Going Bovine

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Cameron Smith, average teenager, is content to go through life a loner and a social misfit. A social misfit means no one ever noticing you, not living up to anyone’s expectations, even your own. It means not caring about, well, anything. But when he starts experiencing uncontrollable fits and strange hallucinations, he chalks it up to some bad weed.

When one of those fits leads to him flipping out and punching a fellow classmate in the middle of class, people seriously start to take notice of him. Is it drugs? Is he psycho? No, it’s worse. Cameron has Mad Cow disease. A disease that has caused all of this, a disease that ultimately will kill him.

Unless he listens to the pink haired, punk rock angel Dulcie. Dulcie tells him the only way to save himself and the entire world is to find Doctor X. Who’s Doctor X? A doctor that disappeared ages ago, and hasn’t been seen since. So, with the help of Dulcie and a dwarf named Gonzo, Cameron sets out on the road trip of all road trips in the hopes of finding the doctor, in hopes of finding himself before it’s too late.

Only author Libba Bray could write such a book as Going Bovine. She manages to take something so serious, something so scary and spin it into a laugh out loud book full of memorable moments and unforgettable characters. Moments like Cameron and Gonzo getting picked up by a smoothie drinking cult, and characters like a Norse god disguised as a garden gnome.

Going Bovine is seamless written, and realistic, almost to the point of being too realistic. Emotions ride high in this book, and readers will experience all the ups and downs right alongside Cameron.Bray challenges readers to step into Cameron’s shoes to better understand what he’s going through. But still, she manages to  weave fantastical moments and elements that make the book stand out from other young adult novels.