It’s the last weekend until it’s time for the kiddies to come back to school, and as I’m sure is common amongst most of the teacher populace, I’m equal parts excited and not at all prepared.
But there’s always so much to look forward to during the new school year – meeting a new batch of funny, smart kids, getting to facilitate extracurricular activities for them like Book Club and track (I got roped into this one by my co-teacher), and watching the 8th graders blossom and mature into bright young men and women.
As a rule, because I am a teacher of adolescents, I try to keep informed of all of the new YA books hitting the shelves. I apply for grants throughout the year to help pay for my students’ Book Club selections and high interest material is coveted (and very pricey.) Recommending books to kids is thrilling for me, especially when they love it and want to have a long, in-depth dissection of the plot and characters.
Honestly, if you haven’t dabbled in the YA genre, you’re really missing out! Some of my favorite books are of the coming-of-age, awkward first love, “zits are the biggest problem in my life,” finding yourself, variety. There’s nothing more hopeful and refreshing than the perspective of a teenager.
Now, I was under the impression that Bunny would be of a similar variety. Most reviews and comments liken it to Mean Girls, Heathers, and The Craft (with a hint of Clueless), dosed with a heavy supernatural influence. I can verify that this is true. However, it is much MUCH more twisted than that. I felt like, in order to truly understand this book, I needed a hit or two of acid.
The best word to sum up the entire plot is strange. It’s original and interesting with its evil coven of bitchy, preppy psychopaths, traipsing among the elitist student body of an academically competitive college. But it’s also a tale as old as time; the uncool loser outcast, hating but secretly wanting to be apart of the cool group, only to find their little get togethers (or “Smut Salon,” as they’ve dubbed their private club) are nothing like she envisioned.
I’ll be candid – Bunny was not what I anticipated. It’s satirical, intelligently dark, and full of horrifically supernatural influences. It’s an artsy mash-up of all the cliquey girl gang classics from the 90s and early 2000s, sprinkling in an emphasis on the madness and brilliance that influence the work of writers and push them to the depths of “opening The Wound” to tap into their most feral selves. It’s a pretty bizarre read, but it keeps you interested all the way through.
Samantha Heather Mackey is a scholarship student in the competitive MFA program at the Warren University in New England. Samantha’s personal writing style is moody, dark, and pretty unpalatable to her writing cohort. To Samantha’s chagrin, she’s been assigned to a group of sickeningly prissy, glitter loving, baby doll dress wearing, uppity rich girls dubbed the Bunnies. Suffice it to say, they never appear impressed by Samantha’s writing and opt to give passive-aggressive criticism of Samantha’s “faux depressing” prose.
But Samantha is both distressed and intrigued to find she’s been invited to the Smut Salon – a mysterious gathering of the Bunnies, which they use as an opportunity to share more racy, sensual pieces of writing than they do during Workshop. From there, it’s a trippy ride filled with “Darlings,” exploding bunnies (of the animal nature,) mysterious strangers, and the disappearance of a friend. The twisted personality of each Bunny is revealed and Samantha finds herself spiraling into a depth she’s not prepared for.
Bunny is utter madness. I don’t entirely understand what I read, but it is an unsettling combination of new and nostalgic, filled with surprises and a classic ending. I enjoyed the ride. (Also, this is NOT a book for preteens, as I thought. I personally recommend this for readers 16 and older.)
If you’ve read this one, I’d love to get your impressions!
Enjoy, doll faces!
Pray for ya girl!
Happy & healthy reading!
Lexi
