I thought this book sounded different and quirky and thought I’d give it a try, so I was really pleased when I was approved for the audiobook for this one.

I found the story quite difficult to follow and it had so many different characters that seemed a little unnecessary. That may be a perspective that not many agree with however, as I’ve since read loads of positive reviews too. For me, it was a little overwhelming trying to wrap my head around them all and understand which were relevant and why they were all there.

In regards to the writing style, it flowed really well.

I don’t think that this is one that I would recommend however, based upon the references to animal violence within. I don’t think that it served much of a purpose and I don’t like to read that really. Had I known that was in there, I don’t know whether I would have chosen to read this one.

3 stars for me. Thank you for approving me for this one.

A debut novel which i enjoyed although i was blown away. the precise descriptions in the writing kept me interested. It did lose some momentum in the middle but at the end it pulled the story back and had a good pace. i like the narrator.

I have just finished listening to this book on audio and I still have absolutely no idea what it is about. Although I have listened to lots of books where they have switched between characters I just found this one really hard to follow.

I wanted to love this book, the writing is stunning, the prose is intriguing and the in depth look at humans as we are is exciting. But the story just wasn't there for me. The bio/blurb doesn't really reflect the book at all. Yes, the story is mainly centred around Blandine, but we don't really start hearing from her until at least halfway through the book. The story of the mother and the old couple really don't play a part in the story at all, so to me, their chapters were pointless. I guess the ending is reflective of us as humans and the message I got was that we are all too disolved in the internet to pay attention to the smaller details of the people who surround us? First time reading something this contemporary so maybe that was the issue?!

Drifting through a set of apartments you learn of the residents who inhabit them and what their lives are like, touching, raw, brutal, sometimes even funny.



Set in a deprived area of social housing in Indiana colloquially known as The Rabbit Hutch, you wander the minds of those who live there; What are their hopes, fears, problems, daydreams, what is happening in the banality of day to day life? The narrative thread is very loose especially at the start, it seems to be more about the life of each character, than a particular ‘story’ as such. Later on the lives interweave and connect the further into the book you get.



The content reminds me a little of the film Waking Life in the way it winds between different characters, thoughts and topics. It is an unusual, but beautiful writing style. I’m not sure if in general I would have picked this book, but I’m glad I did. Very thought provoking.


The narrator has a lovely expressive voice, who he really lends itself to this writing style, both soft and clear.

CW postnatal depression, suicide, depression, catastrophising, apocalypse

I found this a weird listen. It's narrated by the author and others and I found myself hooked and distracted in equal measure. Although, if I'm honest, I was more distracted than hooked; it was all a bit too weird for me and I struggled to engage with the narrative.

Throughout the book we introduced to a number of characters living in a rundown building (the Rabbit Hutch) and all with varying levels of dysfunction. I am probably in the minority as I understand that this is being hailed as a literary achievement and congratulations to the author on this and I'm glad others are enjoying. Just not one for me.

Thanks to W F Howes Ltd and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview.

the main girl is very much a precious not like other girls type of character and i am not here for that. the premise had potential but the writing was too affected for me...

Audiobook from netgalley.
I loved this book. From the blurb i though it was like the lovely bones or something similar. However, it’s a beautiful exploration of relationships and peoples difficulties. It’s also difficult to explain the events without spoilers. The body of the book explored the lives of several people living in “the rabbit hutch” which is some form of apartment complex. The stories gradually come together exploring the events leading to an “act of violence” as the blurb states. The author describes the characters motivations and histories in a really unflinching way.
The negatives is that some of the secondary characters were quite similar and difficult to distinguish. Especially the men in the story but I don’t know if that is intentional?
I genuinely enjoyed this book and will recommend to others.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. What a fascinating story and I can see why it won Waterstones Debut of the Year. Highly recommend

What a gripping thriller

This was a very disturbing but good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. I was encouraged to read it as it had won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. The cover is very bright and definitely eye catching.

The story is set in a social housing apartment block in Indiana, known as The Rabbit Hutch. It follows some of the residents and as the book continues, you see how some of them are connected.

The narration was OK, and clear enough, but a bit monotone at times.

