hey wtf! 😀

thank you netgalley for this arc of one of my most anticipated releases of the year “we, love you bunny” by mona awad. 4.5 stars for me!! may even like this one more than the original.

every time i read mona awad, i’m always impressed by her audacity and originality. reading her books is like living a very specific, vaguely familiar fever dream. it took me a minute to get back into this world at warren university and i do wish i did a reread of bunny before picking this up, but once i got around 30% in, i was hooked. you never know what to expect or what could possibly happen next and every page is more jaw-dropping than the last.

the pretentiousness and dishonesty in academia in new england is compelling as a setting as someone who is a grad english student in new england. continuing from the first book, reading about insufferable writers and watching the ego, theft, and politics involved in art & creation, specifically in higher education was fascinating social commentary as someone very entrenched in that world. the writers became vulturous — preying off one another's’ creations, insisting their creations, even human being/bunny hybrids, were theirs & theirs alone.

while it stands strong as a provocative piece of literature in itself, i would looooove to listen to mona awad speak about the intentions with this sequel — because while many of the same elements & social commentary on art in higher academia is there, this one definitely took even more unexpected twists and turns that still have me scratching my head, wondering. i will say the modern references (chappell roan, charli xcx) in this were a little jarring but as im typing this, i know that feels ridiculous because there’s nothing about this book that isn’t jarring and it contributed to the overall fever dream that feels somewhat familiar & tangible while also otherworldly.

the character of aerius is absolutely the shining star of this book — the chapters in his POV are so thought-provoking, posing questions on suffering and creation, and the vulturistic tendencies that artists & academia can breed.

i’m interested reading reviews commending aerius’s innocence prior to getting caught in this network and seeing the progression of his views on writing/creating throughout his journey in the novel — begs the question, whether creating and art is truly the only way through suffering, as many of us artists would like to believe?

also, is there a way of writing and creation that isn’t inherently egotistical and at least slightly vulturous?

I found this one quite a bit stronger than the already-impressive first book. the groundedness sets the stage well, the framing is effective, and the POV shifts work incredibly well. the ending is also super fun. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Yet another cult classic from Mona Awad. A trippy walk through the woods without a guide. Absolutely engrossed!
Thank you for the ARC!!!

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad is a deliciously dark and stylish thriller that draws you in with its surreal humor and razor-sharp tension. Bunny is a memorably complex protagonist whose journey is both unsettling and exhilarating. Awad delivers a twisted fairy tale for the modern age.

This book (if you haven't read Bunny) is set before the Bunnies meet Samantha, and obviously from the Bunnies viewpoint. I felt this book was amazing, but book one was completely unhinged (in an awesome way) and this one felt a bit calmer but still had amazing twists. While book one was a bit of a fever dream that had you wondering what was going on, this book was less subtle and a bit more direct in showing you what is going on. (I am trying not to give spoilers, so apologies if this is a bit vague). I absolutely loved this book, but Bunny will always hold a place in my heart!

3.25⭐️
Bunny is one of my favorite books, so when I got approved for this ARC I dropped everything I was reading to start it!
Unfortunately though, once I got past part 1 I had trouble wanting to pick it up again. My favorite thing about Bunny is that any reader can have their own theories and take the plot to mean something different. This prequel/ sequel seems (to me) pretty straight forward, and doesn’t leave much room to theorize. I also felt that it took away some of the fun of the first book… It’s a fun and easy read, but I was looking for something more complicated just like Bunny.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

K thanks, bunny!

oh, Bunny, I was ever so excited to receive this e-ARC, truly I was.

I *loved* Bunny. It's by far one of my favorite books I read last year. I bought it immediately after finishing my library copy. Dark academia aspects are a favorite genre of mine. The juxtaposition of the sickeningly sweet Bunnyisms- their clothes, their apartments, their faux adoration, and the bloody, violent manner in which these beautiful girls act is just perfection. I'm so glad to have the POV from the Bunnies (and Aerius!) in We Love You, Bunny. I found them most interesting and intriguing in the first book, and relished the opportunity to glimpse into their beginnings. I will purchase as soon as published and you should too, k?

I absolutely love everything Mona Awad writes. I'd confidently say she writes unhinged women better than anyone. I just adore unhinged women, Bunny. You mix that with some magical realism and you've got yourself a treat. Basically a tiny red velvet cupcake with red sprinkles. Don't forget your gloves, Bunny...or your ax.

Let me start off by saying I love that there is a sequel. I was so sad when I finished the first book. Being back in this bizarre little world was so satisfying. Everything about this book was just weird and perfect. Bye bunny!

