Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of "We Love You, Bunny." I was thrilled and honored to have received this before publication date! Jumping and screaming and throwing up, bunny.

I loved every moment of reuniting with the bunnies. This book is fresh, wild, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Aerius, O sweet Aerius- was my favorite character of the Bunny universe.
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Thank you, Mona Awad, for this literary masterpiece. No notes.

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad is the follow up to Bunny, and it was as wild as I expected it to be. Samantha, the protagonist from Bunny, has been taken hostage by the Bunnies so they can tell their side of the story. Alternating between the Bunnies & Aerius, one of the Bunnies' bunnies, they tell Sam about the start of their cohort & all the events that actually took place during the events of Bunny.
While I did ultimately like this book, I did feel like it was a little bit too long. Especially Aeries's POV, which was written exactly like you'd imagine a rabbit-come-to-life's inner thoughts would be. It was kind of insane, and took me a long time to get through, but I did like the weirdness of it as a whole.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of We Love You, Bunny in exchange for my honest opinion. I do enjoy Mona Awad's writing and look forward to more by this author in the future.

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad follows Sam, now a published author, getting kidnapped by the Bunnies during her book tour so they can tell their side of the story from the original novel. What should have been a return to Awad's brilliantly unhinged world instead felt like tedious Bunny fanfiction - all the surface elements are there, but the magic that made the first book so weirdly captivating is missing. The mystery and ambiguity that made Bunny so compelling gets replaced with heavy-handed explanations and lore that I never wanted or needed. When a second POV kicks in partway through (the bunny-turned-boy creation), it briefly livens things up with its childish, emoji-filled narration, but even that novelty wears thin across nearly 500 pages. I found myself wishing Awad had left the Bunny universe unexplained and perfect rather than giving us this tedious expansion that somehow manages to be both overlong and underwhelming.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book!

Wow. That's really all I can say. Originally it was my sister who'd told me to read Bunny, stating it as a weird, bizarre psychedelic horror trip. Now, normally a book like that I'm not super into sequels. I think it's something that sits perfectly on it's own, but this one was different enough that it really stood out.

Welcome back, Bunny! We missed you!

All the things I adored from the first book were within this one, and seeing how it all began and the downhill spiral, how different stories are and how they match up, was a real treat! It even held the same WTF factor that really endeared me to the first one! Highly highly recommend, This one I'll be excited to share with the rest of the world when it comes out!

Such a good follow up! I have been in a slump lately and this is the book to help you get you out of one that’s for sure

We Love You Bunny picks up several years after the events of 'Bunny.' Samantha Mackey is back at Warren University promoting her debut novel about a promising young writer in a prestigious MFA program who gets tangled up with a group of axe-wielding, hive-minded classmates who call each other "Bunny." Sounds familiar, no? Well, the Bunnies are disappointed, to say the least, with Sam's rendering of them and they are bound and determined to set the record straight. We Love You Bunny follows the Bunnies through their first year at Warren leading up to and retelling the events of 'Bunny' from their point of view as well as a secret fifth narrator. We Love You Bunny acts as a kind of prequel-sequel which I thought was quite fun. It also employs one of my favorite storytelling tropes; sentient being experiences the world for the first time (or in a new way.)

In framing We Love You Bunny as a meta-narrative where 'Bunny' exists both in the real world and her fictionalized world, Awad introduces fiction vs. reality and the blurred line between the two as a jumping off point for some literary criticism. At its core, the Bunny Literary Universe is a vehicle for Awad's social satire and literary criticism at large. I would argue that 'Bunny' focused primarily on satirizing and subverting the idea, "kill your darlings." This novel's primary focus seems to be attempting to answer the question, "who does art belong to? The artist, the subject, the consumer, or the universe?"

Before I say anything else, I want to make it clear that I ENJOYED this novel as much as I enjoyed 'Bunny,' if not more. If you live and die by Bunny, this book is different enough structurally that you may find it disappointing. If you really enjoyed Bunny and are itching to get back into its orbit, you're going to enjoy this. If you liked Bunny's vibe but didn't really "get it," I think this book is for you. That being said, I am me and I'd like to get into some critical analysis so if you're not into that kind of thing, thank you for reading up to this point. I think you should read We Love You Bunny! Now...

