Rabbits in the Garden by Jessica McHugh

Rabbits in the Garden Reviews

• 
  Lydia Peever

  
  
  I enjoyed the premise, setting and characters very much. Having an affinity for the insane, and justice within the justice system, the plot was what kept me interested. And hell, everyone loves a warped revenge story. The dialogue did not grab me though, and as another reviewer mentioned, there are some odd time warps. All in all, a fun read for those who enjoy a psycho soap opera - emphasis on the psycho!
• 
  Stephanie

  I want to take the time to thank Jessica McHugh for giving me the opportunity to read and review her book, Rabbits in the Garden.
  
  I read Rabbits in the Garden in less than a day! By the end of Chapter 2, you will discover the meaning behind the book title but it will also keep you guessing. I was glued to the pages. Each character was so twisted in their own way, but it all stemmed from one person, Faye Norton. I didn’t realize one person can make such a difference and affect the lives of so many. This book is very hard to put down because you want to get to the end. I wanted to see how it ended to see if I could make sense of everything that happened.
  
  The book is centered around Avery Norton. Her best friend and boyfriend, Paul never wavered from how he felt about Avery. Avery’s mother Faye, is sick and so twisted. I had a difficult time understanding her motives but as you keep reading, you will realize that you will never understand her way of thinking. I felt so many emotions as I was reading this book. Faye turned her own daughters against each other by the lies she told each of them. She also alienated her daughters and I felt so gratified when they finally realized it.
  
  There are character you will love and some you will hate. McHugh describes every detail so well that I can picture what I am reading. The dialogue, the descriptions keep you glued to the end. I loved the ending. Avery found what she was looking for and what she needed to move on with her life.
  Jessica McHugh
• 
  Deb

  I have to admit that when I first got into this one, I thought it was gonna be weird. Well, it was, and it got weirder with a nice little shock when I got to the epilogue.
• 
  Majanka

  Avery Norton is your average twelve year old girl, albeit the fact her Mom is an overprotective, meddling and slightly disturbed woman. Although her mother’s behavior stands in her way of making friends, Avery is perfectly fine with the friend she does have: Paul. He is kind, considerate and caring, and he doesn’t mind that her mother says weird things or looks at them oddly. However, when Avery and Paul follow her mother one night in the back of her car, they discover some disturbing things. Is her mother really ditching a body, or are the two youngsters seeing things?
  
  When Avery’s mom gives her a garden as a birthday present, she doesn’t like it at first. And when her mother tells this crazy story about rabbits cheating on each other, and that they need to be punished for such prudent behavior, she isn’t quite alarmed. That is, until her mother kills the rabbits to set an example. Traumatized, Avery is determined to take good care of the garden, so nothing happens to the water and the rabbits behave appriopriately, so her mother doesn’t see any reason to kill them. But when her world comes crashing upon her, and she incidentally kills one of the rabbits herself, and ends up in a closed shed in the garden with at least a dozen mutilated corpses, Avery is quite sure things couldn’t get any worse. Her own mother is a serial killer. And her long lost father, was her very first victim.
  
  But thanks to some excellent manipulation from her side, her mom convinces every one that Avery is the one responsible for the murders. Locked up in a mental asylum, Avery is determined to prove the truth to the outside world: that it wasn’t her, but her mother who killed all those innocent people. But as she starts to question her own sanity, and wonders if perhaps her mother had been telling the truth, it gets harder and harder for Avery to keep believing in her own innocence.
  
  I fell in love with Rabbits in the Garden from page one. The storyline is thrilling, suspenseful and highly original. But it’s truly the characters that make this book. Avery’s mother’s behaviour seems odd from the start, but I never paid much attention to it until it developed into plain disturbing. She has a firm belief in loyalty to one partner, she’s a very devote person, and wants Avery to believe in the same principles as she does. She’s very suspicious of Avery’s relationship with her neighbour Paul, although the two hardly did anything more than hold hands and share a brief birthday kiss. But Avery’s mother isn’t just delusional and paranoid, or slightly disturbed. The way Jessica McHugh builds the tension in this novel, by slowly revealing the amount of insanity that is possessing Avery’s mom, is really close to brilliant. I was both amazed and pitrified as the events unfolded, and the absurdity of the situation became clear.
  
