Everyone’s favourite literary mean girls are back in Mona Awad’s sequel to the hit sensation Bunny. Samantha Mackey is travelling throughout the United States on her book tour for her instant bestseller debut, Bunny. But when the tour lands her back in her alma mater, Warren University, New England, Sam never makes it to the book event. The Bunnies have kidnapped her, upset with how they have been depicted in Sam’s book. And so Sam – gagged, tied up, held at axe-point in the Smut Salon – learns the true stories of the Bunnies, the beginning of their friendship, and their initiation into creation and destruction.

Awad’s sequel (which is also a prequel) strips bare the mystery and surrealism of Bunny. Beneath their bubblegum-pink, rotting, sickeningly sweet allure, there is a vulnerability inside these characters. There is a yearning for approval, a desire to pour their souls out into their work and to have someone see and understand. The writing process is made explicit in the Bunnies’ search for perfection, dissecting the raw and individualistic process of what it means to be a writer, from the excitement of worldbuilding to the pain of killing your favourite character. Creative writing is a deeply personal journey that becomes terrifying upon sharing. The author dives into the rabbit hole of academia and explores the pressure from one’s peers and teachers.

Alongside their stories, you also read from Aerius’s perspective – the very first bunny that the girls exploded and transformed into a human. His story is one of murderous, tragic naivety as he embarks on a journey to discover who he is, what he was created for, and where he belongs in a world intent on killing him.

Frankenstein meets Heathers in this darkly funny, gory fairytale of friendship, self-exploration, creation, and the horrifying yet wonderful power of imagination.