Bunny

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really don’t know what I just read! It’s really WTF the whole way through!

This book was weird, dark, funny, sad, thrilling and nonsensical all at once. I really enjoyed the writing style, it was quick paced and when people describe it as a mix between the heathers, the craft, mean girls and Frankenstein, I have to agree. Imagine someone was high and during their trip, they decided to write a book. This is what I imagine that would be.

Samantha attends Warren University, where a clique of girls, who only refer to themselves as “Bunny”, invite Samantha to their Smut Salon one evening. It’s a night of sharing literature or stories of your deepest desires with no judgement. These girls get Samantha drunk, tell her to go capture a rabbit outside and she winds up home with a nasty hangover. She starts disconnecting from her best friend Ava, the clique let Samantha in on their rituals and she becomes a zombie to their cult-like structure. Meanwhile, there are so many internal conversations Samantha is having with her dead mum, Ava, herself… which just adds to the mystery of her mind and what is truth. When Ava tells Samantha she’s thinking about leaving town and disappears, it sends Samantha spiralling as it’s uncovered that things aren’t what they seem to be.

Honestly, I tried so hard to cover what the story entails above, and although it sounds very straightforward, it really isn’t! You are left wondering what this read was all about. It’s very different to most reads you’ll have. You may even think it doesn’t make sense. You’ll wonder why you read it. You’ll have even more questions. It’s also a book that sticks out in your mind because you can’t truly explain what went on. And this is why I think it’s so unique because you either love it or hate it!

“Art is in the eye of the beholder and everyone will have their own interpretation” - E.A Bucchianeri

Catherine House

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I started reading this book as it was a dark academia recommendation online. It’s definitely not for everyone. It’s very slow and it’s like having a build up with no reward.

The whole time I was reading the book, I thought how lazy Ines was and the Catherine House was her escape from the bad deeds she’d done prior. She wanted a home to feel safe in and have people care about her. Even if it meant taking advantage of what was on offer. It was three years of no contact with the outside world, but Catherine House could offer everything that was needed within its walls.

This book was dark, atmospheric, explorative, gothic, cult-like and elitist. Everyone at Catherine House are there to obtain a degree but it’s not considered a college or university. It’s always considered a house or home if you will. Every student that passes through are experimented on because the vision is that everyone is connected like an organism that keeps evolving. No matter what they will face in the outside world, they still had Catherine House.

The ending is left open ended, which I took as an opportunity for Ines to truly find in the world what she was looking for. Her time at Catherine House in some ways was pointless, though it allowed her sideways thinking to remain untainted.