Alyssa Songsiridej’s debut novel, Little Rabbit, is an exploration of desire, identity, boundaries, and art making, a Sally Rooney-esque story about relationships. It is sexy, and obsessive, with poetic language and addictive writing. And, if I dare say, I like it better than Sally Rooney.

The unnamed protagonist of Little Rabbit first meets the choreographer at an artists’ residency in Maine. She’s thirty, a writer with a day-job, and a queer woman who dates other women. She lived in Boston. He is in his fifties, divorced, an established artist, owns an apartment in New York and a house in the Berkshires. They don’t hit it off at first, but when they meet again, after the residency, the writer is suddenly attracted to him. They quickly fall into the obsessive relationship that sits at the heart of the novel. And you, the reader, you also get hooked into their relationship, into the writer’s obsession with sex, into her web of thoughts and doubts, immersed into Alyssa Songsiridej’s compelling writing style.

Much of the tension in Little Rabbit is based in sexual politics and (in)balances of power. Both the writer and the choreographer find themselves reflected against each other, both through their own and through other character’s eyes. In Boston, the writer’s sexual relationship with a man much older and richer than her feels like betrayal to her group of educated, underemployed, queer friends. The relationship with the choreographer goes into direct conflict with the writer’s identity as they know her. Even worse, she starts ditching her friends to spend every weekend with the choreographer, travelling to one or another of his homes. At the same time, the writer is caught between the pleasure and the suffering the relationship is causing her, both physically and emotionally. She, too, wonders about the differences between them: differences of age, of status, of money; and about her role in his life. As the reader, I also wondered, which made realising that’s all there is - a difference - even more impactful.

Although there isn’t a lot happening in terms of plot, the tensions keep raising throughout the book and up until the end of the novel, which was enough to keep me engaged. Much of the story is told through the characters’ sexual interactions, as the novel abounds in sex scenes. They are necessary for the story, but at the same time they don’t reveal much about the characters themselves. One of the reasons why the writer becomes so obsessed with the choreographer is because of how he makes her loose herself and dissolve into his body when they’re having sex. The novel is very much a coming-of-age story where the protagonist loses herself in order to find herself, which is beautifully reflected in the writing, like how the writer is unnamed for much of the book. However, reaching the end of the novel, I still did not have a sense of who the writer was, as a whole character separate from the choreographer and their relationship.

While contemporary literature dealing with sex and relationships isn’t exactly my favourite thing to read, I believe Little Rabbit is a good addition to the genre. Alyssa Songsiridej’s writing style was my personal highlight for this novel, as was the fact that she took a relationship that was deemed toxic, and then turned that narrative on its head.

Thank you Net Galley, and Little, Brown for sending me this e-book for review. All opinions are my own.

I struggled to get into this or form a connection with the characters. It felt a bit vague and lacking something for me personally.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done a fantastic job of creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. The language is clear, concise, and evocative, with descriptions that bring the setting and characters to life. Dialogue is natural and authentic, and the pacing is well-balanced, with enough tension and release to keep the reader engaged.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Firstly, thank you to the author, the publisher, and to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I thought this book was well-paced, engaging, and had a super interesting commentary on BDSM relationships and relationships with large age gaps + unusual dynamics. Personally, I enjoyed that our narrator - Rabbit/Little Rabbit - was not named until the final chapter, there were hints of her name all along "C" but the reveal didn't come until the end, I liked that this showed how she came to accept her relationship towards the end of the novel and to admit to herself that she does love 'the choreographer' and the BDSM element of their relationship. I thought this was a super interesting dynamic, and whilst her friends did have the best intentions, the way they questioned Rabbit and her decisions genuinely managed to infuriate me - the possession shown by her friends was very disturbing.

However, art is subjective, and personally I didn't feel like this book was impactful to me as it is to some others. The writing is done very well, but I didn't quite get the point or message of the story overall.

3.5 stars.

"What I didn't say: It was wonderful."

Finishing this book has left me with mixed emotions.

I was drawn to the concept of the story, with a younger woman trying to explore life and how that impacts her relationships with other people. However I don't know if I was left, as a reader, with any conclusion of characters.

I wanted a more fleshed out concept surrounding friendship, sexuality and romance, and at times I felt disappointed that it didn't go further. But that still sings praise in that I was invested in the characters and wanted their aspects to be peeled further away. I felt emotions stirred through more heated conversations and erratic actions of characters.

The pacing remained steady throughout, at times I did find that there was sudden shifts of time and conversation of characters.

Overall, a good book with a intense take on a well-written area.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and Alyssa Songsirdej for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The blurb for Little Rabbit pulled me in immediately - I wanted to go on this coming of age journey with our main character. I wanted to see where her story would go. I honestly thought that the story would be more profound than it ended up being.

So much more could have been done to make the story better, in my opinion. The narator's voice was my first gripe; I just didn't find that particular style of no nonsense, no emotion narrative to be particularly intriguing.

Our narrator is a single, queer woman, living with her best friend in Boston. She goes to a writing retreat in Maine for two weeks and meets the man we only know as the choreographer. She finds him not very appealing, brash, and just overall doesn't like him. But he emails her anyway, inviting her to New York to watch a show. And she goes. And suddenly, outside of the retreat, she is attracted to him.

The rest of the novel is about their relationship, the effect that has on her friendships, her life in general. I never really got the feeling that she particularly cared for him, if truth be told. I also didn't see the book going in the direction it did with the story line because of the lack of feeling I got from our main character.

I just found it a very bland kind of a book. I am sure there are readers out there who will love this, but it was just not the sort of thing I would pick up again.

This book was interesting but not my cup of tea. In general, I missed more emotions and reflections in this story, but I admit that the cold record of the relationship between the characters can be appealing to some readers.
In my opinion, it was mainly the story of the main character's relationships. Friendships, a relationship with a man over two decades older, with her body, life, career, and sexuality.

In my reading experience "Little Rabbit" felt like a more sophisticated version of "50 Shades of Grey". But not because of elements of sexual power exchange, these as parts were executed quite well, rather because of reinforcing the idea that BDSM is a domain of wealthy, well-educated and/or artistic people. This is not the first and I'm sure not the last depiction of outside-the-norm sexual practices accidentally portrayed in a deeply classist way. There's some true in the question that was asked around similar depictions: how would we experience such dynamics if the male character wasn't attractive and rich?

It's a pity because Alyssa Songsiridej captures identity struggles of the protagonist quite well, as well as her friendships and how they evolve. And also, for such a well-worded intellectual, the main character seems pretty clueless regarding researching her desires and naming her experiences.

This was a really interesting read, one that kept me captivated the whole way through.
The way in which it was written and the perspective that we get from the main character kept my interest and even though the subject matter may feel like it could be too much or too explicit, it's handled well.
It was also thought provoking as you are challenged to think about relationships, friendships, the impact that certain choices can have on our lives and more.
I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author in the future.

An intense read, shot through with sensuality and desire. The relationship with the choreographer became more compelling as it developed, as did her relationship with Annie, and i found those parallels quite fascinating!

I think Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej will appeal to fans of novels such as Vladimir by Julia May Jonas and They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey. I enjoyed the main character's voice more than I enjoyed the actual plot and the best parts were about writing and books and how her relationship with her best friend falls apart.