  I thought the scene with the corpses in the shed/basement was both gruesome and terrifying and really, really well-written. It felt more like being in a movie than like reading a book, and I imagined the heroine in the horror flick putting her hands on things hanging in her way in the dark, without any real clue as to what they are. And then when realisation hits her, the amount of terror she experiences is overwhelming. Naturally, this happens to Avery too, and her emotions, shock and despair are really well described in this scene. It’s probably my favorite scene from the entire book, and from a book as good as this one, that’s saying something.
  
  Although life is far from easy for Avery, she has a very strong and willful personality, and I could not help but think she must have inherited some of these characteristics from her mother. Her sister Natalie, is a lot less determined and headstrong than Avery, perhaps that’s one of the reasons why their mother never saw her as that much of a treat. The scenes in the mental asylum were very authentic as well. I could imagine being there from the way Jessica McHugh described the building, the patients and the doctors. The sence of injustice I got at Avery’s treatment was so strong and profound that I found myself occasionally raging at the system, the police and Avery’s lunatic mother.
  
  I enjoyed the fact that the author doesn’t only focus on Avery’s trials in the mental asylum, but that she provides her with a cast of friends with their own share of troubles. All the characters, from the protagonists to the janitor of the asylum (so to speak, there isn’t any janitor actually mentioned) were very well defined, with their own set of distinct personality traits and their own history. Jessica McHugh’s writing style is very fluent, very gripping, and the storyline is amazing enough to keep you glued to your chair for well over two hours. By the time I had finished reading, I had long left the day-to-day world, and entered the scary, threatening and terrifying world of mental asylums and delusional mothers with gruesome hobbies. When I turned the last page of the book, it did take me a couple of minutes to let go of the suffocating and slightly unnerved feeling I had felt the entire time while reading, and to relax again. I had barely noticed, but my muscles had tensed and I had crawled on the far edge of the seat on the train, practically hiding myself in the corner. I love it when a book does that.
  
  Rabbits in the Garden doesn’t have the most gorgeous cover in the entire world, but this is one of those books that you really cannot judge by its cover. The storyline is paralyzing, the writing style is flawless, the characters are bizarre, intriguing and sometimes even down-right terrifying. This is horror the way it should be – crawling under your skin slowly, from page one till the very end, and turning the world as you know it into something scary and unfamiliar. The kind of book that, after reading it, makes you look at people and think ‘what the heck goes on in their mind’ and wonder if maybe one of them is as sick and disturbed as Avery’s mother. The sort of book that doesn’t let you go, but keeps you in this tightening grip for a long while, and sometimes makes you question your own sanity.
  
  If Hollywood finally grows tired of those zombie-apocalyptic novels, or those scary-monster-ones and needs a really good horror book to turn into a script, then I would recommend Rabbits in the Garden (if I had any connections with Hollywood directors, that is). It’s a master piece in the horror genre, and it left me very impressed. Feel free to read it for yourself, but don’t blame me if you have trouble sleeping afterwards, or if you start wondering if perhaps that old-fashioned and firm-on-principles lady in the apartment downstairs really is a serial killer, and you could be next on her list.
  
  
  Read the review on my website.
• 
  Amanda [Novel Addiction]

  I always find it a little tough to review the books I really, really love. I don't want to gush, and what I love about it is always so hard to put into words. I've had that problem with the other books I have reviewed by Jessica McHugh. Her writing style is unique and so incredibly powerful - there were times while reading this book that I was physically shaking - from fear, anger, and plenty of other emotions. Jessica McHugh has a way with words, of crafting the text into something that will make you really feel it.
  
  
  I absolutely loved Avery Norton. My heart ached for her, and for what she lost out on because of her mother. And on that note, I cannot properly express how much I hated the mother, Faye Norton. These two characters, for good or bad, will stick with me for a long time. And their ending (which I won't give away) was as truly epic as they deserve. The entire cast of characters were brilliant, and to watch Avery's transformation from an innocent young girl to someone so.. well, indescribable, it truly was amazing to watch.
  
