Thank you, Netgalley and Serpent's Tail for sending me a digital ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I wasn't expecting to like "Rabbits for Food" as much as I did. I thought it was going to be a watered-down version of "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, but Binnie Kirshenbaum really proved she's got a strong writing voice in the form of her mentally fragile protagonist, Bunny.

Bunny is a clinically depressed New Yorker who's sense of reality begins to unravel over the course of New Year's Eve in 2008. Bunny has a somewhat supportive husband, Albie (he's got secrets of his own, though) but she doesn't have many close friends, and her sisters absolutely despise her even since adolescence. Bunny has been depressed on and off since she was a teenager. But her depression has never been this extreme until she has a psychotic break at a New Year's Eve dinner celebration with her so-called "friends".

Bunny is checked involuntarily into a psychiatric hospital for her own protection, and to work on her recovery. There she meets other "psychos" (her words, not mine) like herself. Even though she claims she has no friends, she feels a kinship and understanding with these other patients. There's some flashback scenes where Bunny talks about the only true friend she ever had, Stella, who tragically died many years before.

I can honestly say that "Rabbits for Food" is an accurate portrayal of mental illness. This one hit a nerve with me, in the best possible way. The way Bunny describes her depression is so vivid and detailed. I really liked her intensity, sarcasm, and brutal honesty. This book won't be for everyone, but I really appreciate any author that bravely writes about mental illness, in any shape or form.

Thank you to Serpent's Tail/Profile Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Did the person who wrote the blurb even read this book? It is neither "heartbreaking" nor is it "laugh out loud funny" - it's the morbid, unfunny, bitter and self-indulgent story of an aggressively unlikable protagonist's descent into depression, self-harm, and eventual hospitalization.

There are some moments of genuine insight into mental illness buried in here. It's just that unearthing them felt like too much of a chore.

Rabbits for Food shines a spotlight on Bunny, a forty something New Yorker, whose lust for life is lately depleted.
Her story built around a New Year's Eve dinner is told through an enjoyable interplay of different narrative forms; clear, precise vignettes, third person narration, and writing prompts. In this way the novel opens up the thorny subject of mental illness and avoids solipsism (practically impossible when writing about the troubled 'self''). The black comedy grows darker as the narrative unravels, but never eclipses the humour embedded throughout. A wry, witty examination of mental health and how it feels to live a life misunderstood by the population at large, most especially those closest to us blood relatives, frenemies in furiously funny scenes, peppered with sharply original images. .
Binnie Kirshenbaum is an exceptional writer, able to navigate complex subjects with nimble acuity. I would like to see further titles made available in the UK

“Bunny is not easy to like, but it’s possible to love her.” This quotation comes fairly early in the book when the protagonist Bunny notes that she is “a headache of a person”, and I think this sentiment could be applied to the book as well. This is a book that I think some people will find difficult to like, but there is a lot in it to love.

I have found that books with depressed characters are often divisive with readers either loving or hating them, and I think it is connected to the idea of likability. Depressed characters aren’t easy to like. They are profoundly unhappy, and spending time with that can be uncomfortable. Bunny is repeatedly shown to be a difficult person. When her mother tries to put up faux brick, Bunny is the one who points out how ridiculous it looks, and her sister tells her that this is why no one likes her. This becomes a refrain throughout the book, and it’s easy to see why people don’t like Bunny, but this is countered with the repeated point that “[p]eople who are not easy to like...have feelings just like nice people do”.

It is in the exploration of these feelings that the book finds both is biting humour and deep despair. The scene where she goes out for a New Year’s Eve dinner is an incisive and funny commentary on vapid conversation as the friends debate balsamic vinegar, but Bunny’s pain and rage in this moment is heartbreaking.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this to someone looking for a funny book. There is dark humour, but overall I think there is more raw unhappiness here. I think Kirshenbaum beautifully captures the pain of depression, and I found myself highlighting a lot of this book. The story meanders a bit, and I’m not quite sure where some of the pieces fit in overall, which is why I haven’t given 5 starts, but this is still a spectacular novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm late to review this, but it is everything great other reviewers are saying. Rabbits for Food is a smart, often funny novel that is nonetheless a no-holds-barred examination, description, writing-out, rumination on, discussion of, testament to depression and what it does and feels like. It is impeccable.

