Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 3.5/5

A low-cost housing complex (The Rabbit Hutch) in a dying small town in Indiana, a set of disconnected neighbors, and a build up to a freakish act of violence that somehow weaves them together. It’s a bizarre and convoluted story that races from humor to creepy and back again without a second thought, culminating in an act that brings all the loose strands together. The writing is stunning (see the quotes below), the wildly diverse characters rendered in full technicolor detail with ongoing and minutely documented social commentary attached to individual observations. The characters: a lonely online obituary moderator, a young mother with dark thoughts, a 70ish couple decidedly not keeping up with the times, and a group of four teenagers who have aged out of the foster care system, including Blandine who is seeking meaning in the writings of the mystics — Hildegard von Bingen from the 12th century in particular.

It’s brilliantly done, bringing psychology, philosophy, and reflection to bear on the ways all of these people trying to make sense of their own lives. The author has a pointed ability to see into the motivations, experiences, and fears of those who appear rather anonymous on the outside. From the mystics to sexual grooming to isolation to the environment to the effects of noise pollution (my favorite) — the book was intellectually interesting and humorous in places, but — I admit — overall had a doomed, hopeless feel. I made it a “daytime only” read. However, I did not find the end depressing — I think that is important to note, and I wish I had known that ahead of time!

New words (for me):
Misophonia — People with misophonia are affected emotionally by common sounds — usually those made by others and usually ones that other people don't pay attention to. The examples above (breathing, yawning, or chewing) create a fight-or-flight response that triggers anger and a desire to escape.
Balayage: a technique for highlighting hair in which the dye is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect.

A few quotes, but there are a million more…

“Joan apologized three more times, then returned to her seat, feeling evil. As usual, when she confronted the world about one of its problems, the world suggested that the problem was Joan.”

“…the cackles and squawks of three tween girls overthrow the words on the page, infuriating her. They sound like chimpanzees. Just when Joan thinks the tween cackling will stop, it gets louder, engulfing her flammable peace along with the compartment.”

“Tiffany is insecure, cerebral, and enraged. Pretty in an extraterrestrial sort of way. Addicted to learning because it distracts her from the hostility of her consciousness; she has one of those brains that attacks itself unless it’s completing a difficult task.”

“She did bring a book, but she wasn’t reading it, just bullying the ink into sense.”

“And then on top of that — weaponzing a person’s isolation — it convinced every user that she is a minor celebrity, forcing her to curate some sparkly and artificial sampling of her best experiences, demanding a nonstop social performance that has little in common with her inner life, intensifying her narcissism, multiplying her anxieties, narrowing her worldview.”

“It’s moments like these when Joan fears she is a subject in some elaborate, federally funded psychology experiement.”

“She feels like a demanding and ill-fated houseplant, one that needs light in every season but will die in direct sun, one whose soil requires daily water but will drown if it receives too much, one that takes a fertilizer only sold at a store that’s open three hours a day, one that …

“They are elite, climate controlled, dentally supreme.”

“Frequently, Hope wondered what it would be like to vacation in her cousin’s psychology.”

“She always knew that she was too small and stupid to lead a revolution, but she had hoped she could at least imagine one.”

This book RIPS. The word I keep coming back to to describe this novel is “lush”- in its philosophical and structural complexity, its depth of emotion, its inherent strangeness and indulgence in its ideas. The Rabbit Hutch centers around post-industrialism, toxic masculinity, and mysticism. Through these anchors, the novel questions the possibility of transcendence: of corporeality, a moment of violence, politics, climate change, poverty, a traumatic past. Through its polyphonic telling, the novel pushes against the bounds of its own form, lending a sense of unpredictability and intelligence on every page. I love how this book plays with realism, particularly in its characterization of Blandine, the ethereal protagonist recently aged out of the foster care system who seeks structure in her life through the writings of Catholic female mystics, while living with three increasingly violent teenage boys. This blend of hyper-specificity in Blandine’s story, contrasted with the fleeting voices of others within Vacca Vale, the fictional Midwestern town which serves as a character in itself, reminded me of two favorites: Middlemarch and Jonathan Franzen. This debut is so assured in its telling - I am so glad to see it on this year’s National Book Award longlist. Also, Tess narrates most of the audiobook with an excellent performance! Don’t miss it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc

The novel starts out by telling you that Blandine will exit her body. It’s a fantastic opening, intriguing the reader with ambiguity and anticipation. Gunty cannot be faulted for her tension building at the beginning of the novel nor can she be faulted for her prose which is witty and insightful. For this reason alone, this book is worth a read. Beyond that, the narrative is a bit out-there, scattering and gathering strands of different threads, creating a textured and layered novel (and, yes, there are pictures). The writing and the narrative combined together make for something pretty original and the piece stands out from a lot of other books - it is unsurprising that this debut novel is already winning prizes. Gunty also has an exceptional way of capturing the ordinary and hitting you hard with sentences that can completely change your perspective.