  Maybe this sort of novel isn't your idea of a good time, and I can't really blame you for thinking that, I've done the same thing in the past. But I have yet to read a book by this author that hasn't left me going "Whoa." at the end. Every reader gets into a reading rut now and again, feeling like you're reading the same thing over and over - maybe it's time to try something new. So give "Rabbits in the Garden" a shot - and then come back here and tell me about your experience with it because I can't deal with this alone, people!
  
  Cover Loving: I'll admit it, this cover confused the heck out of me until I read the book. However, now it makes total sense.. creepy, creepy sense. But this cover is limited edition! According to the author, "Rabbits in the Garden" is going to get a facelift (or a new face) so go get your limited edition copy now!
  
  Recommendation: Fans of Speculative Fiction, or maybe darker fiction in general will definitely want to pick up "Rabbits in the Garden" by Jessica McHugh. With a flowing, unique writing style, the author will keep you on the edge of your seat.
  
  Final Rating: FIVE out of FIVE (5/5). Once again, Jessica McHugh blew me away. An excellent story that had me practically shaking with emotion. Be sure to pick yourself up a copy asap!
• 
  Georgina Morales

  Jessica McHugh has a way with words that other writers, like me, would kill for. Her prose is easy and engrossing, and her characters are either likable or despicable in a way that you just can't stop loving them. That's what happens with the characters in Rabbits in the Garden, whose perfect heroine, Avery Norton, is so young and innocent you can't but want to protect her from the evils that threaten her world. On the other hand, Faye is as dark a soul as they come, so egotistical and self-rightgeous you want to choke her. I would've loved to see more of what was behind of Faye, though; her motivations and feelings. Sometimes I couldn't feel her as vividly as I felt Avery. Rabbits in the Garden is a character driven story, and sometimes the plot doesn't hold, like the age Avery have to have been when the 'purging of the garden' began (if you read the book, you know what I mean); it just makes it humanly impossible for the allegations to be true. Then it is the fact that condoms were not widely used in the 50's and the cost would've been prohibiting to a college student. Then again, these are small factors one can forget when surrounded by McHugh's world.
  
  One of the things I love about this book is its title and the subtlety of it. In its apparent innocence holds the dark dark twists of the story and reflects its character as very few authors manage to do in four simple words. When I fist saw it I couldn't understand why would there be Rabbits on the title of a horror/suspense story, and what was so hypnotizing about it that I felt compelled to read the book without knowing a thing more about it. Well, now that I know I don't think I will ever see rabbits in the same way again.
  
  McHugh is a very promising and prolific author who daunts us with her talents by weaving a very dark tale about the worst kind of betrayal and, like an accident on a highway, even though the images she paints in our mind are horrifying, we just can't avert your eyes. I can't wait to get my hands on another of her twisted tales.
• 
  Babs

  
  My 2 Cents:
  
  Talk about an interesting read, this is it! Avery was a sweet girl whom anyone would love to have as a daughter. Paul, Avery's boyfriend and best friend, wanted to help Avery. He knew her mom was strange and could not understand why she hated him so much. Natalie, Avery's sister, was at a nice school away from home and never visited long. She arrived for Avery's 13th birthday party. One of the gifts that was given to the birthday girl was her mom's garden. She had come of the age that her mom thought it would be a good idea. Natalie was horrified and warned Avery that she herself could not take care of it well and was sent away. As the weeks went by Avery was getting more concerned about her mother. With Paul's help they hid inside Avery's mother's car. After a long drive they eased out to follow were the mother was going and what the kids saw was unthinkable. Avery was grounded after slipping out of the house. She went to tend the garden and stumbled upon a scene that would terrify her and send her away for good.
  
  I loved the book for the characters. Everyone in the story has their part and played it well. Jessica does a wonderful job with her descriptions. I could picture the Asylum and what the kids there went through or watching Avery's mom throw her under the bus so to speak. Paul really comes through for avery after all the years she has to spend in the asylum before she is helped by one of the insiders. I also liked the fact anyone could really put themselves in Avery's shoes and feel the same way she did. It is a wonder that Avery is sane at all.
  
  A wonderful scary, mysterious read that sucks you in.
• 
  Jerry

  I've become a big fan of Jessica McHugh. Rabbits is an earlier publication and shows the wordsmith promise of a great writer. The story is intriguing and the interplay of the characters is enticing. And that's the key. Jessica paints a great backdrop and then puts interesting characters out to play with each other. When I read her work I often think that she is surprised by what her characters do. The twists and turns all seem very natural as a result, not like they were written to meet an outline.
  
  Rabbits in the Garden explores different sides of psychopathic behavior. There are family and partner interactions that are well oiled and slippery, just like real life where no one is totally wrong or right. No one is totally sane in the mix and your understanding of them shifts like sand under the constant influence of changing winds. Although I would have liked a slight bit more on the character depth side, the story was compelling and the characters all felt significant and as if they had real weight, not just painted on a backdrop.
  
  What I like about McHugh's writing is her focus on the plot. She paints enough of the environment to make you feel what her characters are doing, but she writes to move the story forward and to give you opportunities to understand the people she has placed on the game board of her story. How she can come up with twisted people so compellingly (is that a word?) makes you wonder what goes on inside the head of hers. As an author, her technique and style continues to develop - just like a great musician who always strives for improvement. She doesn't write to formulas. That's why I like to read her work.
• 
  Chad

  I have read both of the Darla Decker books to date but have not ventured into any of Jessica McHugh's non-YA stuff. Why have I waited so long? Hell if I know.
  
  This book is one of the more entertaining I have read in a while. The premise for the story is masterfully crafted with a sympathetic situation created by a monster on an antagonist that you hate almost from the moment you meet her. A daughter is caught up in an impossible situation, only made worse by the scheming of her mother which starts a domino effect that snowballs and culminates in the climax of the book.
  
  Two things I particularly loved about this. I really like a good villain, not just a cookie cutter bond-esque bad guy, but a three dimensional character that you just love despising. McHugh nails this in superb fashion.
  
  I also love a book that creates challenging characters, not just a split between people who are incredibly evil or virtuous. Our hero in this book is put into horrible circumstances by what is done to her but she ends up making some questionable decisions herself. As the reader you are challenged to see the sympathy in this girls story, beyond the reality of some of the things she does. In the end, you find yourself wanting to forgive the evils in the hero which also sheds an uncomfortable light on your understanding of the real villain of the book. It is a dilemma that I loved dealing with.
  
  I listened to this book on audio - great reading. I definitely recommend the book - fantastically dark story. I loved it.
• 
  Catie

  Thirteen year old Avery Norton receives a strange birthday present from her mother which is the catalyst to the rest of the girls wretched existence. The garden which Avery was given was meant to be kept clean of "bad water" which would pollute her garden and make tiny bunny sluts. (This is really the only way I have to describe this, seriously.) In a fit of rage at discovering she's a terrible gardener, Avery does something terrible. In an attempt to hide what she has done, she heads to the basement where she discovers a secret crypt which leads to her arrest and finally her imprisonment in a mental institution. However, this is only the beginning of the twisted story of Avery, the love of her life (Paul Dillon) and the Norton family.
  
  I read this book in a very short amount of time. Given, it's not a very long book (218 pp.) and it was a fast paced, enthralling read. However I do feel as though a reread is in order. The ending (which naturally I am not going to reveal here!) made me see the whole work differently than McHugh had painted it-- that is, as much as she could have. I feel as though McHugh depicted deliciously the bias that a 3rd person limited omniscience narrative can contain.
  
  8.5/10
  
  You can buy Rabbits in the Garden from Postmortem Press's website ($12 + s&h) or digitally via Amazon ($0.99). Personally I recommend the physical version since the cover is quite pretty and it seems to be of above average quality.
  
• 
  James Jr.

  “Can I play with Madness” is a song by Iron Maiden and the title seems quite fitting to describe the dark and twisted novel, "Rabbits in the Garden" by Author Jessica McHugh. You see, the Iron Maiden was a torture device and it suits this tale well as young Avery Norton slowly descends into madness by torturous events beyond her control.
  
  One may find this novel tough to get through, but not because McHugh isn’t gifted. Instead, it will be because the story is so gut-wrenching and dark. In the end, I’m reminded of how boring cookie-cutter happy endings are, and how splendid it is to experience something that turns fiction on its side. This definitely does that.
  
  I find myself agreeing with one reviewer, however. I can’t help feeling that there is a brilliant book here, waiting to be released by a strong editor with a careful hand. Although the extremely well-written characters deserve 5-stars and the twists and turns a solid 4-stars, there were places and moments that I thought could be tighter within the narrative.
  
  I definitely came away impressed by McHugh. Her muse is channeling from someplace that a great many authors don't have access to.
• 
  Elaine

  At a time when barbaric measures were incorporated in insane asylums, Avery was incarcerated in Taunton, Massachusetts’ and she is no stranger to electric shock therapy and the havoc it plays on the mind.
  
  Picture yourself being admitted to an institution for the insane and hearing the distant screams echoing in the hallways. A place where zombie-like prisoners reside. That’s what Avery faced on her day of admittance.
  
  Avery is blamed for the brutal murders of several people found in the basement of her home. Though she tries desperately to prove her innocence, her attempts only serve to further condemn her. The information she is fed has her questioning the veracity of those statements and perhaps her own sanity. How does one know what to believe when both sides sport some logic? Even twisted logic can be maneuvered to make sense. Just who is delusional here? If she wasn’t then, maybe she will be.
  
  Nicely paced, the plot moves along well.
  
• 
  Jane

  I had no idea what to expect when I started this book because I haven’t read any other work by Jessica McHugh. I am going to change that now because I’m going to find EVERY book she has written and read them all!
  
  All I can say is Wow! Though the storyline was perturbing it was an absolute page turner and I really didn’t want to put it down. I felt every emotion during my read… happy, sad, scared, angry, confused and frustrated to name but a few.
  
  There's no doubt Jessica McHugh knows how to build strong characters and a vivid setting. I was completely taken in by this book, I didn’t know who I could trust! Those I thought were innocent in one sentence I doubted in the next such was the complexity of the plot. The tension and suspense stayed with me to the very last page….and beyond!
  
  What an intriguing and satisfying read.
  
  Originally reviewed for Views and reviews
  
• 
  Bill

  This quick-moving tale was hard for me to put down. I feel like the account of Avery Norton's stay in Taunton Asylum presents a realistic view of how people seen as "crazy" were warehoused and treated in the 50's. The series of tragic events that comprise her young life seem designed to beat her down, so it's hard for her to maintain her determination to prove her innocence of the grisly deeds she's been accused of. This story is filled with compelling characters, from Avery herself, her boyfriend Paul and sister Natalie, to her frighteningly Puritanical mother and pyromaniac friend Flint in the asylum. Also, SLIGHT SPOILER: this novel contains an amazing description of the internal experience of a patient undergoing electroshock therapy... it was seriously one of my favorite scenes of the whole book!
• 
  Nadine Larter

  Am so glad I finally got around to reading this book - it's been sitting next to my bed for far too long!! I must admit that I was a little nervous to read it when I first picked it up since I sort of feel like I've gotten to know the author lately and I was a little bit worried that I wouldn't love it. Of course there was no need for such worry as Jessica McHugh's book was just as brilliant as I expected it to be. A whirlwind of constant suspense on every page, Rabbits in the Garden takes your breath away from the beginning and doesn't return it until the very end. Definitely not the sort of book you would recommend to a lover of "warm and fuzzy" reading, but a it's a definite must-read for those of us with a darker side.
• 
  Andrea

