The Cows

Well of course I'm reviewing Dawn's latest book!
If you've seen past posts on here, you'll have seen my review of Dawn's previous book, Goose.

Tara works for a production company ran by a secretly gay boss, Adam and has a six year old daughter, Annie. When she goes on a date with Jamie, Stella's boss they hit it off and on her way home the texts get steamier between the two and so she accidentally ends up being filmed in public, indecently.

Stella's identical twin, Alice has died of ovarian cancer, her best friend has just announced that she's pregnant and Stella wishes she was pregnant and not newly dumped. She still wears her sister's clothes and even takes on her persona online on Tinder to find a man to have a one night stand with to get her wish of a baby before she has her mastectomy as her mum had breast cancer and carried the BRCA gene.

Cam writes a blog, an extremely popular one that can pay for her to live single in London. She has a younger lover by eight years she writes about as well as the fact she doesn't want children.

As all the drama ensues through out the book, Cam writes to stick up for Tara in all her media and going viral frenzy. Stella, who reads Cam's blog can't possibly understand how she can't not want children as it's her dream. We follow all their stories as they collide and there's hilarious moments ahead for sure! Also look out for the police officers names, truly made me laugh!

The book sheds light on dealing with various issues and the dangers of a videos going viral but finding friends in unexpected places. But seriously, it challenges the stereotypical gender role of a woman, to prove as the title suggests, we don't all have to be made to breed, we have our own opinions on life and women can be happy alone, married, have children or have none at all.
Another great book from Dawn, many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review the book for them!

Just bloody brilliant!
What a book, could not put it down for 2 days. It was so current with bloggers and trolling etc it was also a story about being a woman today. Funny, cringey, sad and overall most importantly a really good read.

I am going to start this review by saying that I didn't very much enjoy Dawn O'Porter's first novel, Paper Aeroplanes. Despite that, I was still excited when The Cows was made available to me through Netgalley. I do like O'Porter and her documentaries, and the blurb on that accompanied this book sounded promising.

This book has changed my opinion on O'Porter as a novelist. Like the little check-ins with the Daily Mail online that many of us enjoy, it is addictive. The book follows the story of three female protagonists: Tara, a single mother and online documentary-maker who, in the opening pages of this book, is filmed masturbating on a public (but empty) train; Cam, a single feisty feminist in her 30s, committed to remaining childless, who writes a very successful blog about being a woman and women's issues; and, finally, Stella, a lonely, soon-to-be single P.A. carrying the BRCA gene, who is grieving the death of her twin sister, Alice, from ovarian cancer. That all makes it sound like there's a lot going on in this novel, but O'Porter handles the ins and outs of all this drama excellently.

What I really like about this book is the sheer boldness of it. O'Porter is absolutely fearless in how she writes about the situations that affect women. Masturbation, sex, orgasms, periods, pregnancy, abortion: O'Porter hides from nothing. She tackles each topic unapologetically, empowering each of the women she celebrates in these stories. If you are a bit prudish, you might recoil at some of the language used here, but it didn't phase me in the slightest.

The characters O'Porter creates between this book's pages are funny, engaging and vivid. I especially love Tara and Cam, both strong, admirable women who forge their own paths in life. Stella, I found myself liking a little bit less. In fact, there were times while reading this novel that I felt myself really pitying her, often worrying about the state of her mental health, and just wishing she would shake herself. But she came through a little better for me towards the end of the book.

Overall, the characters are believable, although some of the situations they got themselves into hung a little bit of the edge of reality, for me. I mean, can you imagine yourself masturbating on a public (but empty) Tube on the Victoria line, just because you felt "horny"? And what Tube that leaves Tottenham Court Road at 11:40pm (approx.) on a Friday night is completely empty? And, even if it was, would you still feel comfortable going for it? (If you would, power to you, but I just found this a little farfetched.) There were other times throughout this book where I thought to myself, "No, that would never happen". For example, in the digital, social media-infiltrated world in which we live, are we expected to believe that something as scandalous as the video of a young, single female pleasuring herself on a London Tube (which we are told has gone viral and been viewed over 3 million times) would escape the attention of a male photographer with an online following and presence? The man in question is Jason, Tara's love interest, who was the cause of her getting so fired up on that very train ride. Right after meeting Tara and saying his goodbyes, he was hit by a cyclist and his phone fell down a drain (leaving him with no way of contacting her). Are we expected to believe that just because he couldn't access the internet on his phone for a period of time, he escaped the hype, the public gossip, the newspaper articles, the Sky News interview etc. relating to this scandal? You can't write a book about the absolute soakage of the internet and social media and then expect us to believe that a story as big as this one didn't reach the one person Tara was trying to track down. Again, it just didn't ring true for me.

