Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Cows by Matthew Stokoe

5 reviews

laboromi's review against another edition

dark sad fast-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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gore, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Excrement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death, Cannibalism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Abortion, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Vomit

pantrat's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Murder, Physical abuse, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, and Rape

siobhan_leahy's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

<spoiler ish here>

OK, so there is gore, there is carnage there is every trigger warning you can possibly think of and more that you can't but........ Is it realistic? Is it drawn from real life?  Talking cows? Evil parents and inner personal demons?

Well I'm going to say yes!!!! And before you laugh (whoever saw a talking cow) I'll explain.

This is a story about a guy who's been abused by his only parent for 25 years, his boss at his 1st and only job sexually abuses him. Forcing him to doing things he doesn't want to, complete power trip and manipulation of the vulnerable. (sound familiar yet?)

Afraid of the world around him, desperate to be part of a normal loving family he clings to the only thing he has ever found comfort with. A disturbed girl living in a flat above him and the cows at the meat factory where he works.

His descent into madness and mental health is sadly a true reflection on the world in which we live. Working in this sector I see these vulnerable people everyday and my heart aches for them.

Mental health does not operate in the neat tidy box's we slide society into. It doesn't cover over the nasty dirty details of the human condition, like this book, it is cold, open, cruel, dirty, and outcast. Society seeks to hide it (and from it)! Mental health is a growing pandemic in today's world much like a developing herd of Murderous talking cows under a city.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Rape, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Not for the faint hearted or those with a weak stomach

queenofodas's review

Honestly, the book is poorly writen, is like reading the saddistic fantasies of a 13 year old boy with mommy issues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Incest, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Murder

akeila91's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

The good points of this book is the author is clearly an amazing writer, the book is so well written. The main reason I finished this book was because of how well written it was. It delivers what it says it’s going to. It makes you uncomfortable, anything “dark” you think you’ve read before it completely obliterates. 

The bad points is I think the story and character development fell short for me. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, bar a marginal pang of sympathy for his torturous life. But that didn’t grip me enough to become emotionally invested. The only character I felt any kind of draw to was dog. I feel like had the gore and disgust been turned down just a touch and the story and characters developed a little further, this could have been a 5 star read for me. But I understand what the author was trying to do. Anyone wanting to read please heed the TW’s as there is some very serious shit in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit