A gorgeous book worthy of the type of effusive praise that Tiffany McDaniels' Betty receives. The kind of unique literary voice that while is undoubtedly divisive was very much for me.

2022 National Book Award winner.

Rarely have I read a debut author's work that is so striking. The variety of writing techniques, the girl who emulates a Medieval martyr, the erasure of gentrification, all combine to create a work that stays with you long after you finish it.

This book needs to be pulled from the backlist and put on everyone's nightstand.

I loved the world building and there was some wonderful prose, but something just didn't connect for me.

When a book is awarded one of the most prestigious literary prizes and the judges describe it as a read they can’t stop thinking about, you fast track it on your reading list. Or at least I did 🤓

Winner of the 2022 fiction @nationalbookfoundation award (from a pool of 463 entries!!), I found the prismatic style it’s told in - these fractured perspectives of Midwestern life in fictitious Vacca Vale - a complex lens over post-industrial America.

My frustration with it, and what stopped me reaching for this when I’d set it aside, was that it’s a story that gets distracted easily. There are loose threads that never quite get tied up, perhaps intentionally, but in any case they were this storm of ideas that never quite found there way to a meaningful landing. I found the anti-development thread fell into this the most - it was more than a mere backdrop because it is such a formative part of the post-industrial experience, but to me it never quite found its feet in the way other side-liners like Joan or Moses did, for example.

What I think Gunty does exceptionally well is slow the frame and take you back into a character perspective to what got them there, and particularly in Blandine’s case, why they’re so damaged. There are these shorter chapters, or more experimental parts written as blog comments or drawings, that give the prose in the longer sections the space to shine. The countdown of sorts that each of Blandine’s chapters starts with was really effective in keeping her as the focal point even amidst content where a lot is done *to* her. Gunty gives her a degree of agency in the narrative here, and for me this was a huge part of how wrong I was envisaging the plot playing out. Did anyone else make the assumption that Blandine was controlling that countdown?! (Trying to be a bit vague to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t read!)

“This novel is a snapshot of America and the many ways we struggle with loneliness, yearning, and the painful pursuit of freedom.” - NBA Judges

This is a chaos of themes and in showing us a cast of characters so forgotten by those in their lives, Gunty leaves us with a story that really is unforgettable.

Unfortunately this one did not live up to the hype and I feel bad for that. It wasn't terrible, just not good an overwritten

Great debut. Thought provoking and emotional but expected to like it more than I did. Many POV made it a bit confusing at times. Check the trigger warnings.

I’m simply not in the mood for something so quirky, yet grim and overwritten. I think it could use a good edit to clean up some of the inner monologue.

Yet I say that I think Tess does a good job of showing a bit of small town Indiana community in this one.

DNF @ 55%

The Rabbit Hutch is an ensemble story centering on the occupants of a low-income housing complex and the intersections of their occupants. Almost all of the characters in this story seem completely incapable of living up to expectations. This was extremely well-written and I would definitely read more from this author.

How delightful! Somehow this book manages to be expansive and narrow in focus all at once. Excellent dialogue, great character exploration.

I really liked the overarching story of this book, however this book is just extremely disjointed, which is disappointing because this author really has a gift. I felt that each section really needed to tie in to the original storyline in some way for this type of formatting to work. I really liked the atmosphere in the book and felt that there was so much that could have been done to include this as well. I would be interested to read more from this author to really see what she could do. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book is luminous, the prose is fantastic, and the story necessary. it is very giftable to anyone who likes beautiful literature with cultural importance

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I just finished this book and I truly still don't know what it was about. Unfortunately it was very jumbled for me and it was hard to see what the author was trying to do. It felt more like a series of short stories that didn't have a beginning or end? I do not recommend.

Even though I would generally say I focus more on character driven stories and want to be entranced by the writing, this is one of those times I must confess that I am a simple person who wants a story arc and for the plot to move things along.

The setting is a bleak and some of the characters lives are even bleaker, if this is your jam, have at it.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Galley.

I would ultimately describe this book as perplexing. I enjoyed reading it, but afterwards I found myself wondering what was the point, or whether I had missed something. I liked Gunty’s inventiveness with language and how unafraid the book was to be unabashedly weird, but ultimately it just didn’t 100% come together for me.

A lot of characters, none of whom I was interested in reading about. A very loose story that was also uninteresting for the most part. A writing style that felt like it was trying to be clever and experimental and just came off as amateurish and unengaging. Lots of chapters that didn't go anywhere or add anything. Bloated, vague storytelling - not for me.

Finally read this for the paperback, and holy god, this is a BRILLIANT book. everything ever said about this novel is true. It owns my heart.

The description “A tale of loneliness and community, entrapment and freedom” initially drew my interest to this book. The set up of this novel is incredibly intricate as the reader is introduced to a wide cast of characters whose convergence has cohesion but also feels random. There are a lot of thought provoking scenarios and the characters have good self awareness, but I kept asking myself, what exactly is the plot? And, do I really finish this novel? There were times I was just not interested to proceed, but, I did, I just hope the few rather jarring graphic descriptions leave my brain.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC!
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Unfortunately I DNFed this, it just didn’t catch my attention and maybe I’ll get into it again when Imm in the perfect headspace to give this another try!