If you know Bunny, you likely know it as a hot pink, hard candy-dripping fever dream. If that’s what you’re expecting from Mona Awad’s highly anticipated follow up, We Love You, Bunny, then it’s going to live up to those expectations.

We Love You, Bunny, is both a prequel and a follow up. In it, we return to Warren, and learn about how the Bunnies’ dreadful hybrid conjurings came to fruition.

I really enjoyed getting to see the world through each of these ominous girls’ eyes; they reminded me of macabre dolls come to life. While they’re each still a bit more caricature than real, I enjoyed how quickly we dove into their hive mind dynamic.

We also get to meet a new friend in this book 🙂 one whose perspective is tender and will captivate your heart while also breaking it ☹️ (if you read this, you’ll see) 🙂

I hadn’t read Bunny since 2021. While most of the plot made sense without having done a recent reread, there were some parts that made me want to go back and read Bunny again so I could fully appreciate them.

Both books hurtle toward the same Jennifer’s Body-meets-Jawbreaker style fever pitch of a chaotic, supernatural ending, so I do think it’s best if you go into this with at least some familiarity with Bunny, otherwise you may find yourself lacking some important context.

This was so much fun and I still can’t believe that I got lucky enough to read this early! Thank you so much to Mona Awad, Simon Element, and Marysue Rucci Books for the opportunity!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book!

I am somebody who read and enjoyed Bunny, but is not obsessed with Bunny. I believe it stands well on its own and doesn't need any kind of continuation, but I'd be lying if I wasn't instantly intrigued the moment I heard about this.

This book definitely has a different vibe, which I think is good, but I just don't know if it's my vibe. It's both a sequel and a prequel. It's wacky. It's creative. It's unique. Awad isn't doing what the other girlys are doing and I respect that. I loved getting the unhinged madness straight from the Bunnies this time. While it makes sense for it to be there, I struggled the most with the POV of Aerius. I made the comparison to NEPTR from Adventure Time almost instantly and that never left me. I got bogged down by it quickly, but it fits. If you had questions in Bunny, this gives you answers. It's interesting, but unnecessary as most sequels to standalones tend to be, yet I don't think I regret reading it. I may never reread it, but it'll live in the brain for some time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5/5 stars)
Dark, deranged, and drop-dead delicious. Welcome back to the Bunny-verse.

Mona Awad has done it again—We Love You, Bunny is a heady, hallucinatory thrill ride that somehow manages to be even weirder, wilder, and more wickedly brilliant than its cult predecessor. Part prequel, part sequel, part "WTF-did-I-just-read?" fever dream, this book is a dark academia slasher wrapped in pink bows and soaked in glitter and blood.

We reunite with Samantha, now a published author, only to see her quite literally bound and gagged by the same sugar-coated sociopaths who once lured her into their secret workshops. But this time? The Bunnies are telling their story. And it’s…unhinged in the best possible way.

Each chapter is a rabbit-hole within a rabbit-hole, as the Bunnies narrate their twisted, magical, and grotesquely hilarious origin story—complete with monstrous creations, manic writing rituals, and a love of art that’s both sacred and violent. Awad’s writing is razor-sharp, lyrical, and completely off-the-wall in the most hypnotic way. The prose flips between satire and horror with jaw-dropping precision, keeping you in a constant state of amused dread.

The reason this isn’t a full five stars? There are a few intentionally disorienting sections that may feel overly surreal or drag for readers who prefer a clear narrative thread. But honestly, the chaos is part of the charm. It’s not a book that holds your hand—it ties you to a chair, looks you dead in the eyes, and whispers, “We love you, Bunny.”

If Bunny was about outsider loneliness and longing, We Love You, Bunny is about the monstrous beauty of collective creation, toxic sisterhood, and the terrifying cost of being truly seen. It’s Frankenstein meets Mean Girls on acid, and it works.

This isn’t just a return to the Bunny-verse—it’s a total descent. And I loved every dark, glitter-drenched second of it.

thank you to netgalley and simon element for this e-arc 🐇 what does it mean to tap the wound? what happens when you lose yourself in your art? the process? your creation? tis painful and at the same time, tons of fun, k?

We Love You, Bunny is both a sequel and a prequel. Multiple POVs, multiple parts (hehe), and way more chaos than the first installment, Bunny. Mona Awad has yet again written a book that will have you going, wtf did I just read? Except this time it’s cranked way, way up. Every description is entirely unique and transfixing. Words on a page are not a Boundary that hold Awad back. She leapt through the (triangle) window and we’re along for the transformative Journey.

Included in this journey: what it means to exist as a woman (smile, smile, politely smile), life as a creative and what the creative process can feel like, and the sharp pain of love.

I thought “Bunny” was a wonderfully bizarre book, and this is a wonderfully bizarre companion piece. I enjoyed the inner monologues of the other characters. Highly recommended for those who liked the first book!

