Who Would Like This Book:
If you love wild, weird road trips with a healthy dose of humor and heart, "Going Bovine" might just be your thing. Libba Bray pulls off the nearly impossible: she turns the story of a slacker teen diagnosed with mad cow disease into a hilariously surreal and surprisingly moving journey. Expect talking garden gnomes, Norse gods, punk rock angels, and plenty of sharp-witted satire mixed with genuine introspection. This book is right up the alley for fans of John Green, Douglas Adams, Don Quixote retellings, or anyone who likes their coming-of-age stories sprinkled with bizarre adventure and big philosophical questions.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Not everyone will vibe with Bray's brand of chaos. Some found the relentless quirkiness, offbeat humor, and lengthy, twisty plot a bit much - especially if you prefer tightly plotted stories or straight realism. There's a lot of teen slang, drug references, and existential rambling, which annoyed some readers or made the book feel too long or unfocused. If you dislike surreal, genre-bending narratives or get frustrated by unreliable narrators and ambiguity, this one might not be for you.
About:
Cameron, a disaffected youth, is diagnosed with Mad Cow disease and is given a quest by an angel to save the world by finding Dr. X for a cure. He embarks on a surreal road trip with an agoraphobic dwarf and a talking garden gnome, encountering various adventures and life lessons along the way. The book combines humor, philosophical wanderings, and a modern take on Don Quixote, offering a unique and thought-provoking journey through the teenage mind.
The writing style of "Going Bovine" by Libba Bray is described as surreal, edgy, and humorous, with elements of fantasy, satire, and dark humor. The plot follows Cameron's journey of self-discovery and acceptance in the face of a terminal illness, blending elements of reality and hallucination to create a compelling and engaging narrative.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for this book include drug use, strong language, themes of chronic illness and mortality, and some surreal or disturbing imagery related to the protagonist's disease.
Has Romance?
While the book is primarily focused on self-discovery and adventure, there are romantic elements introduced, particularly through Cameron's encounters and interactions.
From The Publisher:
From the author of the Gemma Doyle trilogy and The Diviners series, this groundbreaking New York Times bestseller and winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for literary excellence is "smart, funny, and layered," raves Entertainment Weekly.
All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school-and life in general-with a minimum of effort. It's not a lot to ask. But that's before he's given some bad news: he's sick and he's going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure-if he's willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America . . . into the heart of what matters most.
From acclaimed author Libba Bray comes a dark comedic journey that poses the questions: Why are we here? What is real? What makes microwave popcorn so good? Why must we die? And how do we really learn to live?
"A hilarious and hallucinatory quest."-The New York Times
"Sublimely surreal."-People
"Libba Bray's fabulous new book will, with any justice, be a cult classic. The kind of book you take with you to college, in the hopes that your roommate will turn out to have packed their own copy, too. Reading it is like discovering an alternate version of The Phantom Tollbooth, where Holden Caulfield has hit Milo over the head and stolen his car, his token, and his tollbooth. There's adventure and tragedy here, a sprinkling of romance, musical interludes, a battle-ready yard gnome who's also a Norse God, and practically a chorus line of physicists. Which reminds me: will someone, someday, take Going Bovine and turn it into a musical, preferably a rock opera? I want the sound track, the program, the T-shirt, and front row tickets."-Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Ratings (9)
Incredible (4) | |
Loved It (4) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (17):
Read It (9) | |
Want To Read (8) |
What can you read after
Going Bovine?
About the Author:
Libba Bray is the author of the New York Times bestselling Gemma Doyle Trilogy, which comprises the novels A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing. She has written short stories about everything from Cheap Trick…
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