Review: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

  Going Bovine by Libba Bray

• Pub. Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
• Format: Paperback , 496pp
• Age Range: Young Adult

• ISBN-13: 9780385733984
• ISBN: 0385733984
• Source: Purchased

Synopsis:

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. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

Lisa’s Thoughts:

So after reading Beauty Queens, I knew that I wanted to read more from Libba Bray.  I completely enjoy her light and funny style.  That being said the differences between these two books are day and night.  In Going Bovine, Cameron is floating through life, that is until he is diagnosed with the human form of Mad Cow Disease, it has a very long name and now when I go to donate blood (on Monday actually) I will know what it is.  I have see it on the list time and time again but had not idea.  I love when I learn something unexpected from a book.  Anyway back to the book, it is filled with fun adventure and crazy cast of characters.  It is a crazy road trip in efforts to find Dr. X and save his own life, but things just keep going wrong and getting off track.  There are flashing of his family and the hospital room throughout the story, usually when he falls asleep.  Will Cam be able to find Dr. X and save himself?

One frustration in this story was that it seemed to move pretty slowly at times, for me it slowed to a crawl.  While I enjoyed the story, I think that it could have moved a little faster.  I enjoyed the relationship with Dulcie and Cameron, I just wonder what else would have happened had there been some more time.  All in all, this was a very creative book as all of Libba Bray’s are and I enjoyed reading it.

My Rating:

4 lovely penguins, like I said above it was very creative story but moved a little slow for me.