Going Bovine by Libba Bray

GOING BOVINE, by Libba Bray:...
Cameron Smith is kind of a loser; he is scraping by in his classes, not interested in college, not popular and hangs out with the kids who smoke pot in the bathroom. He suffers from constant comparisons to his preppy twin sister Jenna and seems to be a big disappointment to his parents. Basically Cameron has no motivation and is on the path to nowhere. A terrible sickness is about to change Cam's life forever.(Wow what a great outlook for a kid….the road to nowhere and then a dark crazy sickness!!)

That road to nowhere takes a twist when his outrageous behavior and terrifying visions are revealed to be caused not by drug use (which everyone thinks and which he does do) but an incurable case of mad cow disease. As the tissue in his brain breaks down, he slowly and painfully go’s crazy. ........(Why the hell did I read this again?)...............….apparently when the madness begins to take over, his brain gives into the freaky visions of fire and wizards and all things mad cow disease makes your brain do. Pretty soon, Cameron is in the hospital with a terminal diagnosis and facing the reality that he might be about to die.

ONCE we reach the hospital stage things get even weirder…..he meets a punk rock angel named Dulcie and a hypochondriac dwarf named Gonzo. At this point I’m thinking…wow… I’ve now left planet earth…. Cameron sets off on a road trip to find Dr. X, a physicist who disappeared years ago. Dr. X holds both the potential to destroy the entire world and the ability to cure Cameron's disease. Along the way an indestructible talking yard gnome who might be the incarnation of the Norse god Balder, joins Cameron's trip….hmmmmm yeah…….

I loved the Gemma Doyle Trilogy and I think Libba Bray is a very talented and fabulous writer. That’s why going into Bovine I was very surprised this was the same author. It was a complete 180 from the style of the Gemma books, not that she picked a different topic or even the fact that humor is a talent she possesses (there were many humorous lines in her previous books) but the writing itself seemed to be coming from a different person. I guess that in itself is talent when you can whip out a book so unlike your previous writings it gives the reader a complete and new look at the author.

What bothered me was the fact that I find no humor in a story of a young boy dying of an incurable disease, no matter what quirky and ludicrous characters he meets (hence he’s going absolutely crazy so the strange characters fit the story) but If you’ve ever watched a young person or any person for that matter that you are close with die, reading a humorous whacked out story about someone losing their life is no laughing matter.
I also (coming from a mom’s perspective) am finding a not so great trend in the YA world: What’s up with all the bone head irresponsible parents? Even more disturbing, since when did writing about kids doing drugs become a cool and funny subject to laugh about? Don’t schools and parents and countless others stress to our children “Don’t do Drugs"? Why is it that a novel targeted towards young teens have characters smoking pot as cool and throwing the f-bomb around like the word whatever? I mean the swearing doesn’t bother me but the drug use does. I recently read a series where a girl was shooting up "faerie" drugs and sharing needles with a group of runaway kids…and it wasn’t written in a way to discourage this type of behavior but made it sound cool and dangerously fun. Yeah sorry I think that is an irresponsible message to young kids.

2/5 Mature YA- Out There- Fiction