nickschneider 's review for:

Cows by Matthew Stokoe

1.5

challenging dark funny tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book is gross for the sake of being growth. there is a good opportunity for some kind of meta narrative (Maybe hints at Stephen being unreliable) but it is just all presented at face value, which does not play well with the overall impossibility/wackiness of the events that unfold (talking cows, people eating poop/vomit/raw meat, etc.) 

I would not even really recommend reading this as a test of your stomach. its gross at first but by about 30 pages in I was just numb to it, nothing else about it is redeeming in any way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail