You might have expected a cute, culty, classic dark academia story when you heard about “Bunny” by Mona Awad. While, yes, those are all attributes of this gorgeously written novel, it is also grotesque, and vile, while absolutely shattering your perception of what’s real and fake.
“Bunny” falls into the category of insane psychological thrillers that include “Ninth House” and “The Secret History” do. Still, Awad shows off her artistic capabilities throughout the novel to be able to convey her satire.
The novel centers on Samantha Heather Mackey, an MFA student at a prestigious school who is stuck in a writing workshop cohort with a group of girls who call each other “Bunny.” In a fashion that can only be described as the culty-ness of exclusive and competitive cliques at top schools, the Bunnies lure Samantha into their secluded literary clique.
Samantha has many insecurities, like being a scholarship student and having goth-like characteristics. Because of these, she is heavily juxtaposed to the Bunnies, which are rich, white, and to Samantha, absolutely unbearable.
Awad uses the satirical nature to comment on the loneliness and belonging that occurs in female cliques. Her tone is cynical and sharp, which shocks the reader because of the many truths that are presented about the twisted reality of friend groups.
The insane plot of “Bunny” is addictive and almost seductive, but it is still sick at the same time. Because of that, a lot of people dislike this novel, believing it’s just an imaginative exploration of the main character’s mental health. I don’t agree with that at all.
I think that theory takes away everything that Awad meant for her readers to experience with “Bunny.” By dismissing the whole plot, you’re essentially ignoring the opportunity to explore the absurdity of it and analyzing the commentary that Awad has on the topic. To love “Bunny”, you have to be open to its objectively strange aspects and enjoy the beauty of Awad’s inebriating writing, forcing readers to analyze the mean girl narrative within many female friend groups.
“Bunny” is an amazing book, but it is not the amazing book for everyone. It’s the book for people who over analyze every detail they are presented with; the people who believe that great literature is the literature that invokes deep thought instead of giving clear answers. It challenges you to think about the true meaning of things even after being overstimulated by everything else in this book.