Rabbits for Food is the story of an aggressively unlikable protagonist's descent into depression, self-harm, and eventual hospitalization. The book's blurb describes it as both "heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny". As a fan of both mental health memoirs/novels and irreverent takes on serious topics, I figured I would really enjoy this. However, I quickly found the blurb to be a bit misleading.

Told in a jarring split between first and third person narrative, Bunny's story was impossible for me to empathize with, as I found her morbid and rambling musings difficult to get through without the temptation to skim. Bunny mentions multiple times about realizing that nobody likes her, and admittedly I didn't much either. I didn't find her funny but self-indulgent. I wasn't convinced at the end of the book that any character growth would have occurred had the narrative continued, which is probably the only heartbreaking aspect to speak of.

This was a struggle to get through for me, but there are some moments of genuine insight into mental illness buried in here. It's just that getting to them often felt like too much of a chore.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Serpant's Tail.**

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent Tail Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Rabbits For Food. In exchange for the ARC I offer my unbiased review.

It takes a bit of time to warm up to Bunny, a married author who is suffering from extreme clinical depression. But Bunny is witty and sharp and her observations and insights are so spot on, that you can’t help slowly being mesmerized by Bunny’s stream of consciousness commentary. When Bunny suffers a psychotic break during a dinner party with a group of insufferable friends, she finds herself placed in psych ward. It is in this environment where Bunny and author Bonnie Kirschenbaum truly comes to life. With honesty, humor and veracity Kirshenbaum shares what it feels like to be inside the mind of a person who is suffering from depression and the anguish they and their love ones face. I laughed and cried with Bunny and the others who suffer silently.
This was my first read by Binnie Kirschenbaum but it will certainly not be my last.

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have struggled with severe depression for years, and Rabbits for Food is such a delightful and amusing approach to dealing with mental illness. I found this book incredibly relatable.

I felt solidly connected to Bunny as I have felt the way she does multiple times in my life. That hollow feeling she describes is the most true, yet empty thing I have ever felt in my life and I really resonated with her feelings about it.

Depression can manifest its ugly little self in so many different ways. I am similar to Bunny as I come at mine with humor. I make a “joke” of my depression.. Which doesn't always make me feel better.. But it makes other people not recognize it as depression. I really felt for Bunny. It makes it so hard for people to know something is wrong when you work so hard to hide it.

The Author does such a wonderful job of describing everything. The way Binnie describes the embarrassment, the hollowness, and the deep seeded depression makes me feel that a lot of this book is written on truthful things that might have happened to her.

The ending creeps up on you and comes out of nowhere. It’s like BAM here is how it all ends. I didn’t want to reach the end of it. I wanted to continue on Bunny’s journey with her.
Thank you so much to Binnie Krishenbaum, NetGalley, and Serpent’s Tail Books for allowing me to review this title. This review will be posted on www.featheredfables.wordpress.com closer to the publication date.

This book did not work for me.

Can we talk about the blurb for a minute? There is nothing laugh out loud funny in or about this story.

No doubt Bunny is a character in every sense of the word. She is irreverent, always speaking her mind, but there's nothing really funny about it. After a while her snark became a bit overboard and gratuitous.

I could only take so much of her narration before it became mundane and skim worthy.

The alternating POVs between first person and third person was annoying at best. Bunny was far more interesting and I would have enjoyed the book more if she alone told the story.

On a positive note, the author did an excellent job at portraying the inner turmoil of a person enduring major depression. I know this because I know this. Unfortunately.

"It’s one of the many disadvantages to being mentally ill. You are automatically in the wrong because you are wrong."

So... maybe I'm wrong about this book.


** I was provided an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

A thoughtful book a look at mental illness at depression.A book with dark humor hearts book Icud notutdow a author Iwil be reading again and again#netgalley#serpenttailbooks

I adored this book. Never gave I read such an accurate portrayal of depression. This black comedy follows Bunny and her husband Albie as they navigate life with Bunny's depression.