That being said, Blandine walks the line between being a highly interesting character and a manic pixie dream girl. At a few points we see her façade break and the suggestion of a human underneath, but ultimately she is the character we see over and over in “depressed women” literature, just with a passion for Hildegard. And whilst I enjoyed the novel, there was also something a little lacking, maybe that the narratives in the novel are a little unbalanced, that the structure and form needed a little tending to.

This is definitely not for everyone - if you like books that start at the beginning and end at the end with a really strong plot, this may not be for you. But, if you are looking for something strange, something a bit different, I’d highly recommend you give this one a try.

This book was melancholy, quirky, unique and kind of all over the place. I went in really wanting to love it and I just felt bogged down by the amount of characters and sub plots.

I had such high hopes for this one and while the writing was beautiful and extremely well done I just struggled to connect with the story and dang it ... it was just such a downer. Maybe it was the wrong time for me, but I just couldn't get into it. 3 stars for the quality of writing.

Like I wasn't going to read this book with THAT cover? And somehow I magically read every book with "bunny" or "rabbit" in the title...?

Heads up: Animal violence

Blandine is living with three other teenagers who have just aged out of the foster care system in the old apartment complex known as the Rabbit Hutch. This book guides us through Blandine's past and present life, showing us who she is and what she's been through. Currently she seems to be obsessed with saints and martyrs and finds herself wanting to escape her body much like they did. In a town that's hopelessly run-down by their former thriving car industry, it's no wonder she wants to leave through any way possible.

The book culminates in bloody chaos, almost a sacrificial baptism of this city that's ready to rebuild itself at the expense of the less privileged.

This is a beautiful and lonely little book. You can feel the melancholy tension throughout this book of a person and town, both teetering on the edge of failure or success. That first chapter alone was pure reading euphoria for me. It was especially poignant going back to re-read it once I had finished the whole book.

There were definitely some times that I lost the storyline while reading, only to find the connections later. It's worth it to push through the parts that don't seem as relevant.

Is this book weird? Of course. But I love 'em weird. If you do too, pick this one up.

I think the concept and the vibe of this book are really cool. It looks at more of a darker view of teenagers and the foster care system. I think if you're looking for a darker and a little bit weird I have a book this is definitely a great option for you.

Incredibly impressed with this debut! Gunty masterfully weaves together many VERY bizarre plotlines in a way that I literally couldn't put down and left me breathless. An incredibly interesting and fresh novel.

2.5 rounded up

Ugh, remind me not to form views on books based on overly promising opening chapters!

This "fiercely original"* novel is getting a lot of press in the UK after winning the inaugural Waterstones debut fiction prize. The novel follows a handful of residents of La Lapinière Affordable Housing Complex - known by its residents by the English translation of the name, The Rabbit Hutch. The character who we spend most of our time following is Blandine, an 18 year old high-school dropout.

I'm finding it a little difficult to describe the plot without giving away spoilers, but the story (and characters) is kind of offbeat and strange... just not in a way that makes it particularly interesting and felt like it was covering up for a lack of substance. It's hard to explain. I had a few issues with the book overall: As my GR friend Jennifer has said, Blandine is *the* ultimate Manic Pixie Dream Girl; almost unbearably so. She feels like some kind of cipher through which the story is told and very much like a character in a story as opposed to a real person. I did not get the point of the Moses plot at all either, and Bladine's housemates and their story line held no interest for me.

So why three stars? Despite all over the above I found this novel hard to put down. There were some great lines (when the writing didn't feel too self-conscious) and the Tiffany/James story line was well done. I loved Joy's character too and wish there were more of her chapters.

Gunty's writing and storytelling holds great promise, and I'll definitely check her next book out despite my misgivings about her debut.

* The words of Waterstones' head of fiction, Bea Carvalho (not mine)

Well that epigraph sure set the tone.

What I loved:
The beauty of this book is in the details, like the diner that attracts “a disproportionate number of people in berets.” Same with the quirky specificity of each character, like Joan, “who has never confidently traversed a crosswalk in her life and profoundly distrusts people who claim they dislike bread.”