Buckle up, Bunny, because this shit was wild. I’m still not sure if I know what I just read. The most intense fever dream, acid trip concoction I’ve experienced 😆 More so than the og Bunny. Somehow, this sequel surpasses such vividness. I read this a week ago and I’m still trying to process what I read.

Get your mind vagina ready, Bunny. Get ready for Bunny 2.0.

Ok, bunny. So I loved Bunny. This second installment didn’t really hit for me - it was repetitive, way too long and beats you over the head with its themes. It was still surreal and entertaining, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted more from it. I wanted more from the Bunnies, and more subtlety. Reading a lot of this felt like watching the 1996 Romeo + Juliet movie, stylish but a bit unsettling in a good way if that makes any sense at all 😂

I was so excited when Netgalley sent me an ARC of We Love You, Bunny. I had adored the first book, it was weird in every single way that I liked, and now I had my hands on an early copy of its sequel! (or...prequel?)

Dipping back into this world has been so much fun. Bunny (the hivemind) feel like toddlers trying desperately to become academics, grabbing at the reader with sticky hands and unwashed faces, insisting that I help them with the work. Aerius too was a delightful addition, his chapters read like a midsummer drug trip. Nothing makes sense, but he's trying his best.

My only grip with this novel is that ultimately, it felt a little unneeded. After finishing it, I wondered if I would recommend this to anyone who was a fan of the first book, and finding that my answer is only "I'm not sure". It was far too long of a novel, as much as I worried about Aerius, his sections, with their curious spelling and smileys would always grow tiring about halfway though. I blasted through the girl's pages. And then would put the book down halfway through Aerius's.

It was definitely a fun read! The girl's terrible little personalities shown in their parts. But it could definitely do with some cuts here and there.

And thank you again for the ARC, Bunny!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Holy SHIT! This prequel is everything I wanted Bunny to be and MORE. Not only is it incredibly remarkable to be able to write in 5 different voices all with their own diction and syntax and prose to differentiate between all of them, on top of a stellar story!!!!! I was gasping, laughing, screaming all throughout this book. Aerius is up there with my favorite literally characters of all time. I love the literary allusions to Frankenstein, Alice in Wonderland, and the author’s own Bunny. I am incredibly impressed and very happy to have continued on with this series and am very thankful for this ARC.

Thank you to @netgalley for this eARC! We Love You, Bunny is out September 23.

Mona Awad truly creates other-worldly experiences in her books. She takes us out of our reality and outside the reality of her stories- reading her books is an *experience*.

We Love You, Bunny is both a prequel and a sequel. We follow a few different perspectives and timelines. We meet a few new characters and reacquaint ourselves with familiar characters from Bunny (Jonah is my personal favorite). Each perspective is written in a very stream of consciousness way and really gives us insight into each character.

I found WLYB to be both more gruesome and more comical. The ax is still the girly pops’ weapon of choice. Violence is a huge theme of the book, like in Bunny. At the same time, Awad had so many dry, witty lines, I actually chuckled out loud. Also, this book felt very meta. It is so aware of how ridiculous, campy, dark, and metaphorical it is.

I do suggest re-reading Bunny before diving into this book but at the same time, if you’ve never read Bunny, you could still enjoy this pre-/sequel!

Overall, I had a good time with We Love You, Bunny! Bunny is such an iconic and strange book and it was fun being back in the world in a different and even more unhinged way. I left this story the same way I left Bunny: there’s so much to unpack and digest and maybe I’m not smart enough to understand everything but it’s ok?

(3.5 star rating)

We Love You, Bunny is a bizarre, bold, and darkly hilarious follow-up to Bunny that dives deeper into the surreal world of Samantha Mackey and the cult-like clique of pink-clad creatives. This time, the Bunnies kidnap Samantha during her book tour to tell their side of the story, unraveling a wild blend of satire, horror, and fairy tale absurdity. Mona Awad’s signature fever-dream style is back in full force—sharp, weird, and often disorienting. While the plot can feel scattered and overly abstract at times, the book still offers a unique, twisted exploration of friendship, creation, and narrative control. It’s a strange and fascinating ride—unsettling, smart, and definitely not for everyone, but perfect for readers who crave something offbeat and unforgettable.

I was absolutely obsessed with Bunny when I first read it, and I'm so grateful for a chance to read this eArc!
"We Love You, Bunny" expanded so much on the things I wondered most about Warren and the Bunnies. Their backstories and the magic of this campus were great to have with the first books plot in the back of my mind. I do wish that some of those things were expanded even further because their explanations were so brief. I also think the story the Bunnies were telling felt too desperate for the characters.