The humour and wit is perfect, and made me laugh out loud. At times I thought I would be triggered by the subject matter but Kirshenbaum writes with an innate sensitivity that can only come with experiencing mental illness first hand.

I was reminded of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar; the female perspective, the psychiatric hospital, the "treatment". Rabbits For Food is a fantastic contemporary account of female depression that explores themes of loneliness, friendship and companionship.

One of my top reads so far this year, I didn't want it to end.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you NetGalley!

this is one of the few books i've read that correctly and sensitively portrays mental illness. Most books tiptoe around it or just don't write about it accurately. This book was brilliant.

I can't wait to read more by Kirshenbaum.

I adored Bunny and Kirshenbaum has a knack for nailing what it's like to deal with mental illness. A first purchase for adult collections with HS crossover appeal.

Bunny is our narrator and Bunny suffers from clinical depression. This book allows us as readers to spend some time in the mind of a clinically depressed person. A person on the absolute brink of losing it.

And she does lose it during a dinner party with friends.

This episode lands her with a stay in a psychiatric facility where she spends her days with the other "loons" as she likes to call them.

You would think this book would be bleak as hell but it surprisingly isn't. Bunny is one cynical lady that is full of snark and I found her quite humorous. That being said I will admit to having a dry, dark sense of humor. Some people will not find Bunny funny at all. In fact she admits that no one could possibly like her. Bunny is the kind of lady that is brutally honest and this doesn't help her with making friends and sustaining friendships. Her loving husband, Albie, would disagree. He has grown to accept that their is very little he can say or do to boost her spirits. Yet he tries time and time again.

Bunny will often say, "Generally speaking, I'm a headache of a person who is not easy to like." It's true. Bunny is not easy to like, but it's possible to love her.

As a person that, thankfully, does not suffer from depression my heart really went out to Bunny. I have no idea how that emptiness and loneliness feels. It's as if her body had been hollowed out. Nothing but skin on bones. How all encompassing it is. Bunny will go weeks without leaving the house or even bathing. Hygiene is not high on her list when she get's in these states.

What a terrific writer Binnie Kirshenbaum is. I highlighted so many passages while reading.

Bunny as a teenager not want to visit family on Thanksgiving:

"Last year there was an infant, and every one carrying on as if the parents had done something extraordinary like publish a book or win the lottery, until I broke in and said, "The earthworm is impressive because it impregnates itself." After that , they all gave me the cold shoulder except Natalie, my nine-year-old nose picking booger wiping on walls cousin."

Teenage Bunny on painting her pink room black:

"Not a chance," her mother said. "Not in my house. When you have your own house , you can paint your walls whatever color you want."

"For your information," Bunny said, "black isn't a color."

Bunny was big on the preface "for your information" a turn of phrase that endeared her to no one.

Bunny on her neighbors baby boy taking his first steps:

"You're not going to believe this. Rocky is walking."

"Yeah? So?" Bunny continues with the task at hand. "They do that. They learn to walk."

"But don't you think that's exciting?"

"I'd be excited if he were flying. But walking? No."

"Do you have to be that way about everything?"

"Yes," Bunny said. "I do have to be that way."

OMG - that sounds like me.

Bunny on New Year's Eve festivities in NYC:

In fact, Bunny has never seen a ball drop. Not on television, and she'd have scooped out an eyeball, rather than go, in person, on the ground, to Times Square on New Year's Eve.

You couldn't pay me to step foot in NYC on New Years Eve so I can completely relate to this.

I think those are enough to give you a proper idea of the type of character you're going to spend time with. People are either going to love Bunny or hate her and I happen to love her. So why only 4 stars for a book that was 95% 5 stars all the way - THAT ENDING! It's abrupt. Too abrupt and I can't say more in fear of spoiling anything.

Thank you to NetGalley and Serpent's Tail Books for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

I think laugh out loud is a very bold claim,at most the book is amusing.
Mostly it's quite touching and sensitive to those with mental illness.
It's a book,where for once,I liked the main characters,Bunny and Alive,and Stella too.
Definitely worth picking up and giving a go.