Reviews

Cows by Matthew Stokoe

ragreynolds's review against another edition

fast-paced

1.5

This was awful. It did amuse me at points, so I give it some extra point for that. But the disgusting and shocking stuff wasn't even done in any clever way. Just page after page of grossness for the sake of it. I suppose you could say it achieves its goal of shocking the reader, but that's about all it has going for it.

missquinnbee's review against another edition

This was an exploration of my own personal gore/torture/horror limits and I can wholeheartedly say I found ‘em! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

burntends's review against another edition

1.0

Best part was commanding a herd of cows on a murder spree but this book was a pile.

rstadler's review against another edition

2.0

This book was pretty strange. I picked it up because it was on a list of things I wanted to read that I had written years ago. Since adding it to that list I have completely forgotten what inspired me to go out and find this to read. Maybe it was some sort of transient interest in reading things that were shocking for the sake of being shocking?

Maybe there is some interesting metaphor in here but I apparently missed it. Mostly it just seemed like this really intentionally over the top gross-out book, almost like a bunch of teenage boys got together and were trying to outdo each other in terms of bizarre imagery.

I guess I can say that on the plus side, I wasn't bored. And certainly it took my imagination to some strange new places. But ultimately I don't think I really "got" this book. I'm going to spend some time now reading other people's reviews and see if I can figure out what drew my interest in the first place.

bombadalejr's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Honestly, despite the gore and general horror found in this book, it’s a really interesting plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

rosales2486's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Pretty boring aside from the atrocious and disgusting scenarios.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lilykenrow's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

midnightmuun's review against another edition

2.0

It hit the mark as far as gore and detail. There were definitely shock values that kept me interested, but after about half way the story got completely lost. Even though the book is small and something I would normally finish in a day, it took me about 5 days to push myself to finish it. Kept hoping it would get better, but it just kept getting more convoluted.

jennadebonis's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.0

This was by far the weirdest book I’ve ever read. I don’t recommend it but at the same time, I feel like everyone needs to read what I just did 

ripleyreads's review against another edition

2.0

Shocking Just to be Shocking

Can’t say this book was good or bad. It had no plot nor point. There was absolutely no take away. Eh.