Meet BUNNY: the darkly funny, spellbinding trip of a novel that EVERYONE is talking about

‘No punches pulled, no hilarities dodged, no meme unmangled. O Bunny you are sooo genius!’ MARGARET ATWOOD

‘We call them Bunnies because that is what they call each other. Seriously. Bunny.’

Samantha Heather Mackey is an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA programme at Warren University. In fact, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort – a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other ‘Bunny.’

But when the Bunnies issue her with an invitation, Samantha finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door, across the threshold, and down their rabbit hole.

Hallucinogenic trip, cult classic, TikTok sensation: Bunny has cast its spell. Read it now, published as a collectible special edition, with a new foreword by the author.

‘The Secret History meets Jennifer’s Body. Brilliant, sharp, weird… I loved it and I couldn’t put it down.’ KRISTEN ROUPENIAN

‘Made me nod and cackle in terrified recognition.’ LENA DUNHAM

‘Hilarious, hallucinogenic freakery.’ DAILY MAIL

‘Cerebral and complusively readable.’ VANITY FAIR

When We Love You, Bunny opens, 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. One by one, they take turns holding the axe, and recount the birth throes of their unholy alliance, their discovery of their unusual creative powers – and the phantasmagoric adventure of conjuring their first creation. With a bound and gagged Sam, we embark on a wickedly intoxicating journey into the heart of dark academia: a fairy tale slasher that explores the wonder and horror of creation itself. Not to mention the transformative powers of love and friendship, Bunny. Frankenstein by way of Heathers, We Love You, Bunny is a prequel and a sequel, and an unabashedly wild and totally complete standalone novel. Open your hearts, Bunny, to a dazzlingly original and darkly hilarious romp in the Bunny-verse from the queen of the fever dream, Mona Awad.

‘Fresh yet nostalgic, darkly funny and a complete page-turner’ -  Daily Mirror

‘[Awad’s] command of acerbic wit and satiric plotlines, talent for characterization, and sharp metacriticism of creative writing programs make her story sing in the way only bleeding tongues, broken hearts, and battle axes can? It’s Bookstagram-worthy dark academia that’s alarming, allegorical, and nuanced and unravels Bunny catastrophically and captivatingly. Fans of Atwood, R.F. Kuang, and Marisha Pessl will savor this book, whose heady, unsettling intellectualism builds on Awad’s reputation as one of today’s boldest feminist satirists.’  Library Journal  (starred)

“Mona Awad has returned and her latest will get under your skin just the way her fans have come to expect.” PEOPLE

Can she escape her mother’s fate and find a connection that is more than skin deep?

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 in  The Guardian, i newspaper,  The  New York Times,  Time,  Globe and Mail,  Bustle,  The Millions,  LitHub,  TOR,  Good Housekeeping,  Our Culture Mag, and more!

‘You think, “She’s not going to go there?yes, she is.’  Margaret Atwood  

‘The trancelike, rhapsodic language and deepening atmosphere of unreality make for a narrative that oozes with unease.’  The Guardian

‘Rouge  is a must-read for anyone who has found themselves obsessively, and even dangerously, fixated on self-improvement. […] Dreamline, hypnotic and enchanting in its language, Rouge proves Awad is a huge talent’ Stylist,  Book of the Month

‘A tale of insidious damage of envy and our preoccupation with appearances. Anyone maintaining a ten-step Korean skincare regimen may feel seen. [?] Awad ramps up the grand guignol hysteria rather splendidly, chucking in some film noir tropes for good measure as we hurtle towards a demonic denouement’ The Times

‘Rouge is a story in which dreams become nightmares and vice versa. Desire and danger walk hand-in-hand and Awad skilfully manipulates the vertiginous tension between them. The beauty industry is ripe for Awad’s signature treatment: gothic satire, bloody but beautifully done. Much of it is darkly hilarious. [?] If you like your fairy tales dark and for adults only, then stick along for the wild ride.’    Daily  Telegraph

‘[D]ark and seductive.’  i  newspaper

‘An edgy fable on the perils of our modern fascination with beauty.’  Vogue  

‘Awad is a genius, preternaturally gifted at creating vicious, hilarious tales about the depravity inside us.’  Vulture

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror-and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.

Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, Rouge explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry-as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, Rouge  holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.

‘A brilliant, biting critique of western beauty standards as well as a soaring, phantasmagoric, Angela Carter-esque fairy tale about trauma and the loss of self.  Rouge  is deeply unsettling, funny, obsessive, and unlike anything I’ve read. A truly mesmerizing read.’  Paul Tremblay, author of  The Cabin at the End of the World

‘Rouge  is a fever dream-a brilliant, intense, unforgettable horror story about a beauty cult with a  deeply moving mother-daughter story at its core. Mona  Awad’s  signature and singular imagination and black humor and empathy are on full display here, and her  wild-ride  of a tale is masterfully grounded in the emotional devastation of childhood and grief. I loved every word of this.’  Laura  Zigman, author of  Small World

‘There is nobody else like Mona Awad, daring enough to plunge her hands-rings and all-into the viscera of story  and discover an unsettling beauty within. ROUGE is her most  magnetic work yet, a thrilling dystopian romp that knows that beneath the glossy, aspirational veneer of self-care lurks the same old gothic abyss.’  Alexandra Kleeman, author of  Something New Under the Sun

‘Unsettling, whimsical, and moving,  Rouge  is an authentic, innovative kind of narrative magic that’s both surreal and absolute. A striking novel of  incandescence and heart.’  Iain Reid, author of  I’m Thinking of Ending Things

‘Awad’s latest is a dreamy (or perhaps nightmarish) gothic fairy tale about a mother, a daughter, and their shared obsession with their own beauty. Like all of Awad’s novels, it reels you in, shakes your brain until you’re not sure what you’re seeing, and then floats off cackling on a cloud of smoke. Metaphorically, that is. I’d forgive you for not being sure.’  Lit Hub (Most Anticipated Books of 2023)

‘Mona Awad, I will read everything you ever write. She is a writer of unbelievable talent.’  Tor.com

‘[A] hypnotic tour de force? Awad approaches the increasingly well-trod ground of sinister wellness gurus with aplomb, creating an atmosphere of creeping discomfort and surreality right from the start. This is the stuff of fairy tales-red shoes, ballrooms, mirrors, and thorns but also sincerity, poignancy, and terror.’  Kirkus  (Starred Review)

‘[A] delightfully twisted fairy tale? The author’s acerbic wit radiates in this excoriating story of beauty’s ugly side.’  Publisher’s Weekly

Can she escape her mother’s fate and find a connection that is more than skin deep?

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 in  The Guardian, i newspaper,  The  New York Times,  Time,  Globe and Mail,  Bustle,  The Millions,  LitHub,  TOR,  Good Housekeeping,  Our Culture Mag, and more!

‘You think, “She’s not going to go there?yes, she is.” Margaret Atwood  

‘The trancelike, rhapsodic language and deepening atmosphere of unreality make for a narrative that oozes with unease.’  The Guardian

‘[D]ark and seductive.’  i  newspaper

‘An edgy fable on the perils of our modern fascination with beauty.’  Vogue  

‘Awad is a genius, preternaturally gifted at creating vicious, hilarious tales about the depravity inside us.’  Vulture

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror-and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.

Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, ROUGE explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry-as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, ROUGE holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.

‘A brilliant, biting critique of western beauty standards as well as a soaring, phantasmagoric, Angela Carter-esque fairy tale about trauma and the loss of self.  Rouge  is deeply unsettling, funny, obsessive, and unlike anything I’ve read. A truly mesmerizing read.’  Paul Tremblay, author of  The Cabin at the End of the World

‘Rouge  is a fever dream-a brilliant, intense, unforgettable horror story about a beauty cult with a  deeply moving mother-daughter story at its core. Mona  Awad’s  signature and singular imagination and black humor and empathy are on full display here, and her  wild-ride  of a tale is masterfully grounded in the emotional devastation of childhood and grief. I loved every word of this.’  Laura  Zigman, author of  Small World

‘There is nobody else like Mona Awad, daring enough to plunge her hands-rings and all-into the viscera of story  and discover an unsettling beauty within. ROUGE is her most  magnetic work yet, a thrilling dystopian romp that knows that beneath the glossy, aspirational veneer of self-care lurks the same old gothic abyss.’  Alexandra Kleeman, author of  Something New Under the Sun

‘Unsettling, whimsical, and moving,  Rouge  is an authentic, innovative kind of narrative magic that’s both surreal and absolute. A striking novel of  incandescence and heart.’  Iain Reid, author of  I’m Thinking of Ending Things

‘Awad’s latest is a dreamy (or perhaps nightmarish) gothic fairy tale about a mother, a daughter, and their shared obsession with their own beauty. Like all of Awad’s novels, it reels you in, shakes your brain until you’re not sure what you’re seeing, and then floats off cackling on a cloud of smoke. Metaphorically, that is. I’d forgive you for not being sure.’  Lit Hub (Most Anticipated Books of 2023)

‘Mona Awad, I will read everything you ever write. She is a writer of unbelievable talent.’  Tor.com

‘[A] hypnotic tour de force? Awad approaches the increasingly well-trod ground of sinister wellness gurus with aplomb, creating an atmosphere of creeping discomfort and surreality right from the start. This is the stuff of fairy tales-red shoes, ballrooms, mirrors, and thorns but also sincerity, poignancy, and terror.’  Kirkus  (Starred Review)

‘[A] delightfully twisted fairy tale? The author’s acerbic wit radiates in this excoriating story of beauty’s ugly side.’  Publisher’s Weekly

‘A dazzling wild ride of a novel – daring, fresh, entertaining, and magical.’  -  George Saunders

‘All’s Well  is an utterly delicious novel of pain and vitality, Shakespeare and the uncanny.’ -  Lauren Groff

Miranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating, chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now she’s on the verge of losing her job as a college theater director. Determined to put on Shakespeare’s  All’s Well That Ends Well, the play that promised, and cost, her everything, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging  Macbeth  instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers.

That’s when she meets three strange benefactors who have an eerie knowledge of Miranda’s past and a tantalizing promise for her future: one where the show goes on, her rebellious students get what’s coming to them, and the invisible, doubted pain that’s kept her from the spotlight is made known.

With prose Margaret Atwood has described as ‘no punches pulled, no hilarities dodged… genius’, Mona Awad has concocted her most potent, subversive novel yet.  All’s Well  is the story of a woman at her breaking point and a formidable, piercingly funny indictment of our collective refusal to witness and believe female pain.
 
Longlisted for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award.

“Wild  and exhilarating and so fresh it takes your  breath away,  All’s Well  is an utterly delicious novel of pain and vitality, Shakespeare and the uncanny, and our own subtle moral failures when we brush up against  the pain of others. Mona Awad’s talent is so vital that it absolutely roars out of her. “  –  Lauren Groff,  New York Times  bestselling author of  Fates and Furies

“Tragic, macabre, and wicked. I laughed out loud the whole way through. One of the funniest books I’ve read in years.”  -   Heather O’Neill, author of  The Lonely Hearts Hotel

“Really funny … The satirical targets, all brilliantly hit, include useless physios, entitled students, internet advertising and – for all you romantics out there  – love!” Wendy Holden in the  Daily Mail  

Miranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating, chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now she’s on the verge of losing her job as a college theater director. Determined to put on Shakespeare’s  All’s Well That Ends Well, the play that promised, and cost, her everything, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging  Macbeth  instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers.

That’s when she meets three strange benefactors who have an eerie knowledge of Miranda’s past and a tantalizing promise for her future: one where the show goes on, her rebellious students get what’s coming to them, and the invisible, doubted pain that’s kept her from the spotlight is made known.

With prose Margaret Atwood has described as “no punches pulled, no hilarities dodged…genius,” Mona Awad has concocted her most potent, subversive novel yet.  All’s Well  is the story of a woman at her breaking point and a formidable, piercingly funny indictment of our collective refusal to witness and believe female pain.

The darkly funny, spellbinding trip of a novel that EVERYONE is talking about

‘No punches pulled, no hilarities dodged, no meme unmangled. O Bunny you are sooo genius!’ MARGARET ATWOOD

We call them Bunnies because that is what they call each other. Seriously. Bunny.

Samantha Heather Mackey is an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at Warren University. In fact, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort – a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other ‘Bunny’.

But then the Bunnies issue her with an invitation and Samantha finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door, across the threshold, and down their rabbit hole.

Blending sharp satire with fairytale horror, Bunny provides a hilarious look at the dark side of female friendship from one of fiction’s most original voices.

‘The Secret History meets Jennifer’s Body. Brilliant, sharp, weird… I loved it and I couldn’t put it down.’ KRISTEN ROUPENIAN
‘Made me nod and cackle in terrified recognition.’ LENA DUNHAM
‘Hilarious, hallucinogenic freakery.’ DAILY MAIL
‘Cerebral and complusively readable.’ VANITY FAIR