Despite these minor blips, however, The Cows proves itself to be an immensely enjoyable read with some excellent discussions of women and their friendships with each other. I love how it pays tribute to all kinds women: mothers; older, married women; single women; women who don't want children; powerful, successful women; and women who refuse to follow the herd. This book is a searing and fearless look at the choices women make in spite of their sex or biological make-up, and the consequences that can come from speaking about your choices in a public forum. I think it is a truly courageous offering from O'Porter that has certainly changed my opinion of her written work. Thank you so much to the publisher and to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to enjoy The Cows.

Dawn O'Porter is a wonderfully writer, especially when it comes to female characters. This book is no exception. The 3 main characters, whose narrative we follow, are all strong women, but also very different.

Without giving too much away, as the blurb is very vague, the three characters go through some very difficult times which many women can relate to (although probably much less extreme situations!)

There are some brilliant laugh out loud moments, but also some shocking and heartbreaking moments. Be prepared to experience a range of emotions.

This was one of those books that as I was reading, there were a few poignant moments and a couple of interesting things to mull over but once I had finished, the floodgates opened and I sat back and contemplated further the story I had just read. My initial thoughts being that I wished I had someone to discuss it with and, for that reason, I think this will be a big book club book.
It follows three very different women. Tara is a single mum who works making TV documentaries, Cam is a blogger and Stella is the PA to a photographer/writer. When we first meet them, life for each is mostly ticking along quite nicely. Then Tara's private moment goes viral on video, Stella's relationship goes south, mostly due to her inability to break from her past, and Cam's blog starts to go in a different direction as she becomes more vocal about certain topics.
It's hard to say any more about the characters and the story as there is really nothing given away in the blurb and so I guess the author wants to keep her cards close to her chest. Anyway, some of the things are best discovered at the right times and the right time is not before you start the book!
What I will say is that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not my usual genre and probably due to that, not too hard to put down or get sidetracked from, it was nevertheless on the whole, a satisfying read. Leaving me, as I already said, plenty to think about long after finishing.
It is well written, the three main characters were easy to distinguish and came across as pretty real. I found Cam and Tara easier to relate to than Stella but then there was more connection on a personal level with them and not so much with Stella. Talking about personal level, this book does cover some quite controversial and brave topics, one of the reasons I think it will be a great book club book. Especially with what happens to Tara and the way it is "reported" and the "internet's" reaction. That part was especially interesting to me as I have only just recently finished another book that covered the way thing happen in the media! The supporting cast were good too. I especially liked Jason although I did find his ability to stay completely away from the internet for that long somewhat unbelievable. Has he really no contact with anyone else other than Stella?
Cutting through the noise though, the book focuses on friendship, empowerment and, to a certain extent, what it is like to be a woman who doesn't follow the herd. It's also a book that I will be chewing the cud over for a bit longer yet.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This was awesome!!! I wasn't expecting this book to be so extremely funny while at the same time telling a damn good story. Writing style was unique and that means a lot when you read so many books that sort of blend together when you're reviewing your "read" shelf. This one will stand out in my memory. Very well done!!!

What a book! Totally loved it! It's not my usual genre (crime/thriller is where you'll usually find me) and it's the first book I've read by this author, but it won't be the last. I laughed, cried and even put my hands over my eyes at one point in embarrassment solidarity with one of the characters. The characters are so real and likeable I was immersed in their stories...and what stories they are!! I can't praise this book enough.