Scabrous satire drives this camp, goofy sequel about a cabal of writing students at an Ivy league university – its hot-boyfriend golems are adorable
W
e Love You, Bunny, is the much-anticipated sequel to Mona Awad’s beloved campus horror/satire of 2019, Bunny. Both books are set at an Ivy League university in a crime-ridden New England town; from various well-seeded clues, we can identify this as Brown University. Here it is called Warren, because the Bunnyverse is unabashedly silly and self-referential. Rabbit jokes abound.
The first book followed Samantha, an alienated, cash-strapped creative writing student cold-shouldered by her workshop cohort, a cabal of four ultra-feminine rich girls who all call each other Bunny. The Bunnies wear fluffy dresses, eat mini food and – as Samantha learns when she’s finally inducted into their cult – express their creativity through demonic rites that involve exploding rabbits. Samantha has to transcend them to find her voice as an artist. The story of Bunny is the result.
We Love You, Bunny begins with Samantha bound and gagged in an attic. The Bunnies surround her, congratulating her venomously on the success of her book. Now they want to tell their story. Passing an axe like a talking stick, they introduce us to four versions of their Bunny-centric world. Then they pass the mic to a special guest.
