I think this is the last Mona Awad book I'm going to try. It's not you, it's me and whatever, but Awad just doesn't work for me.
First of all, what is even the point of her books? I've read two of them now and every time I wonder, because there is no point to any of it. You don't come of it having
learned anything or gained any new insight or even just having had fun reading her books. You're…mehrI think this is the last Mona Awad book I'm going to try. It's not you, it's me and whatever, but Awad just doesn't work for me.
First of all, what is even the point of her books? I've read two of them now and every time I wonder, because there is no point to any of it. You don't come of it having learned anything or gained any new insight or even just having had fun reading her books. You're just left wondering what and why the f.
My next big issue with her stories is that they always semi-claim to be feminist stories and women focused and whatever, but the fact of the matter is her female characters are always taken down, ruined, defiled, even dehumanized by men. Her strong female friendships splinter at merely the sight of a hot guy. Where is the feminism in that?
I don't want to read another story about women literally cutting words into their skin, turning completely against their best friends, changing everything about themselves for some random dude sexting them?! What even was the plot in this book?
And like, I get that this is supposed to be some kind of horror story, and I guess it is unsettling, but to me it was unsettling for all the wrong reasons. The relationship between the main character and her best friend is very weird, at first you think the best friend is kinda in love with her, then you think the main character is kinda in love with the best friend, then the best friend is suddenly really mean to her, then she's kinda trying to save the main character, gives up randomly, f*cks some hot guy because this is an Awad book, so of course, still kinda has this romantic vibe with the main character and I was just so over it.
The bunnies are overall really weird and bad people, but they were just such a cliché group of mean girls who were just pretending to love their friends that I just have to ask, aren't we over that?
Then this hot guy comes along and he's kinda mostly just the main character as a dude and everyone goes nuts about him and wants to sleep with him and the MC is pushed aside for him when he is basically her... and just what is the point of the story, Awad, what is it?! Like the book is unsettling because every character, pretty much aside from the one dude who is so amped up on drugs he's basically a normal person, is awful. Just straight up horrible. The women are all just harmful stereotypes of women, which I would personally say is the true and only horror in this book. Even the plot and the supposed horror elements are so far out there and just not written in a believable way, like not even the main character believes or understands what's going on at all, so how is the reader supposed to understand or even care? Also the sheer amount of drug and alcohol abuse in this story.. mind-blowing. Is that what going to university is like? Is the campus made of hallucinogens?
I keep remembering horrible stuff about this book that I've already pushed to the back of my mind the more I write here, so I'm just going to stop. Awad is definitely not an author for me, I find her horror boring, since she's only trying to do it via "mindf*ckery" which I think is not only boring but poor writing, and I find her portrayal of women harmful, annoying and outdated, so I will be skipping her books in the future.
(Why did they waste this adorable cover on this book?!)
