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Going Bovine

by Libba Bray (Goodreads Author)

3.65 · rating details · 7,717 ratings · 1,956 reviews

Can Cameron find what he’s looking for?

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. ...more

Hardcover, 480 pages

Published September 22nd 2009 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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2010 Best Books for Young Adults (Nominations)

45th out of 571 books — 1,831 voters

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

What Should I Read in 2011?

32nd out of 559 books — 703 voters

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Apr 12, 2010

Annalisa rated it

Recommends it for: beware of an overuse of the f word, blah

Recommended to Annalisa by: YA book club

Shelves: book-club, young-adult, magical-realism, humor, satire, voice, cover

Bray takes on the great Don Quixote and delivers more than a modern satire. She gives us a wild ride worthy of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz that is not only fun and hilarious but moving and exceptionally written. This novel is a monumental undertaking and somehow Bray accomplishes it.

In the beginning, I found Cameron wholly unrelatable, but Bray is so witty and has such a way with sarcastic metaphors and sneaking in description so you see and smell and hear and feel the boo...more

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Dec 20, 2010

Thomas rated it

Sixteen year old Cameron Smith confidently states that the best day of his entire life was when he was a toddler and his family visited Disney Land. During that day he almost got himself killed in a freak drowning accident. Already it is evident of Cameron's mindset, or the teenage group he fits into: the lazy, jaded, underachievers that dwell within the restrooms of high school smoking pot. Things can't seem to get any worse until Cameron learns he has contracted Mad Cow Disease and that his de...moreSixteen year old Cameron Smith confidently states that the best day of his entire life was when he was a toddler and his family visited Disney Land. During that day he almost got himself killed in a freak drowning accident. Already it is evident of Cameron's mindset, or the teenage group he fits into: the lazy, jaded, underachievers that dwell within the restrooms of high school smoking pot. Things can't seem to get any worse until Cameron learns he has contracted Mad Cow Disease and that his death is inevitable. After his immediate hospitalization a drug-induced hallucination appears by his bedside and persuades him to find a cure and save the world from evil fire giants. The remainder of the book details his adventures, including punk cow angels, New Orleans greatest musicians, Slurpee machines gone wild, and a talking yard gnome. Throughout his exciting endeavor Cameron learns what truly separates simply existing and living life to the fullest.

Whether it was the fact that I was busy achieving this book's theme (living life) or that the plot seemed to drag, it took me quite a long time to finish this novel. What stood out to me the most but failed to impress me was the seemingly endless middle portion of the book where Cameron goes on the crazy adventure. Bray does a good job of communicating the fact that Cameron's brain is deteriorating - yet I never felt a connection to the character at all. Which is strange because I am an adolescent male.

The main highlight of Going Bovine was its humorous events. There were moments I found myself laughing out loud due to the sheer hilarity of occurrences taking place. There were also quite a few allusions to various individuals and objects, however, because of the book's intended age group I'm fairly certain that many teenagers will not understand the references and will be left scratching their heads in confusion.

Another good aspect of Going Bovine was its central theme or the idea that Bray is trying to communicate throughout the story: living life to the fullest and not letting yourself simply exist. The theme was stuck into almost every situation Cameron found himself in, so even the most uneducated teen could understand what the book is about. Sadly, Cameron's little fantasy that was taking place inside his mind didn't enthrall me at all - by the middle of the book I was rapidly flipping the pages not because I couldn't wait to see what was happening, but because I wanted to get it over with. A little note to the side is that the last few pages were actually extraordinary, it was one of the few moments I found myself emotionally connecting to the story and characters. Overall I would only recommend this to people that don't have a to-read list containing a large amount of books because Going Bovine will take you a while to finish and by the end you may be wondering why you bothered to read it in the first place (although it wasn't that horrible).

Want to read more of my reviews? Follow me here.(less)

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Feb 26, 2011

Nomes marked it as graveyard-of-abandoned-books

Shelves: i-thought-i-would-love-this-but, ya-male-pov, 2011, out-of-the-loop, not-for-me

me + this book = fail.

I made it to page 93 and still wasn't feeling it. I think it was just a touch too random and there were so many tangents from the main story-line that I wasn't engaged enough.

Also, the quirky anecdotes and asides just didn't do anything for me. Perhaps as an Aussie I just have a different sense of humour and found it too hard to relate?

Once I started doing the skimming thing (I was trying to zoom ahead and see if I could stumble across t...more

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Jan 07, 2012

Caris rated it

Shelves: 2012, young-adult, kindle

In 1995, Paramount Pictures released a movie called Clueless. I remember when the previews were out, and, honestly, there was nothing I wanted to see less. This was, after all, the same year that 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and Mortal Kombat found their place on the big screen. Alicia Silverstone’s crowning glory was just not at the top of my eleven-year-old Big List o’ Shit.