For better or for worse, Awad really spells it out for readers in this novel. "It" being "the point," if you will. Bunny, and Awad's work in general, is loaded with references, extended metaphor, and social satire to varying degrees of success. In We Love You, Bunny alone there are no less than 25 references to other pieces of art/media and if you're unfamiliar with any of them, then part of the parallel that Awad is drawing is lost. Which like, duh. That goes for any piece of media that attempts to reference another piece of media. But because there are so many here, there's a greater chance that something is going to be missed. This leads readers, I think, to feel like they're not quite sure what's going on. When you have that many references slammed into a 350 page novel, there isn't an opportunity to fully tease out ALL of those parallels in a way that is meaningful for the reader. This ultimately leads to some of the parallels feeling slightly empty. It feels like it's there just for the sake of being there. I would happily buy this choice as intentional in the world of 'Bunny' specifically because of the characters we are dealing with. Does it make sense that the characters in these two novels would throw around references willy-nilly in order to seem more intelligent, to substantiate their opinions with references to other pieces of media so that they might be free of actually having to do heavy academic lifting? Abso-fuckin'-lutely. It totally works here! However, I noticed this sort of referential Frankenstein walking around in All's Well too. There were quotes and imagery being pulled from a bunch of Shakespeare's work instead of the two pieces that were central to the narrative and it simply didn't work. For me! For me.

Awad is very clearly aware of literary criticism in general, as well as any criticism she may have received for Bunny and new criticism that could possibly be coming her way after the release of this novel. That awareness is all over the pages of this novel. However, I can't help but wonder if simply being aware of the criticism and giving voice to it is enough to shield you from it. I'm disinclined to believe that it is. The only other real qualm I have with these novels is that Awad's vagueness can make it difficult to defend her critical/satircal point of view at all times. It's difficult to tease out exactly what I mean by this without getting into spoilers and I don't want to do that here. Perhaps I'll write a review with spoilers once the novel is out and more people have read it. That being said, I think there is a lot of literary merit in both of these novels. Awad is attempting to push the boundaries of genre with the novels in the Bunny Universe, and is doing so pretty successfully. I will say, it seems like this novel sets us up for another installment which is super exciting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for an advanced e-book copy of this novel!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In its essence, I truly feel that you won't be able to read this without reading Bunny. The story is almost like a prequel instead of a sequel. Mona Awad''s wriiting is very unique, and plays heavily into the unreliable narrator (or in this case, multiple unreliable narrators) with very distinct voices. I read Bunny such a long time ago that I had to continuously reference the original novel to get a sense of what each bunny was talking about in their narration. I did not realize that the original Bunny came out in 2019 (and that I read it in 2022.) If you are expecting this novel and are excited for it, I suggest you re read Bunny before picking this up just to have an easier time jogging your memory about the plot and what goes down. it was genuinely difficult to recall names and major plot points while reading. BUT a possible upside to this, at least for me, is that I forgot the major plot points in the book, and it was nice to reread them with fresh eyes and a fresh outlook.on the crazy things that happen.

It was jarring to be pulled out of one character narration or specific voice to be instantly placed back into another one, and I feel like readers will love that or really dislike it. however, I think it is a really unique way of writing a book with multiple POVs. while this can be a strong selling point and a good way of setting the plot and the pace, I feel like the constant jumping of character to character didn't allow for a lot of room to grow. when I found myself getting into a specific Bunny and their retelling of the events, I suddenly got ripped away from it when the perspective changed which was kind of annoying. a lot of telling, especially when doing specific actions or planning events -- it was a lot of saying that things would get done, but difficult to get through and actually DO the things the Bunnies said they were planning to do without a ton of filler in between. I feel as if Bunny could absolutely stand on its own, and it was sort of unnecessary to write a sequel despite the interesting things going on.

I might change my rating once I give it more thought, but its teetering around a 2.5-3.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for the eARC.

“We Love You, Bunny” is an addicting, enjoyable ride that made me reread the original novel. It’s a genuinely laugh out loud story, BUT I think it should have been split into two novellas: one for the Bunnies and how they formed their group, and one for the bonus perspective. The latter took up just as much, if not more space than the former. While I eventually enjoyed the narrative voice of this new character :) , it was definitely different and can be taxing for readers :(

If you’ve read Bunny, you’ll need to read this. If you haven’t read Bunny, you’ll probably still want to read this. A sprawling and chaotic ode to fiction, an allegory composed of allegories, We Love You, Bunny is 96% prequel, 4% sequel, and all exceptional fun.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Mona Awad, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

The sequel and prequel to Bunny reunites Samantha with her literacy cohort the bunnies, students at Warren, a prestigious Ivy League college. Awad immerses the reader into the POV’s of the bunnies and their first creation Aerius. Back in the attic of the Smut Salon, the reader gets to know the bunnies and all their comically spooky quirks. The coven of characters are unique, funny and engaging, part Mean Girls, part Heathers, part Frankenstein and Rocky Horror Picture show. Awad slices the ax into the pretension of academia with witty descriptions of poets trench coat flocking like bats in a world where slaughtering your darlings is just part of the process.

Thank you NetGalley and S&S Marysue Rucci Books for this eARC.

I really liked some aspects of this book. I thought it was really interesting to see all of the different POVs of the Bunny girls, and was not expecting an Aerius POV, but found his to be the most interesting. But with that, the way each POV was done made it a little hard for me to get through. I do like and understand that they were talking directly to Samantha and telling their story to her, but one would be talking and then their chapters/parts would end by another Bunny being like wait no that’s not what happened, let me tell you what actually did. I did really like seeing a bit more into the characters lives though. Aerius chapters were my favorite, the drama and humor of him going after Allan and killing the wrong ones, but also seeing him and Jonah, and also seeing just his growth and understanding of his life. I hope wherever Aerius is that he is happy. I did like the ending plot twist through of the “Samantha” they told this whole story to ending up being a Bunny. This book did feel so long. Almost 500 pages and I really felt every page, I do think it could’ve been a little bit shorter, but that being said I had a fun time and I was glad to be back into this world and learn more about how they really started turning Bunny’s

Oh, Bunny. DNFing at 36% for now at least. I have been trying to read this for about a month and a half. I was making gradual progress until I got to the Aerius section and then I was just not enjoying myself. I started out liking the multiple POVs, but was also having a hard time keeping focused on whose POV it was. Each sections was also terribly long and I felt like I read them for years. I really wanted to like this book and maybe if it was shorter, not almost 500 pages, it would have been better. I might give this another go when it comes out as maybe reading a physical copy will make it easier/faster to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon Element for providing this ARC

We’re back, bunnies!! 🐰
It’s wonderful to step back into the surreal world I adored so much in Mona Awad’s Bunny. We Love You, Bunny is both a prequel and a sequel, focusing on the Bunnies themselves. I loved getting into the twisted headspace of each character and seeing their perspectives before they introduced Samantha to the group.

The Bunnies are NOT happy with how they’re portrayed in Samantha’s new, critically acclaimed novel. So what’s a reasonable way to process the hurt? Kidnapping Samantha and telling her all the ways she got it wrong, of course!

I loved how unexpected and bizarre the first book was—the twists were so well done and kept me gripped the whole time. This book didn’t catch me off guard as much, but I still really enjoyed it nonetheless.

I felt like I got a better sense of who the characters were beyond the hive mind. It was so much fun to revisit the group and the world once again. I enjoyed the unreliable narrators and exploring the themes of female friendship, belonging, desire, identity, and the lengths one will go to achieve creative success.

We Love You, Bunny comes out 9/23.
Thank you, Simon Element, for giving me this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

★★★☆☆
We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad (via NetGalley ARC)

Wow—this sequel kind of slaps… but then ghosted me at the finish line. 😬🐰

What Worked:
• The backstories, especially Aerius’s, are juicy and haunting—a beautiful unraveling of a tragic, feral poet stuck in the wrong cult. 👑🩸
• Character arcs are strong: I found myself actually hating some of them (a solid sign your protagonists are cracking beautifully). They’re toxic, pastel-flavored nightmares—and that’s a vibe.

What Didn’t:
• They all fall into occult ritual way too effortlessly. One minute we’re polite girls-in-denial, the next: “LOL let’s sacrifice woodland creatures.” 🐿️🔪 That escalation felt rushed—like the author hit fast-forward on the cult takeover.
• Allan… who? He appears fully clued in, like a horror-lord librarian who’s been here before—but never gets explained. Cue the ominous but confusing vibes.
• The ending left me staring at the text like: 👁️👄👁️ so many dangling threads… who’s picking up that bunny? Is the cult still lurking? Did Samantha ever escape and start therapy?

Bottom Line:
It’s poetic, scary, and woven with dark magic… but feels more like a tease than a payoff. If Bunny drew blood, We Love You, Bunny gave me glittered gauze—pretty, sticky, and hard to peel off. I’d’ve loved a tighter finish (and maybe a how-to for cult ex-members in the appendix). ✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We Love You, Bunny by Mona Award
Pub Date: September 23, 2025

✨Multiple POV
✨Good, dark and funny “Heathers” dynamic
✨Unhinged and awful women
✨Fan of Bunny 🐰 Bunny universe

“Sam has just published her first novel to critical acclaim. But at a New England stop on her book tour, her one-time frenemies, furious at the way they’ve been portrayed, kidnap her. Now a captive audience, it’s her (and our) turn to hear the Bunnies’ side of the story. “

This book is a total trip. Once again, the pinnacle of weird girl books. Mona Awad has done it again with We Love You, Bunny, a prequel/sequel that provides a wealth of lore, answering many questions left unanswered in the first book. Mary Shelley would have been proud!

Overall, I had a good time with this book, and it is an absolute honor to have gotten to read it early. Thank you, Simon Element and Mona Award, for providing the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

#netgalley #weirdgirlfic #litfic #adult #earc #horror #donniedarko #heathers #coraline #frankenstein #darkacademia

I loved this book! I really liked the first one and im so glad the author decided to work on a prequel./sequel to really give the reader(s) a full view of the whole story. this is about the bunnies before the first book. this one was funny and creepy! loved the twist at the end and all the spins we take as the story unfolds!

