Bunny by Mona Awad, published in 2019, is a dark, ominous novel centered around a graduate student named Samantha. She is a loner, her only friend being a girl named Ava, and is focused only on her own work as a writer until the group of girls in her cohort befriend her. She quickly falls deeper and deeper into their strange rituals, including calling each other by the nickname “bunny,” and taking strange drugs that cause hallucinations of men who are not really there. As she becomes more involved with the “bunnies,” she becomes involved in their violent games and must try to balance the relationships in her life.
This novel is a critique of class in academia, and I thought it was very well done. Samantha’s new friends are ridiculously wealthy and it shows. They have lavish off-campus apartments, take extravagant trips, and can afford the latest designer clothing items. The novel can also be considered a commentary on fake female friendships, and how sometimes no matter how close people may seem, deep down it isn’t real. The “bunnies,” don’t care about one another or Samantha, but put on this act to the outside world.
Bunny is the perfect amount of creepy for the fall season. It is definitely a page-turner, and is face-paced and entertaining. The college setting gives the book a cozy feeling, while also having horror elements. It will get anyone out of a reading slump and is the perfect amount of scary for Halloween, which is quickly approaching. Bunny is both entertaining and intellectual, and I enjoyed every page.