What I didn’t love:
Was there a plot? Maybe that’s a little harsh, I did see the connection between each chapter by the time I was 20% into it and it did start to flow smoothly toward the middle. The descriptions were so rich that I almost didn’t miss having some more action. But the story jumped around more that I would’ve liked - I felt like the scene changed just as I was getting interested in each chapter.

Also, if you’re a mood reader you’ll want to pick this up on a grey day because. The characters are angry, sad, despondent, and the city they live in is a depressing backdrop to it all. It’s beautifully written but for sure a downer.

We hear this a lot about books--this one is unlike other novels, but in many ways, this novel is unlike other novels because it takes place over three days, mainly centering on one character, Tiffany/Blandine, and a few others who live in the same apartment complex. At times, the novel has very funny scenes, then it takes turns to the dark side. It's mainly about four teens who have just left foster care and move into an apartment together. We get introduced to other characters in the novel, but they remain more or less on the peripheral. I rather missed hearing from some of them, especially the neighbor obsessed with her husband putting a dead mouse by a neighbor's door. It's a compelling novel filled with zest and wit.

The Rabbit Hutch is an enjoyable quirky cast of characters book that delves into rural America, identity, and faith (but not in the traditional sense). In the failing city of Vacca Vale, Indiana, residents of the La Lapinière Apartment Complex grapple with questions of who they are, what their life has led up to so far, and where they are going. This book is very ambitious in the breadth of subjects it covers. Urban revitalization is contrasted with studies of ancient mystics and martyrs, relationships of all stages and power dynamics are explored alongside rare mental health conditions. This book interestingly weaves past, present, and future together through the individual perspectives of these characters, as well as incorporating a non-linear storyline.

I don't believe the description of the book that I had going in was accurate. The story is not simply about four teenagers who aged out of the foster care system - in fact, I think it is about them the least (with the exception of Blandine). The three boys seemed flat when compared with Hope, Moses Robert Blitz, and Joan Kowalski. Overall, the book is very smart and has great sentences, however, it fails to keep the suspense building as the reader nears the end. The final discussion between James and Blandine was one of the slowest parts of the book, and I felt it was both unnecessarily complicated and reduced the impact of the climax.

This book is very strange and hard to follow. I like the concept and that is why I requested the galley but ultimately I was not grabbed by the characters or the convoluted storyline. I think that books like this do help build empathy and that is why I will purchase it for our collection but I did not enjoy reading it personally. It seemed to be weird for the sake of being weird and I'm not sure how many readers will connect with the narrator. There was so much hype around this title, especially as a debut, but I do not think that it lived up to that.

blandine wants to exit her body.

and she achieves just that inside the rabbit hutch, an apartment complex where very different people share the small, crowded space. with paper thin walls everyone living in there is aware of each other, there’s C2 where joan kowalski, who’s career consists of monitoring obituary comments online, C6 an old couple who seems to have fallen out of love, C8 where a new woman new to motherhood is deathly afraid of her son’s eyes and finally there’s apartment C4 where four former foster care teenagers live. those teenagers are called blandine, todd, malik and jack and those three boys are her ticket to exiting out of her body.

i loved this weird assemble of characters, loved getting to know them and their quirks, likes and dislikes, theirs fears and wants but ironically this was also what hindered the potencial of the book. tess gunty spends a lot of time with secondary characters and subplots that are in no way related to the blandine and her story, it’s also selective on which characters get a complete backstory or not. for example a 50yr old man who’s the son of a famous actress who died, the obituary overseen by joan kowalski in C2 and idol of the woman in C8, are given an extensive backstory and importance. while the three teenagers who blandine lives with are not, we don’t know much about them or what drives them to do what they do at the end of the novel.

i did get what gunty was trying to say, something about a group of strangers being connected even if it is by a very very very loose string but it feel a bit flat as a casual reader and also gave the novel an air of a collection of short stories instead.

that is not to say that i didn’t enjoy it at all because i did, gunty’s writing was a delight and a sort of saving feature of her debut novel and makes up from the fact that she more than often deviated from the plot.

I really enjoyed the author's exploration of all the characters that live in Vacca Vale at this "rabbit hutch" apartment complex. Her writing was quirky and funny at times too.

I loved getting to know all of these characters and all of their weird quirks, what makes them them. I have seen this book be compared to more of a short story collection with the characters connected and I have to agree. I think i would have liked it more if it was a bit more cohesive.

As you can imagine, this novel caught my eye at the mere mention of a run-down Indiana town. Having grown up in a town of exactly 315 residents (according to the 2010 census, at least) in middle-Indiana, surrounded by failing factories and struggling blue-collar families, I was both intrigued by this premise, and admittedly, eager to judge it. And, tldr; it did not fall short of my expectations.

