Bunny by Mona Awad

After finishing Rouge I decided to reread Bunny and I’m glad I did because I’d forgotten much of it..

To summarize, Samatha (Sam) Mackey, a scholarship student at an elite, highly selective New England university, finds herself inexplicably drawn into the circle of the other 4 members of the all-female cohort of a MFA program in narrative arts. These are the self-named Bunnies who are everything Samatha is not and who she finds repelling, even hates. When they invite her to join them, she is unable to resist and her insecurities win out. She finds that the Bunnies are not only the mean girls clique she imagines but a cult and she finds herself taking part in some pretty disturbing rituals. As she becomes enmeshed in the cult she drifts away from her best friend Ava. Can she escape the Bunnies or will she lose herself?

Awad’s writing is stunning. razor sharp, flowing, witty, and funny. I was grabbed from the opening pages where Samatha and Ava are at the Narrative Arts Department’s welcome back Demitasse (nothing as low class as a party) observing, mocking, and scoffing at the Bunnies. Sam’s made up dialog of what the Bunnies are saying to each other is wonderfully snarky. As she falls under the influence of the Bunnies and some elements of horror appear, the writing becomes more hypnotic and trance-like as Sam’s sense of self starts to slip away. You also see this in Rouge. I wondered if the events were real or happening in Sam’s mind or made up by Sam. I think I know but to say more would be a spoiler...maybe..

Bunny satirizes girl-cliques and pretentious academia and is often very funny but it also looks at Sam’s need to belong even if it means becoming what she says she hates. Bunny doesn’t have the body horror of Rouge but there are a few ewww moments.

With Bunny and Rouge, Awad has become one of my favorite and always read authors. I’m looking forward to the sequel, We Love You, Bunny, which will be published September 2025. It’s told from the viewpoint of the Bunnies and I hope  answers some of my questions.