  I gave this book 3 stars because while I really enjoyed the story and characters I felt it could have been better. The writing/editing wasn't as precise as I like. Missing words and grammar errors distract me. There were some areas in the book that the prose was excellent and other areas seemed like an after thought. Also, this book had an annoying quality usually found in movies in which whole areas/ideas are left untouched or unexplained. Typically books explore more and don't leave gaps that make the reader wonder how the author thought it was ok not to delve into certain ideas. I couldn't put it down and really wanted to know what happened in the end, but I also felt a bit disappointed with the writing.
• 
  Maja Kron

  3,5 stars
  
  I don't even know what sane is anymore. This was very interesting and a book that made me question my own and everyone else's sanity. It was hard to tell who, if anyone, did the right thing, which was quite entertaining. My issues were that I despised almost all characters, except for maybe Paul and Flint, but the rest of them I just wanted to kick in the face or something like that, and also that I felt that it could've been a longer book. At some parts things felt a bit rushed and this was a story interesting enough to do good as a longer novel.
  
  It was quite exhausting reading it since it was so difficult telling who the good and bad guys were, but it was fun and I don't regret reading it.
• 
  Christa

  'Rabbits in the Garden' is one part Susanna Kaysen's 'Girl, Interrupted,' one part Robert Bloch's 'Psycho,' and a whole lotta Jessica McHugh. You know a book is good when you feel palpable outrage for the characters within it, and outrage was what I felt for poor Avery Norton, and the fate she suffered at the hands of her awful AWFUL mother.
  
  Jessica's writing pops with brilliant imagery, nuanced characters, creative plot lines, and rich settings. I couldn't put 'Rabbits in the Garden' down, so committed (no pun intended) was I to learning the fates of Avery, Faye, Paul, Natalie, Flint, and Sophie, and the twist that came in the final lines of the novel was worthy of a #wtfthatending hashtag.
• 
  Kenneth Cain

  Being labeled as YA, I originally didn't think McHugh's book would suit me. Boy was I wrong. As with much fiction there needs to be some level of suspension of disbelief and this book is no different. If you can accomplish this I think you will enjoy this book very much. This book has been dominating YA and women's books as of late, and there is good reason for it. Rabbits has staying power. Definitely a must read for any horror fan.
• 
  Amy

  This well written book will keep you hooked from page one. From the idyllic summers of childhood to the twisted psychosis of a parent who usese her seeming innocence to frame her children for her own actions. This is also an excellent look at what barbaric treatments were often used for a variety of mental conditions that are today well understood and treated with medication and psycho therapy. A truly gripping read where you root for the determined young heroine and despise her twisted mother.
• 
  Elizabeth

  Honestly, this is one of the best books I've ever read. I devoured it during my morning and evening commute, and at times I looked like one of *those people* in public, shaking my head and making gross faces and scoffing out loud at what I had just read. McHugh knows how to tell a story - and she knows how to make you care about characters just before ripping them away.
  
  And the end is spectacular, but that's all I'll say about it. I can't wait to read the sequel.
• 
  Mandy White

  Rabbits in the Garden is a twisted blend of graphic horror and psychological thriller. This well-written tale keeps the reader turning pages right up to the increasingly twisted and unexpected ending. I really enjoyed Jessica Mchugh's style of writing and am looking forward to reading some of her other books.
• 
  Sharon

  Rabbits in the Garden is one of those books you can't stop reading for many reasons, however, more than anything, you hope that Avery gets the revenge (or justice) she so deserves.
  Jessica comes through with flying colors! Revenge, justice, a few surprises, and a twist that knocks you to the ground...love it! Looking forward to more from Jessica McHugh.
• 
  Sara

  If you love disturbing fiction, horrific scenes that keep you up well into the morning, and writing that leaves you looking over your shoulder, read Rabbits in the Garden. I couldn't wait to read it, and once I got my own copy and finally was able to, I was not disappointed. I've still got cellars on the brain days later and am afraid to go into the basement. This is such a dark, fun read.
• 
  Veronica Schultz

  The story was fantastic. At least if you're like me and enjoy things that are weird, twisted, and a bit horrific. There were some editing things I would have liked to see done a little better, but consider this is a small press publication the issues weren't to bad. Definitely worth a look if you're a horror fan.