This book did a great job pulling double duty as a prequel and a sequel to Bunny. Oozing with satire, horror, and dark comedy, this book covered a lot of familiar ground, including: background on the bunnies (human, students) before Samantha, bunnies (small, fuzzy), the poets, and the faculty. All these elements existed in Bunny, but only in the periphery. In this book, they are brought to the forefront and examined.

For readers who enjoy satire, dark humor, bunnies, hot overly emotional vegetarian men, dark academia, ax-related horror, small town chaos, entitled MFA kids, and hate poetry - this book is for you. That being said, it definitely cannot act as a stand alone. Reading Bunny either before or after is required to understand the happenings in this book.

While a lot of this book was backstory on the characters introduced first in Bunny, it could absolutely be read first as an introduction to the characters in Bunny (minus Bunny's main narrator and protagonist - Samantha). However, there were also a few twists and surprises that could potentially setup a possible third book. For a book that mostly provided backstory, clarity, and context to the first book, I didn't expect twists or a surprise ending.

The one drawback to this book (IMO), especially in the beginning, was that I sometimes found myself trudging through unnecessary reiterated details or recaps of minor events that were explained a few pages earlier from a different POV. After the first section, it started picking up speed but sometimes even bunny-brain, sad drunk captive muse, Aerius turned out to be wildly long winded. I also sort of felt like Awad might have partly used this book as a tool to clear up any inconsistencies or confusion that readers noticed reading Bunny.

Awad's lovable digs at art school throughout the book regularly made me cackle - "There will always be risks, and yes, event great dangers, Aerius. This is Art School, after all."

This book doesn't take itself too seriously and has some good humored meta moments of poking fun at itself, including such great dressing downs as: "... the violence is quite gratuitous. Axes are such tactile instruments, which I appreciate, but the allusion to Kafka is a bit... convenient. Don't you think?"

This, coupled with the fact that no one in town can seem to figure out whether danger is real, or if it's performance art, is just.. chef kiss. So perfect and hilarious.

I love Mona Awad, I loved Bunny, and I loved this book. Thank you to my favorite bunnies, NetGalley and SimonElement/MarySue Rucci Books, for the eARC!! <3

Wow, this book is a rollercoaster. Told through multiple POVs, the sequel of Bunny matches the strange and avant garde nature of the first book.

This is a retelling of the book we know and love, Bunny, but through the Bunny's and their very first Darling, their creation, eyes. Samantha is the 'reader' and she is held captive after being kidnapped by the Bunnys, listening to their perspective.

Honestly, the first part, told by the Bunnys themselves was a bit boring to me. It was difficult to pay attention and want to keep reading, but after the POV of Aerius, I was hooked. I was beyond hooked, I couldn't not put the book down!

Every other part of the book made up for my lack of interest in the beginning. The story is written is such a way you see the delusion and obsessions of each character you meet. It's funny at times, heartbreaking at times, and a wild ride that I'll gladly follow.

The ending was my favorite. Just a great ending. Mona Awad's originality is truly something to be admired, and I can't wait to see what else she creates 🙂

I can’t even begin how excited I was to see there is going to be another Bunny book. What a trip that was, sooo good!!! You either hate it or you love it and I absolutely devoured it!!!

Picking up shortly after the events of Bunny, Sam is now a published author on tour for her debut novel. During a stop in New England, she’s unexpectedly confronted by her former Fictions cohort--The Bunnies--the clique whose portrayal in Sam’s book infuriated them. They abduct her and hold her captive in an attic, intent on sharing their version of events, and painting a clearer picture of their unsettling sisterhood, newly discovered manifestation powers, and who "Bunny" really is.

I was so thrilled to receive this copy; although understandably polarizing, I was a massive fan of Bunny and was curious to see how Awad would expand on her world. I am happy to report that this did not disappoint. Rather, I found this sequel so exciting and compelling as a standalone novel, while enhancing the events of the first book that gave me an even greater appreciation for the original. I deeply enjoyed Awad's differentiation between the voices of each character (this will make an excellent audiobook [and maybe an even better mini-series...?]) , weaving each story together without getting redundant or slow. Beyond that, and without giving anything away, the addition of a new storyteller was unexpected but greatly welcomed--I found myself enjoying these parts of the retelling the most, injecting a humor and unpredictability that made this sequel so compelling.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. Fans of the original will enjoy the expansion on the first book, and skeptics may even find themselves newly appreciating Awad's expert blend of dark academia, fairy-tale horror, literotica, and slasher-film tension. I highly recommend this book, and can't wait for everyone to read it when it comes out in the fall!