
Also, what the fuck is Dunham feeling so connected to exactly? What part of the “female-experience” is identifiable in this book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts
auteaandtales's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
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
3.0
Started off as a four star read and then ended up being three because with no explanations it ended up being boring and I was losing interest. I’ve never watched or read Heathers but it definitely reminded me a lot of The Vegetarian, however I really loved that book and it has stuck with me to this day but this book felt like a drag in the second and third parts of the book. Also, I had no clue what was going on for a good chunk of this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
talvinovels's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
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
This was absolutely ridiculous!! The plot is definitely unique, at least I'd never read anything like this before. Mean Girls vibes for sure, but on a whole other level. You'll either have fun or roll your eyes the entire time. The writing style is fitting because it's as ridiculous as the plot at times, I don't know how else to describe it tbh.
For me this was a good mix of laughing at the ridiculousness and being extremely concerned for the main character. At some point the ridiculousness just became the norm so there was room in my brain to be horrified at what the main character was going through. The elements of toxic friendship and emotional abuse in this are very real and disturbing.
That being said, if you're looking for something with a deeper message, this probably isn't it. The blurbs on the back cover call this a "peek into the dark side of female friendship" and "one of the most delightful and pristine attacks on popular girls..." but personally I just saw this as a wacky story, and I was totally happy with that.
For me this was a good mix of laughing at the ridiculousness and being extremely concerned for the main character. At some point the ridiculousness just became the norm so there was room in my brain to be horrified at what the main character was going through. The elements of toxic friendship and emotional abuse in this are very real and disturbing.
That being said, if you're looking for something with a deeper message, this probably isn't it. The blurbs on the back cover call this a "peek into the dark side of female friendship" and "one of the most delightful and pristine attacks on popular girls..." but personally I just saw this as a wacky story, and I was totally happy with that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Drug abuse
Minor: Ableism
lilkstew's review against another edition
dark
funny
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? Yes
4.5
Wow, this was a fun book. I loved the style of narration, and I loved how off the walls bonkers the plot was. It reminded me of The Craft, which was great. The characters were obnoxious and arrogant and totally outrageous in such a perfect way; no one was likable, which worked so well for this book. I was so pleased with this book's weirdness. My only gripe is that I wish that there had been overtly lesbian characters because it would have fit SO well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Gore
Minor: Ableism
aftin148's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Drug use
Minor: Ableism
More...