Vacca Vale, though fictional, is a setting that's apt to look incredibly familiar to Midwestern natives, particularly those in crumbling towns that were once minor industrial hubs. Personally, it was refreshing to read a work that hit so close to home, especially when the next best thing is watching "Stranger Things", which, though set in Indiana, was filmed in Atlanta and feels like nothing familiar. I could picture Vacca Vale with an intense accuracy beyond what was simply being described in this already visceral work, and because the physical setting is so vital, this made for an incredibly enthralling read.

<i>The Rabbit Hutch</i> is a very cyclical work, to its (at least in my opinion) great credit. It almost prepares the audience for a sadness that never quite occurs, allowing the light tinge of melancholy to simply linger untouched, as it does for most of fictional Vacca Vale's residents and for the reader, too, long after the book itself is closed.

This work is also very self-referential, returning again and again to certain points in a way that shadows them just enough to keep from making these references startlingly obvious, and has a Station Eleven-esque way of flitting from character to character, seemingly unconnected, before letting the audience in on the joke: they were all intertwined all along. Time is very fluid here, too, and while there are days and times mentioned, they are nearly irrelevant to the story as a whole and leaves the reader with the sense of walking through a strange and never-ending dream. To be clear, I fully mean this as a high compliment. While none of this is exactly a new concept in literary fiction, it is a concept I enjoy when done well, as it was here.

One of the major themes of the novel is the idea that there is no such thing as a moral activity, and the subsequent contemplations of moral vs. immoral actions. Again, not a new consideration, but I enjoyed the author's take on it throughout the narrative's journey. The main character strives to right injustice to consider her own existence ethical. A jilted son attempts to validate his hatred of his mother, and the person it has turned him into. A crew of teenage boys lack communication skills in any way that isn't violence, which feels both unsettling and familiar. Nothing is justified, and yet everything is explained, even if the explanation is the very true-to-life result of emotional instability that occurs as the negative emotions build uninhibited and unexamined over time. It is a very human and very relatable way of approaching the existence of this town and its inhabitants.

My one qualm with this work is that it truly isn't anything new. Tess Gunty is an extremely talented writer with a flair for landscape, setting, ambience, moral considerations, and generally weaving together a compelling tale of life and death and everything in-between, but there were some repeated tropes here that felt recycled. Blandine's character, while intriguing, is a textbook manic pixie dream girl archetype. I could have done without the teacher-student relationship, and the idea of paying more attention to one another and the ways our stories intersect has been a hot topic in literary fiction lately as well. Again, I was enthralled with this work from start to finish and read it nearly in a single sitting, but this is entirely due to Gunty's storytelling and encompassing lyricism and not anything to do with the narrative itself.

That said, this is a debut novel and I am excited to see what else Gunty will produce in the future! Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing an ARC (though I read it post-release, oops) in exchange for an honest review, and to Tess Gunty for putting more honest literature about the strange and shadowed world that is small-town Indiana into the world! I would recommend this for fans of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, as it strikes somewhere in the dead center of where those three oddly intersect. I will definitely be purchasing this title for the store, and recommending it to our customers!

This is the brand of the off-the-walls bizarre cast of characters weird lit I am into, in the vein of Moshfegh, Kushner, and other sad-girl fleabag writers who are very "in" right now. I enjoyed the characters and was intrigued by their backstories, and felt like, as an ensemble, they each complemented one another very well.

overall i really enjoyed this debut, and Gunty is definitely an author to keep an eye out for as the writing is the highlight of the book. the reason i didn’t LOVE this one as much as i wanted to was that i wish it focused more on Blandine, I was really captivated by her character and found myself sighing everytime the next chapter would focus on a different character because I wanted more of her!

A novel about a girl and other residents of an apartment complex ("The Rabbit Hutch") in a Rust Belt town. Blandine is an 18 year-old former foster kid obsessed with the she-mystics who wants to save the local nature preserve from development. She lives amongst a cast of other broken characters living in a town whose glory days are long past. It is a messy sprawl of a novel that highlights the costs of living in a city that feels abandoned. Maybe it's the rabbit connection, but the prose reminded me of Mona Awad's Bunny. It has a similar propulsive, ebullient, almost absurdist quality to it, although the ending in this one is less bonkers. Not all the sub-stories hung together for me, but I admired the ambition of this novel and came to care about the fates of the residents of The Rabbit Hutch and the town of Vacca Vale.