A year later, I was chilling with my cousin, a bona fide teenage girl. Clueless was on H...more

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Dec 01, 2010

Morgan F rated it

Shelves: young-adult, 2000s, fantasy, nfa-library, read-2010, its-a-boy, haha, good-sized, awesome-titles

There will be spoilers at the end of this review. Don't worry; I'll give you plenty of notice. I just hate clickin that little spoilers box, because if the rest of the world is like me, no one will read this review because of the energy it takes to open the page.

Cameron is just your average teen guy. He's lazy, aimless, and the highlight of his day is smoking pot in the school rest room. But then the unexpected happens: he get's mad cow disease, which is fatal in every single ca...more

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Jun 13, 2011

Stephanie rated it

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2011, dnf, young-adult

I really loved the writing in "Going Bovine"; Libba Bray can write very well. I very much enjoyed the snarky dialogue but could have lived without the angst-y teenage BS. Cameron is not a lovable kid; he's miserable and transmits his misery page after page. His parents and sister are so unbelievably self-absorbed that I just could not connect with them or Cameron after wading through more than half of the book. I realy hate not finishing a book but I had to let this one go. However, si...more

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Jun 27, 2011

Melissa rated it

Well....I enjoyed the first chapter.

In all, the book was quite slow paced (480 freaking pages of it) and entirely predictable. The tone drove me absolutely insane. It sounded as if Bray was trying too hard to make her character witty and sarcastic. So instead of using the "Less is more" technique, Bray succeeded in creating a character that thinks they are incredibly funny and witty, when in reality, was extremely irritating.

I will admit that the concept of the ...more

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Jan 28, 2011

♫ נєηη - ѕσυℓ σƒ ѕσυη∂ ♫ rated it

Shelves: novel, books-i-got-shivers-from, most-memorable-characters, must-reads-before-you-die, covers-i-♥, writers-i-look-up-to, favorites

NOTE: This review may have some spoilers in the part where I talk about the characters. Besides that, this review is spoiler free and FDA approved.

Going Bovine was possibly one of the best books I have ever read. No joke. I mean, I’ve used the term “best book ever” until it was worn out to my sister’s old pair of Converse that really should be mine now, but no, my parents just had to give it back to her.

Screw her feet that stopped growing after she hit the age of fourteen.
...more

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Apr 24, 2011

Ashley Poston rated it

Shelves: blog

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I must say, if you can read this 400 page monstrosity of doobie-tokin' mad cow let's-go-on-a-crazy-adventure-to-find-cure-and-don't-forget-the-dwarf-and-the-yard-gnome hysteria without shedding a tear, you are one powerful human being, sir (or ma'am, depending). From the premise of the novel, it sounds like a nonsensical romp where Bray just let her goofies rip and tear ass through this geek-studded terrain of comical plotlines and slap-stick devices, but it's much, much more.

It's so m...moreI must say, if you can read this 400 page monstrosity of doobie-tokin' mad cow let's-go-on-a-crazy-adventure-to-find-cure-and-don't-forget-the-dwarf-and-the-yard-gnome hysteria without shedding a tear, you are one powerful human being, sir (or ma'am, depending). From the premise of the novel, it sounds like a nonsensical romp where Bray just let her goofies rip and tear ass through this geek-studded terrain of comical plotlines and slap-stick devices, but it's much, much more.

It's so much more, I'm afraid that the world might have spontaneously combusted if she had written a single page more. Phew! Despite the easy read, it took me a while to actually finish it. Bray creates characters and situations that just let you savor the moment. The descriptions are lush and vibrant to the point of tasting the waffles, feeling the exhilaration of time-travel, and making of love to a pink-haired angel. It's just all so vivid and alive. The entire novel made me feel alive and whole, it made me laugh, and cry, and grin like a maniac.

The hero, Cameron, isn't likable--at all. He's self-centered, biased to the point of boredom, and extremely apathetic to life in general. He states in the first chapter that the most exciting part of his life was when (spoiler!) he had almost drowned on Disney World's Small World ride when he was little. He thinks his life sucks. He never takes initiative. He always sidles off to the wayside, and waits for something to happen to him. He waits for the world to come to him, because he's apparently too good to go get it himself. In other words, he's a self-righteous prick who I wish I could've curb-stomped into the ground.

But then plot happens, and of course nothing is the same after. He became one of my best friends by the end of the novel--a real chum. Someone I'd trust watching my back, you know?

The secondary characters--Dulcie (who I personally adore), Gonzo, and Balder--all of them teem with bubbly life. I wanted them to be real. I wanted to see Dulcie's wings, and shake Gonzo's hand, and hear one of Balder's epic stories. I wanted to be on that adventure with Cameron, and it even pained me (OK, yeah I know that sounds weird) when I knew it was just a novel, and that these wonderful, fresh people weren't real.

And, in the end, I think that is what completely sold me on this novel. It was a little long for my patience, yes, and I often found myself flipping pages, wondering when the next chapter would begin, but it wasn't because I was bored, but because I couldn't wait. I loved the analogies, how Bray allowed you to think what you wanted, how while some things were left up to interpretation, others weren't. I loved how she punned on real-life geek-dom, and how she spoofed teenage melodrama. I loved the way she characterized music, and how jazz seemed to be the life of the entire universe. I wanted to hear that B-Flat only Junior Webster could hear--I waited to hear it with Cameron. There are more things that I loved about this novel, I can't even list them all.

The favorite of them all, however, has to be the sheer possibility to quote this book. There are so many wonderful insights that just chill me to the bone. So many passages that I just want to hi-lite and sigh over and read again and again just to feel that way again. Bray is such a wonderful writer. Reading this was like walking into a cupcake shop knowing that everything was going to be sweet and delicious.

A few of my favorites quotes are (spoilers!):
"And when it comes, her kiss is like something not so much felt as found."
I will get chills every time I read that line. Every. Time.

"We live in fear and forget to walk in hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner. It's probably hungry and would appreciate the invitation."
As you can see, it's also a sad story. It's sad in a wild, exhilarating, and at-times completely bonkers way. With every mote of sadness comes this flurry of funny, happy life. It's purely wonderful. Hell, I actually cried--multiple times!. They weren't those long, drawn-out OH-EM-GEE-DUMBLEDORE-IS-DEAD type of cries, but just the way she created a movement, the way she illuminated an emotion. It was beautiful--glorious.

You have to at least try this novel. You have to at least read the first fifty pages, and see if it's your cup of tea. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. But just try it, and if it turns out to be your favorite flavor of english tea, then I hope you will find Cameron's journey just as heartbreaking, hopeful, and endearing as I did.

Wow. Just... wow.(less)

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Dec 01, 2011

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it

Shelves: disappointing-books

Yep, two stars. (Libba Bray fans are probably giving me the stink eye.) Don't get me wrong: I think Libba Bray is a good writer with fascinating takes on certain ideas and premises, but oftentimes her stories lose me because of the characters. I never really come away loving any of them, and that's a sad thing since other books have introduced me to flawed characters that I still end up loving. (Yes, it is essential that I have characters to latch onto in a story. If not, the book receives littl...more

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Mar 01, 2010

Jonathon Arntson rated it

Shelves: 2010

Wow. This book is f*ing A-Ma-Zing! In fact, it's not a book. It is an HBO mini-series playing in your mind, if LotR met Dude Where's My Car, had a baby, that baby grew up and met every epic teen novel and movie from the last fifteen years and they all had one big literary orgy. Protection was used. Kinda.

Going Bovine is more than an unusual book; it is abnormal, bizarre, controversial, and extraordinary. I am a quick reader; you could say that I am a big fan of quickies. This book ...moreWow. This book is f*ing A-Ma-Zing! In fact, it's not a book. It is an HBO mini-series playing in your mind, if LotR met Dude Where's My Car, had a baby, that baby grew up and met every epic teen novel and movie from the last fifteen years and they all had one big literary orgy. Protection was used. Kinda.

Going Bovine is more than an unusual book; it is abnormal, bizarre, controversial, and extraordinary. I am a quick reader; you could say that I am a big fan of quickies. This book took me TWO WEEKS to read. A record not broken since like 2006...yes, when I only read three books. This is not a basis by which to consider the book bad. The delay is all blogging's fault, well, my fault for blogging too much and not reading enough. Uh, back to the book.

Bray brings on an impressive cast of characters, from a drag queen to odd scientists to these weird happy cult people. Bray doesn't just hand you a sucker of fervor, she makes you work for your feelings toward the characters, for both good and bad. Frankly, the MC, Cameron, annoyed the hell outta me most of the time, but since he's dying, I had to cut him slack. Have you ever had a friend who was very sick, but they are annoying and insufferable - not from being sick, just because they're that way - and you find yourself loyally sticking by their side until they come to their "I am a bad person, what the hell is wrong with me" epiphany? No, okay, well, neither have I, but I found myself doing that with Cameron. Thankfully it's not just you and him in the room. You've got this hella funny Little Person, the friend that always makes you laugh, but they have weird quirks that make you laugh even hard when they are attempting to be serious. There's also the cool buddy that everyone likes, he's a garden gnome. You've got the above all of you friend, that is trying to be just like you, but no matter how hard they try, you continue to shine them in a different light, mostly because you're probably in love with them, oh and no one else can see them, which makes you look crazy. Oh, then there's you, the reader, the listener. You don't have any input on anything, but you are subject to every high and every low.

Living inside Cameron's head as he travels across the US after ditching the hospital with the LP is tedious, at times, and fantastically funny at others. The book takes place in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Bray gives us a satirical book based on completely believable characters, even the magical ones seem so right. I found myself rooting for Cameron because I wanted him to, like, save the world, but I also found myself rooting for Bray. She turns some of today's ideas: pop-culture, corporate America, etc., and shines on them an unfamiliar light. I laughed hysterically throughout the book. Some of the time because what she was telling us I felt to be completely true and other times because I felt I was learning something new in a way all teachers would envy. In the end, Bray's message is about life, reality, and our right to control the two.

Please forgive the long-winded and mostly discombobulated sorry excuse for a review. I so wish I had some powerful message to poetically place here, but, alas, you get a 'read the damn book!' instead. It will take patience, I will tell you that. It's not wrapped up in a pretty bow, but the last page will make it all so worth it. I dare you to stay a cynic.(less)

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Oct 08, 2009

R rated it

Shelves: could-not-bring-self-to-finish, ya, printz

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 12, 2010

Megan added it

Shelves: ya, put-it-down

I could *not* make a dent in this. Every time I picked it up, I put it right back down again. I liked the Gemma Doyle books, and Libba Bray, from what I've gleaned through interviews and funny youtube videos co-starring Maureen Johnson and Scott Westerfeld, seems like a super-fun person. But this just isn't a book for me.

I think I'm finally learning to stop feeling guilty about doing the ditch. I will champion books and reading to the bitter end, but "every book, its reader"...more

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Nov 28, 2011

Cyrus rated it

My favorite book of all time. Imagine Brian Lee O'Malley surrendering his masterpiece Scott Pilgrim series to Bob Dylan, Scott Adams and Jack Kerouac. The constraints are Scott Pilgrim is now a stoner who has mad cow disease, Ramona is a punk rock angel who flies in and out of Scott's life, and Wallace is a hypochondriac dwarf human. They all take a road trip through the dirty South and face many a task. New Orleans blues legends, smile cults, eskimo rock bands, evil snowglobes and the occai...more

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Apr 19, 2010

kari rated it

Shelves: 2010, ya, 5-star

Wow! What a wild ride! Beautiful and sad.
Cameron is leading a boring teenage life; doesn't really fit in and doesn't really seem to care. He's mostly just going through the motions of life without really thinking about what matters to him or what his future holds.
Then, after having halucinations, he's diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease and that's when things get interesting. The pieces of his memories, random thoughts from his life are scrambled with physics and philosophy, reality and ...more

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Feb 16, 2010

~Tina~ rated it

Recommended to ~Tina~ by: oliviasbooks

Shelves: young-adult, angels, unique, read-2010

Going Bovine is one of those really cool books that you didn't know existed till it's in your hands and your madly flipping the pages to find out what's going on. Now this is a book that has so much meaning, so much heart, so much soul, but with a twisted witty humor to entertain every page of this masterpiece.

This book was a really trip and a half! I didn't know where Cameron's hallucinations start and where his reality ended. The lines are very fuzzy, but the adventure getting ther...more

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Jul 07, 2010

Eric rated it

As I plow through this sludge, I'm reminded of a favorite quote, which I think is from Charles Ives, "Awards are the badges of mediocrity." I am becoming cynical and distrustful of any work, fiction or otherwise, that wins any award.

I don't read a metric tonne of YA, I like much of it, and this book looked interesting. The cover, title, and premise of this novel intrigued me; but since I insist on doing idiotic things, like reading forwards, after I return home from the...moreAs I plow through this sludge, I'm reminded of a favorite quote, which I think is from Charles Ives, "Awards are the badges of mediocrity." I am becoming cynical and distrustful of any work, fiction or otherwise, that wins any award.

I don't read a metric tonne of YA, I like much of it, and this book looked interesting. The cover, title, and premise of this novel intrigued me; but since I insist on doing idiotic things, like reading forwards, after I return home from the library, I should have known better. I found the writers mocking and limp satiric voice off-putting, not nearly so in the teenage protagonist, but still...satire needs to be leavened with wit, truth and sympathy, all of which are almost completely lacking in this book.

Yet, I am plowing on, at nearly the half way point, the book is just a chore to read. I will put up with language, sex, violence, anything, as long as it is integral to the story, it's development or morality - in this case it seems to have been the product of (perhaps an attempt at) shock value, or maybe pseudo-realism, and ultimately comes off as cheap writing. Also the book is full of modern cliches about everything - the wise African American, Jazz loving, record store owner; the detached, fitness obsessed, morally obtuse, overly logical father; the ditsy, liberal arts Mom; the shallow, weight obsessed, mocking cheer-leader sister; the Texan, Christian, high school hypocrites. Blah, blah, blah.

The protagonist is unlikable, which is fine for a start, but after 100 pages I wished him to go away, especially since the novel is all first person narrative. Also, as someone who was a nerdy teenager, not too long ago, he just didn't seem real - I remember what it was like to be 16 and on the outside, not caring about much, but still there was something very manufactured about him, and his world. It didn't ring very true - the writing is very good (in spite of my comment above about choices of language), the author, Libba Bray, knows how to write; but the story just didn't jive very well. All of the irony and Don Quixote references were slathered on far too thickly for my taste and showed an inability to create a plot of originality or value - as a result the story didn't generate any longing for more, for beauty, or for the character to triumph. It is basically a modern anthem to a sort of Nietzsche-ian despair and a plummet into narcissism, disguised as wisdom. Plus it didn't help that the works major conceit is transparent, I am 99% sure I know how the book will end, and peeking at the other reviews here confirms my suspicions. The bulk of the narrative, the whole peripatetic voyage is too much, all the time, small doses, honey please. The humor is cruel and un-truthful, and the topics of attack are frankly easy in our current culture. She takes on materialism - oh no, not that, no one's ever done that before; and mega-corporations, oh, no, not that, not like the mega-corporation that's publishing this tripe. Please. Here other targets are equally easy - and in fact she has neither a consistent philosophy or moral vision for the work so far - what she likes is lauded, what she dis-likes is condemned, hypocrisy is the main theme - and since hypocrisy is the ne plus ultra of modern sins - so what? She reveals throughout the book her own hypocrisy...at any rate...

If you want a dark window into our culture - with little literary or redemptive value, you might like this book - otherwise, don't waste your time or money. I have rarely been moved to write such a scathing review, but the waste of talent that this book represents and the awards it garnered demanded it. I'm highly suspicious that it was the meaninglessness and nastiness of this work that prompted the awards - how else to explain the awards with its lack of merit, originality, or vision.(less)

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Dec 13, 2010

Isamlq rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone who likes a good laugh...

I'm trying to come up with a decent review that will explain how weird/great/different this book is. (And I have a couple of chapters to go!)I'M REALLY INTO IT!!!! Going Bovine is going to be impossible to explain so allow me my head start.

Pigeon holes...
Cameron:Stoner,Mad Cow Disease,Hallucinations
Dulcie: Punk rock angel
Gonzo: The hypochondriac dwarf
And Dr. X...'Nuf said

More? All righty... I'm told he eventually finds the meaning of life after but that's...more

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Feb 04, 2011

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: audio, ppya-2011-adventure-seekers

I was listening to this unabridged audiobook on my drive to the airport for ALA Annual. I knew I was going to hear Libba Bray's acceptance speech for this book, and it was quite the treat! Do I think this is the best book ever? No way. But I think the Printz committee did a great job picking a winner. This book is different and showing where YA literature is going in the future. It's complex, yet simple. I laughed and got a little teary at the end. I wanted to befriend Cameron. And adopt hi...more

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Nov 18, 2009

Riley Carney rated it

Going Bovine was one of the strangest books I have ever read. It was also one of the funniest books I’ve read. The premise in itself is amusing, though depressing – sixteen-year-old Cameron is an ordinary teenager dealing with the thrills and kills of high school until, that is, he is diagnosed with mad cow disease. Cameron begins to see visions that hover between hallucinations and reality. He is told by one of these hallucinations, a punk rock angel, that he must stop the band of dark energy ...more

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Oct 17, 2009

Sammi rated it

Believe it or not, this is NOT the weirdest book I've ever read. It's in the top ten, certainly, but even with a talking Norse God/lawn gnome and a punk angel that speaks in riddles, it is not the oddest story I have ever picked up.

That being said, I was fairly impressed with this book. Libba Bray took a complete one-eighty in writing this as a follow up to her series A Great and Terrible Beauty. Not only does this story have a completely different concept than its predecessors, but it...more

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Jan 05, 2010

Krystle Yanagihara rated it

What-the-heck. This book was off the charts weird. If you were something in the vein of her Gemma Doyle trilogy, step back now because it’s way, way, way different.

The first thing you notice is her writing style. It’s sarcastic, snarky, and light-hearted. Not to mention it’s got eccentric weaved in all over it. I’m not sure if I was fan of it because it felt overly forced and she tried, maybe, a bit too hard making it sound quirky. But then again her journal entries, interviews, and ...moreWhat-the-heck. This book was off the charts weird. If you were something in the vein of her Gemma Doyle trilogy, step back now because it’s way, way, way different.

The first thing you notice is her writing style. It’s sarcastic, snarky, and light-hearted. Not to mention it’s got eccentric weaved in all over it. I’m not sure if I was fan of it because it felt overly forced and she tried, maybe, a bit too hard making it sound quirky. But then again her journal entries, interviews, and everything else you read about her is just as funky. So maybe it’s more in the vein of this being her real self shining through.

Cameron is one of your typical aloof, whiny, disillusioned teen, who somehow gets caught up in the nasty twists of fate and throughout the book we watch him evolve by the challenges his quest present him with. His other sidekicks, Gonzo and Balder, were equally amusing and quite distinct. All were pretty well developed I would say, as I had no problems distinguishing who was who and they didn’t blend into some bland mash.

The real problem I had with this book was that it took forever to get to the real plot points highlighted in the premise and I kept checking on the length of the chapters to see how much more of this book I had to go. I know it’s meant to bring about back story and give everyone a chance to shine and develop, but honestly, it was a chore to read through and I found myself bored more than anything.

There were lots of allusions to some of the more popular media outlets (MTV, Star Wars, Myspace, and so on) in here and lots of swearing. Also some sex. I have to admit some parts of the book were neat and stood out: Cameron being diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease, the sometimes deeper touch on space/time/life/etc, and the weird villains that they come up against.

I’m not sure if I’m satisfied with the ending. It’s either cliché, or if you think the other way, not, but I don’t know if the conclusion for our main character was sufficient. To sum it up, this whole book leaves me with an “eh” feeling. But I'm sure some of you will enjoy this humor more than I did.(less)

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Jan 26, 2010

SheWunders rated it

Shelves: 2009-10, ya-childrens_lit

Update Jan 2010 - WHAT did I say back in October? Did I call this or what? The Printz people should hire me. LOL!! I'M A GENIUS!

-----------------------------------------------------
Oct 2009 -

I'm going to call it - This book will win the Printz award for 2009. It's an incredibly well written, honest, intriguing journey of a book.

However, I figured out the "big surprise" pretty early and I think it spoiled the Don Quixote-like road trip t...more

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Jun 26, 2011

Scott rated it

Holy cow (pun intended), this book was really good in a weird way. In short, boy with mad cow disease meets dwarf, lawn gnome and punk rocker angel. 'Nough said. Read it. Absolutely not middle school appropriate.

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May 31, 2009

Barry rated it

Shelves: client-s-books

I'm biased, of course. Libba's not just my client, she's my wife. But this is one of the funniest books I've ever read, and will break your heart at the same time.

She wrote the first draft of this book in one month, for a workshop organized by Cynthia Leitich Smith. It just poured out of her, and I knew it was something special when she'd talk about it with this little gleam in her eye.

Fans of the Gemma books may not initially think this is for them, but I think the roma...more

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Feb 07, 2012

Wandering Librarians rated it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, adventure, ya, boy-appeal

Cameron is dying of mad cow disease. His only hope is to go on a mission laid out to him by Dulcie, an angel. With his sort of friend Gonzo, a hypochondriac dwarf, and a yard gnome who's really the Viking god Balder, Cameron goes off to find Dr. X, the only man who can cure him. Cameron's also suppose to save the world while he's at it.
I hated this. Like, actually hated it. I can't say I hate a lot of books. Actually, the only other book I can think of that I actually hated is Ethan ...moreCameron is dying of mad cow disease. His only hope is to go on a mission laid out to him by Dulcie, an angel. With his sort of friend Gonzo, a hypochondriac dwarf, and a yard gnome who's really the Viking god Balder, Cameron goes off to find Dr. X, the only man who can cure him. Cameron's also suppose to save the world while he's at it.
I hated this. Like, actually hated it. I can't say I hate a lot of books. Actually, the only other book I can think of that I actually hated is Ethan Frome. It's rare that I have such a strong negative reaction to a book, because usually if I don't like a book, I just stop reading it and that's it. So I think the fact that I made myself go through it, disliking it the whole time, has now turned to bitter, bitter hatred.

I tried to read Going Bovine when it first came out, because I like Libba Bray. I disliked it enough that a hundred pages in I stopped reading it, because life's too short to read bad books. Then it won the Printz. I was outraged. How the hell did it win the Printz? My only answer was that the committee was trying to be edgy that year, what with Going Bovine and The Monstrumologist and Punkzilla.

So why, you may ask, have I read it now? Well, because the YA book group I'm in was reading it. So I thought I'd listen to the audio, because at least that way I'd be able to get through it. So I got through it. And now I hate it, and I also hated the audio. Let's talk about the audio first. It was read by Erik Davies, a man on whose lips teenage slang sounds absolutely ridiculous. So there was that. There was also the fact that every single female character, regardless of what her personality was like, was represented with a high pitched, breathy voice that was pissing me off SO MUCH. Also, the dialogue in the book itself was just not that great and having it read aloud highlighted that fact. So I don't recommend the audio.

But I don't recommend the book itself either. It was a long (really long) confusing mishmash with a meandering plot that disappears for considerable lengths of time. And it was also suppose to be a retelling of Don Quixote, but it just didn't work. Cameron kept having these encounters and experiences along his journey that added absolutely nothing to the trip. For example, Cameron spends five days living with a cult, then he and Gonzo run away. There was no point to it. Cameron didn't learn anything, didn't grow, there were no character developments and there were no new characters introduced that we actually needed. It was a complete waste of time to make it fit with the Don Quixote theme. The issue with that is I'm assuming most people who would pick up Going Bovine won't have read Don Quixote, so they won't see a connection and all it will seem is a waste of time. There was a lot of that.

Another issue I had was that the book was filled with unpleasant characters that I just didn't care about. Not at all. I didn't care what happened to Cameron, or Gonzo, or the yard gnome, or anyone. I just couldn't connect with any of the people in this story, and that makes it very hard to care about, much less enjoy a book.

Now before people get all pissy, I like Libba Bray. Really, I do. She's funny and fascinating. I listened to her Printz acceptance speech, and it was a very nice speech and made me totally want to hang out with her. But I still didn't like her book. So there we are. Maybe I'll give Beauty Queens a try. (less)

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Dec 17, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it

Shelves: 2010, what-the-what, ya-love

"Not that you should put your cat in a box with poison; that's why it's a thought experiment..." Rachel points out, "...and the atom either decays and kills the cat - or it doesn't. Until you open up the box and observe, everything's a probability."

"Wrong," Kevin says. "You're hung up on the observer effect. You don't control the outcome. You don't create the reality. Face it - the cat's either alive or it's dead." (11)

ATTENTION: Becaus...more"Not that you should put your cat in a box with poison; that's why it's a thought experiment..." Rachel points out, "...and the atom either decays and kills the cat - or it doesn't. Until you open up the box and observe, everything's a probability."

"Wrong," Kevin says. "You're hung up on the observer effect. You don't control the outcome. You don't create the reality. Face it - the cat's either alive or it's dead." (11)

ATTENTION: Because I am working through my likes and dislikes of this book there will be potential SPOILERS. Read at your own risk. :)
OK. So here's the deal. We meet this boy, Cameron, who I believe is sixteen and a total slacker. I mean, no commitment, could care less about anything, except he digs this odd import band that makes weird music. But that's about it. No friends. And he's okay with it. No goals. And he's okay with it. Overall, not the type of character that you'd be rooting for. Ya hear me? Perhaps the anti-hero type?

Then, Cameron starts spazzing out. He is cursing out loud like he's got a good case of tourettes, twitching all nervous and uncontrollable-like, and actually gets into a fight. Full on physical punching the dude that is with his sister. Obviously parents freak and think he's on drugs. But nope. They were wrong. As it happens, Cameron caught a bad case of Mad Cow's disease.

Wherein, he ends up in the hospital fighting for his life when an uber hot angel girl (Dulcie) convinces him he must go on a mission with this OCD/ hypochondriac dwarf friend of his who is also in the hospital, by the name of Gonzo (and it is pretty hysterical since the true Gonzo was fearless and this one is a case of "OMG I'm dying from EVERYTHING!"). And of course, Cameron goes. Because it wouldn't be a book without an adventure right?

So now, I am starting to have some problems with the book and we're not even half way through it. First, I could care less about Cameron. Really. So what if he has this rare cow disease that is eating away at his brain. He just didn't convince me. Which means that i have to rely on the story. Cameron and Gonzo go traipsing through the states, first to New Orleans (because of course every crazy adventure has to start in NOLA) and the eventual goal is Florida (we're gonna go to disney world, ma!). Along the way he ends up talking to Dulcie off and on, meeting interesting characters, and having philosophy ideas posed to him. I was instantly reminded of Tom Robbin's novels, except Robbin's is an expert at taking you through a mental adventure and I found this to be amateurish and contrived. For example, Cameron and Gonzo get picked up by these CESSNAB folks and taken to their commune. They soon find out that CESSNAB stands for "Church of Everlasting Satisfaction and Snack N' Bowl". Yup. A utopia where everyone is happy, but in fact, is a dystopia because no one is free to feel anything else or be different from anyone else. A person might ask for a Strawberry Smoothie while their buddy requests Banana but both will be given Vanilla. Ya see? But then we don't get the show don't tell...we get a lecture on the value of individual.

As you can imagine, I debated putting it aside. And, actually I did. I did not bring Going Bovine with me to the Keys. After vacation, I chose to give it one more chance. So I read on.

