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mayonessa's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The other goodreads reviewer was right when they said this book is about a man who hates his mom and shits, farts, pisses, and cums at the same time. That review made me laugh harder than any amount of poorly attempted humor that this story had.
The thing that took me out between Stokoe's boring attempts to be as shocking as possible were the great small glimpses of prose that he springs on you after using the word cunt or glit for the umpteenth time. Under the hand of a better writer, this could have been a better book, one that could have been a great exploration of toxic masculinity and the other supposed themes the book was trying to get at. Instead we get scenes so outrageously surreal and trying too hard to be gross that the book's potential is wasted in its lack of substance.
I feel like this sets the precedent of books in the extreme horror genre forgetting that they are actually supposed to be telling a story rather than authors just compiling multiple scenes that are attempting to be as gross and shocking as possible to trick readers into thinking they have actually created something that is even worth reading.
The thing that took me out between Stokoe's boring attempts to be as shocking as possible were the great small glimpses of prose that he springs on you after using the word cunt or glit for the umpteenth time. Under the hand of a better writer, this could have been a better book, one that could have been a great exploration of toxic masculinity and the other supposed themes the book was trying to get at. Instead we get scenes so outrageously surreal and trying too hard to be gross that the book's potential is wasted in its lack of substance.
I feel like this sets the precedent of books in the extreme horror genre forgetting that they are actually supposed to be telling a story rather than authors just compiling multiple scenes that are attempting to be as gross and shocking as possible to trick readers into thinking they have actually created something that is even worth reading.
mortem_soma's review against another edition
5.0
Nothing can prepare you enough to read Cows. It is the most beautiful and disgusting book I have ever read. It is elegance and revulsion. It is a baptism of violence, blasphemy and enlightenment. No matter how well read you are, you have never read anything like this.
abagail99's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
2.0
why do i read these books? i do it to myself, and that’s what really hurts.
catgirlrights's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
dirkwahlberg's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
metalheadwithalibrarycard's review against another edition
3.0
It's a short read and is definitely a gross book. I did find some of the shock repetitive, just blood, cum, and shit mentioned over and over, but there seems to be a story about alienation underneath all of the grossness, and I did find a bit of entertainment in the strange narrative. I see this book get compared to The Wasp Factory quite a bit, and I do not understand why. So, if you think you'll like this book because you enjoyed that one, think again. I did laugh out loud over the absurdity of certain acts that our main character Steven seems to involve himself in, and if you like disturbing and filthy books, then maybe you will find some entertainment here. I would only recommend this to folks who enjoy transgressive fiction and extreme horror. Everyone else, I would say, avoid this book.
kayajay's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
It’s gratuitously gruesome. Not a well developed story. I’m glad it was short I would’ve DNF’d
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
gohnar23's review against another edition
4.0
For the first few parts of the book I was really not enjoying this book because there is specifically one thing that I was looking for on a book that was titled cows, and it is an actual cow character in the book. Further reading into the rest of the story and there it is! a cow character, But that cow character doesn't have a name, just the name of the species that the cow belongs to. The rest of the story was not pretty disturbing as the entirety of tiktok would say. I mean yeah there are some pretty gruesome sings and really fucked up sex scenes because yeah that obviously had to be put in there for the horrifying & disturbing purposes that this book is trying to do but overall it was pretty good honestly, nothing to be too surprised about.
tyty4691's review against another edition
This is Human Centipede 2 fanfiction, right? 😂