I wonder if this is one of those books that would have been better to be read rather than listened to. I found it really hard to follow who was who and what was going on. The story jumped between characters quickly and I thought this didn’t work so well in audiobook format.

It took me a while to get into the story and I wasn’t inclined to read it.

It’s certainly a different read and has clearly been very popular, but not a book for me, unfortunately.

Thanks to W F Howes and NetGalley for a copy to review.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

Firstly, Tess Gunty is definitely a skilled writer, as far as her use of language goes. Where I felt her writing fell short, however, was in the plot and structure. This was a very... weird book. Usually I like weird and unusual stories but it kind of felt like this was weird just for the sake of being weird. The main character of Blandine was pretty insufferable and most of the secondary characters didn't seem to serve a purpose. I thought that some of the secondary characters would have their stories a bit more fleshed out towards the end, but we didn't get that. The overall ending just felt pretty blah to me too. I will definitely be interested in reading any future books from this author, despite not really enjoying The Rabbit Hutch. This was the author's debut novel and she is clearly a very good writer, so I would be interested to see how her writing style and structure develops.

This was an incredibly bizarre and strange book to read, but I loved it anyway. I find it a hard one to describe, it feels like a surreal mash of the most popular books in contemporary literary fiction while still remaining a unique reading experience. I remember reading an article that compared Rabbit Hutch to about a dozen different books and I initially thought that was marketing overkill but it turns out they were completely right. It's packed with so many different storylines that bleed into each other but come together seamlessly. It's funny, bleak but ultimately hopeful. I think it's a book where it's best to go in blind, to let the writing and weirdness of it all too captive you. It's an odd book, probably not for everyone but this might be one of my favourite reads of the year and one you should pick up if you're even slightly intrigued.

Endless digressions, jam packed with quirky characters who are difficult to connect to, and narrative cliches. The audiobook narration is lovely and I always appreciate having multiple narrators for stories with many POVs. Ultimately, this book simply wasn't for me. That being said, I see flashes of brilliance in Gunty's writing and look forward to more from her.

This book started off promising and it’s definitely an intriguing story that’s hard to review.

I felt it was difficult to connect with any of the characters and I don’t really care for any of them.

It has dark and depressing themes but despite this I couldn’t put it down and I wasn’t put off.

It was a little all over the place and I think the author tried to be too creative if that’s such a thing.

I don’t know who I would recommend this to but I can see why people like it. Not for me.

“The Rabbit Hutch” by Tess Gunty is set in the run down town of Vacca Vale, Indiana. In an apartment block called La Lapiniere by its investor and the English translation by everyone else, life goes on in the different flats. Faith is petrified by the eyes of her new born child. An adolescent boy is making explicit content for men over the internet. An elderly couple laments how their children have turned out, and, Blandine is exiting her body in the way of the martyrs and mystics.

Read by Tess Gunty Kirby Heyborne, Kyla Garcia, Scott Brick and Suzanne Toren the audio version of the book uses the different narrators to good effect, adding depth to the story telling. This is a very well researched, complex and interweaving novel, which has both comedy and tragedy in spades. My only wondering was whether some of the humour was dampened down slightly by the narration, which was very straight faced. Over all however, this is a brilliant book, very well told.

This is a bold debut novel by a talented author.

The book is beautifully written and very atmospheric but I struggled to stay on track with the story at points, due to the digressions that were placed within the story.

I particularly enjoyed the narration.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Tess Gunty is a remarkable new writing talent. The Rabbit Hutch is a real marmite book; I suspect people will love it or hate it, for a variety of reasons. I loved it, mainly because it’s a book which almost defies description and it’s written with such energy, particularly considering the downbeat subject.

I know nothing about Indiana and in a way, the setting isn’t literal because the story is partly comment about decline and poverty in areas where industry has gone, along with hope and lifestyle. There are parallels in American cities which have lost car manufacture, for example and in the UK where steelworks closed. The Rabbit Hutch is the name of a social housing complex; originally the vision was laudable and very different. Now it’s a rundown concrete block filled with a variety of disparate residents and we take a peek into their boxed off lives over one hot weekend. There’s a dramatic start where Blandine dies and her spirit exits her body. The narrative then switches back and forth between a number of apartments and we learn about the occupants and the events that lead to a tragic conclusion. In a way, it’s a pastiche; each story is a small vignette, but there’s a central theme and everything is linked.