Now for the big SPOILERS. But it's the ending that sorta redeemed by book for me. Through out the novel we get different glimpses of Cameron lying in the bed at the hospital: coding, getting saved again, new meds burning, nurses talking, parents crying. We know that everything that happens in the Cameron/Dulcie/Gonzo world (oh yeah, and there's a talking gnome, too) is not real. Of course he's dreaming...or hallucinating, or whatever else you want to describe that time when you're slowly dying because your brain is getting eaten alive. But then, Bray doesn't puss out. He doesn't miraculously return back to the land of the healthy. Nope. In the last scene Cameron is dead and hanging out with Dulcie.

Which got me thinking...I don't think that all of those lectures were really written to be verbose but more like Cameron's other selves talking to each other. Sometimes when I dream I know that I'm saying (thinking?) obvious things, but my mind is sorta processing what I've thought about and tying up all of the loose mental strings.

In that sense, the novel came across rather clever. I mean, how often are you going to find a book that deals with death that way? The more I thought about it the more I decided I liked Going Bovine. (less)

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Dec 09, 2011

Knight Of rated it

I wish I could give this rating a 4 1/2 stars because it deserves to be as close to perfect as possible. I read this book over the course of two days, and I was engaged the whole time. I laughed, cried and most importantly thought while reading this book. Some people believe that the ending is predictable, but it's supposed to be! The whole point is in the inevitableness of it.
*Spoiler* Bray does not wish us, the reader, to believe that what's happening is real--she is simply showing us t...more

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Nov 11, 2011

Cemara Dinda (Me and the Bookshelf Life) rated it

Okay, first I just have to say that Going Bovine was one of the most funniest and also the strangest book I have ever come across. Not that it's a bad thing. So there's Cameron just trying to get through highschool like the rest of us, I guess one could say that he's unhappy with his life. He gets some slight oblivion from his parents, including his sister. He doesn't really mind that, he just wants to live his life as "normal"as possible. Until one day he ironically discovers about hi...moreOkay, first I just have to say that Going Bovine was one of the most funniest and also the strangest book I have ever come across. Not that it's a bad thing. So there's Cameron just trying to get through highschool like the rest of us, I guess one could say that he's unhappy with his life. He gets some slight oblivion from his parents, including his sister. He doesn't really mind that, he just wants to live his life as "normal"as possible. Until one day he ironically discovers about his disease, Mad Cow Disease thus leads him to be hospitalized. Mentioned in the overview above, this punk-rock-pink angel called Dulcie comes to his side and tells him to go on a roadtrip, find a cure from a so-called "Doctor X" and save the whole world, whoopee.

Now, readers can look at this book in two different ways; that Dulcie came for him and told him about taking that road trip or that he has some severe hallucinations in his head about the roadtrip because as his brain worsens over Mad Cow's. Whichever way they want to look at the book, Going Bovine will take them on one heck of a cool yet strange journey. He takes Gonzo and Balder with him on this roadtrip across America and they went on to discover so many things. This is simply a coming-of-age story, with some crazy twist to it. Readers will find themselves, laughing, smiling and raising their eyebrows. I know I did all of it.

The plot was digestible, although some parts of the story were just too long and some parts of the chapters just lingers on and never really added much to the story. But I stuck by the story because I felt that it was really worth reading. People might not really like Cameron during the beginning of the book, mostly because of his smart-assed humor and language. But if readers will just hang a little bit longer, they would start to feel for him because of the experiences he had within these pages. I found myself laughing and nodding to the many observations that Libba Bray has put into this book, for example, about modern day life, like school and life as a whole. There are times where I almost quit on the book, but I kept on reading and I appreciated Libba's work at the end.

This story will definitely tickle readers' funnybones and it will tug on their heartstrings. No matter how absurdly funny this book is, never a word of this book is dull.

Again, if I had to grade this book, it would be:(less)

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Nov 01, 2011

Colleen rated it

So, this book was hilarious and moving. It tells a great story about a young guy who never really lived his life until he got sick. His trip to find the cure for his disease is so completely random, but in the most satisfying way. Cameron is a character that I think everyone can relate to, at least I did, because he is the everyday man. He takes his parents and sister for granted, he is not popular in school, and he doesn’t really live his life. After being diagnosed with Mad Cow disease, w...more

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About Libba Bray

What is it about writing an author bio that gives me that deer-in-headlights feeling? It's not exactly like I'm going to say "I was born in Alabama…" and somebody's going to jump up and snarl, "Oh yeah? Prove it!" At least I hope not.

I think what gets me feeling itchy is all that emphasis on the facts of a life, while all the juicy, relevant, human oddity stuff gets...more

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“These are hard times. The world hurts. We live in fear and forget to walk with hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner. It's probably hungry and would appreciate the invitation.” — 137 people liked it

“In a world like this one, only the random makes sense.” — 98 people liked it

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