Going Bovine 5/5 Stars

"Going Bovine"

By Libba Bray

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 (Synopsis from Good Reads)


Going Bovine is one of my absolute favorite books, written by the enigmatic Libba Bray. I was still on a high from reading her A Great and Terrible Beauty series (it was a long-lasting high) when Going Bovine came out. I was on the fence about reading it, not for any other reason than for the fact that I was still living in the world of the previous book. However after seeing Bex tote it around, I gave it a shot.

Going Bovine did not disappoint. Although I wasn't excited about it in the beginning (the main character, Cameron, is a stoner, and I am a 4 x 4 square and do not approve of recreational drug use,) I was wrong in my initial judgment. It was funny and well-written. It was chock full of many insightful and poignant moments. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. And then I laughed while I cried. Crazy, I know.

If you can't relate to the protagonist, Cameron, on some level then it's likely that you aren't human or you're living a perfect life. (In which case, I bring us back to my first point about not being human.) As the story progresses and you experience his character develop and grow, you feel a sense of affinity for Cameron (and his crazy friends.) Brace yourself for unexpected twists and turns, and bring tissues. Lots of them. (You know, from when you're crying or laughing while crying. Whatever.)

I'd give Going Bovine five out of five stars. If I could, I'd give it infinity stars, but you get the point - it's a great book.

You’ve been assigned an identity since birth. Then you spend the rest of your life walking around in it to see if it really fits. You try on all these different selves and abandon just as many. But really it’s about dismantling all that false armor, getting down to what’s real.

 -Libba Bray, Going Bovine