What I really enjoyed, along with the energy was the different style of writing. Each chapter was a surprise. Gunty has a talent for observation and captured each of her characters to perfection. There is so much social comment hidden in throw away one liners, it’s a text that deserves closer inspection. I listened to the audio version and was swept along by different narrators and bits which sounded like poetic rap. I loved it because it brings the power of language alive. It’s a book that speaks to the reader as well as telling a story and it rates as one of my best so far this year. I hope we hear more from Tess Gunty.


My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

On a hot night in Apartment C4, Blandine Watkins exits her body. She is only 18, but she has spent most of her life wishing for this to happen,” begins The Rabbit Hutch. “The mystics call this experience the Transverberation of the Heart, or the Seraph’s Assault, but no angel appears to Blandine. There is, however, a bioluminescent man in his 50s.” If you were looking for an opening sentence both bewildering and intriguing, this is an excellent candidate. Gunty's excellent debut evokes a social housing apartment block in a languishing Rust Belt town on the verge of an ambitious "regeneration" plan to revive and gentrify a town in decline since the closure of the local car manufacturer. We are introduced to some if La Lapiniere's residents, among them the anxious Mother with a new baby, the middle-aged woman who moderates comments on an obituary webpage and the three teenage boys who share a flat with Blandine, a ferociously intelligent high-school dropout with a fascination for the female mystics.

Gunty has a great facility for the absurd, making the Rabbit Hutch a story full of dark humour, despite the rising dread as the events that lead to Blandine "leaving her body" are revealed in the frustrations, worries and desires of her neighbours, who lead frustrated, unfulfilled lives of petty grievances against the backdrop of their dying town. Some of the storylines feel underdeveloped compared with the main narratives of Blandine and Jack (one of her flatmates), the young mother never really finds a place in the story but Gunty creates a funny, moving picture of their world, touching on patriarchy, abuse, isolation, spirituality, the forces of gentrification, the impact of the foster system. It's a riveting tale, ably performed by excellent narrators.

I noted that the author won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2022 and that lured me to read it, plus, it's unusual to find a prominent novel set in Indiana. It also has a very bright and eye catching cover to attract readers.

It is set in fictional Vacca Vale and there is a real sense that both the apartment block of the title and the town have seen better days. It all feels quite dismal and decrepit, a town dying on its feet, people struggling in an environment that is not conducive to mental well-being.

From the opening scene of violence, the story loops back over the previous few days in order  to set the events in context. The story slides into the Rabbit Hutch apartments, inhabited by a variety of occupants, and focusses mainly on Blandine, who is just out of the care system and living with three young men. Another resident is a young mother and the paragraphs devoted to describing her bonding with her new baby are beautifully rendered, even though it is on many levels a struggle; the snapshot of prose is a good example of the quality of the writing that this author can deliver.

Blandine is fascinated by the lives of female mystics, their tragic lives perhaps mirroring her own cycle of despair, agony and ecstasy (the latter is in short supply for Blandine). There are varying levels of attention to other characters, which can make the narrative feel a little uneven. The author touches on some big themes like loss, mental health, family and faith and moves the story through a variety of moods ranging from darkness to humour. You will be introduced to the pigmy 3-toed sloth, and you will hear one character pull together "A Selection of Life Lessons in No Particular Order", penned by an elderly woman who is writing her 'auto-obituary", in other words she is writing her own obituary. Under point 8 she exhorts her readers to open bathroom doors cautiously, especially in Manhattan, Paris, Berlin, Singapore and more (totally 8 locations).. Listicles are all very well, but...

I think, for me, the author has a real gift of being able to write but in this novel had too many balls in the air, all - often chaotically and non-sequentially - vying for attention, threaded through with quirkiness that just didn't tend to resonate with me.

I listened to this as an audiobook - the narrators were very good - but perhaps the novel just doesn't translate well into this medium.