So weird. But, like, in the best way. Right, Bunny? ( )

3.5 or 4 out of 5

why do i always feel such deep kinship with unlikable female protagonists? really makes you think (i felt READ TO FILTH!)

i. would LOVE to be in a cult. and honestly? if this book was trying to get me to go back to school for a master's in creative writing, it kind of worked

lastly, i get why people don't love the ending. it is a bit like coming down from a high. but it's still so good and thoughtful? idk. this read surprised me and i loved it

(also i know this review is mostly snarky and disjointed one liners. but they go to WARREN UNIVERSITY, get it, ha ha) ( )

Samantha is ostracised from her writing class cohort who call themselves Bunny and are sickly sweet and oozing kindness to others and each other. Things change though when Sam is invited to one of their meetings and becomes a member. All is well until she partakes in their rituals and monstrous experiments.

This was gripping. A book I couldn't put down and was shocked at each development. The writing is crisp and seductive, pulling you into the story. I love Awad's writing and plotting. At each step, you have no idea what will happen next and I found it stunning. My favourite of the three books of hers I've read. ( )

This well and truly didn't do it for me, though I think the concept is compelling.
The problem starts, I think, with the Bunnies. Reading about them made me feel the way an alien would feel watching Mean Girls—clearly there's an attempt at humor there, an exaggeration, a stereotype, but one that is bizarrely unfamiliar to me. Or maybe it's an inappropriate combination of stereotypes that's the problem. Rich girl snob meets pretentious wannabe english major meets sexy baby. That's not a person I've ever met; the exaggeration doesn't ring true. Instead it reads as a collage of every woman someone (cough cough?) doesn't like.
That's the most concrete example of a wider problem, which is that this book's sense of humor never really lands. I can see the joke, but it never comes to a punchline. I've heard people describe it as a satire, but it's not clear to me what it would be a satire of. A lot of disparate elements (which, individually, could be funny or satirical) are forced together into a single entity, and it just doesn't work—its actively less than the sum of its parts.
As for the horror elements, I was more intrigued by the background than anything that actually happens in the story proper. The uber-elite liberal arts college in the middle of a vaguely Lovecraftian town (city?) more fond of beheadings than poetry readings—hey, that's fun! I like that! More of that, please! The whole workshop thing, on the hand? Kind of meh. Fell kind of flat. Less, please. ( )

4.5 stars...I was so confused this whole book!
Jonah is my favorite, I want to read a whole book about just him.
The writing was phenomenal. The author really drew you in and made you feel like you were in it with Samantha from the get, so every step and turn was more and more confusing- just as it was for her. ( )