'The Cows' is the first Dawn O'Porter book I have read, and what a good 'un. Although the storyline has been hammed up a bit for entertainment, the people and circumstances are very real; the blogger, Cam, a powerful voice for women, particularly those who have made a conscious decision to remain childless; Tara, high flying career woman and single mother, who is looking for love; and Stella, newly single and still devastated at the double bereavement of her twin sister and mother, wants a baby, and will go to any lengths...Three strong women dealing with very real modern issues on sexuality, motherhood, status - and the internet and social media in all its hateful glory!
(Also, despite its heavy leaning towards women's rights, spare a thought for Cam's youthful lover, desperate to support Cam and his unborn child in her hour of need).
Want a book to get your teeth into? 'The Cows' is it!

A very different read from what I was expecting. I think I was expecting a more strident, less readable book but what I got was bang up-to-date, thought-provoking stuff with a great story. There were parts that I struggled to find realistic, notably the late night tube journey incident. Who would be so horny that they didn't think there might be security cameras around? And when did a late tube in central London have empty carriages? I also felt sorry for Stella who came out of it all as the villain of the piece. She is clearly in desperate need for help, support and counselling not being dismissed. But I loved Tara, Cam and the sheer novelty of a female view that didn't feel the need to apologise for anything.

A gift for every girl in your life! This novel is just as engaging lovely warm and funny as Dawn O'P herself and yet extremely thought-provoking at the same time. I am a huge fan of Dawn herself, but truly never expected her writing to be as fantastic as it is. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the world of THe COWs and found myself reading snatches aloud to anyone who'd listen as I enjoyed it so much. Read it now, I guarantee that you'll love it if you're not afraid of a bold read that makes you think about contemporary life in all its glory in a whole new way. Bravo Dawn, can't wait to see what you do next!

Good, but the cover doesn't help sell the book. Three women, and how their lives intertwine and how each woman is affected by circumstances from another.

Central to "The Cows" are three fascinating women: Tara, a successful documentary maker whose life unravels when she gets filmed masturbating on what she thinks is an empty Tube train and the clip goes viral; Cam, a celebrated blogger who is famed for her young boyfriends and belief that there's more to life than motherhood; and Stella, a ticking time bomb for cancer having lost her mother and twin sister, and carrying the BRCA gene, who is desperate to become a mother before she has treatment that will prematurely end her child-bearing days.
Initially living separate lives, slowly O'Porter weaves their three stories together, into a riotous romp of an exploration of modern womanhood that comes with a devastating sting in its tale.
In parts it does get a little bit far-fetched, to the point of just being farcical, but for the most part it's a pacy rotation through the lives of three fascinating women.
O'Porter's writing is wonderfully peppered with equal amounts of tragedy, humour and totally cringeworthy situations. I mean, imagine having to tell your parents that you are infamous for wanking on a train and millions of people seeing it on the internet. The characters in this novel are really relatable, and you can easily slip in and out of their shoes as their stories reveal themselves in all their glory, shame, lightness and darkness. A perfect beach read, just be prepared for a gob-smacking denouement. I haven't been so shocked by a plot twist since I read David Nicholls' "One Day". Be warned!

Well, not a book for those with a genteel mentality about how life can or ought to be lived by the young and fearless women of today.

It is frank about sexuality and Tinder and one-night stands.  It explains through the medium of a blog why women might not want children and why a single life with a young lover can be better for some women than marriage and 2.5 children.

And it demonstrates just how much there is a double standard when women are caught enjoying their sexuality as against men. And how the herd mentality works against women who don't live by the conventional rules.

A great book for feminists and young women. We need to tell our young women that pink frilly dresses and blonde curls, and cute button noses and all that are not an essential requirement for success. And that we should applaud those who break the mould and become Chief Engineers and Space Scientists and childless by choice.

This is an amazing book with a very unexpected twist at the end. It concerns three women - Tara, Camilla and STella, who all end up linked together in a very unusual way. The characters are very well-drawn, the plot is both plausible, and in turns, amusing, and very sad. This book pushed me to keep on reading, and I was very surprised by the twist at the end. I would recommend this book to my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the experience of reading this fantastic novel.

I didn't enjoy this book. The characters were poorly drawn and the dialogue dreadful. The plot was good but this didn't make up for its shortcomings

The Cows is a wonderful story about every aspect of female relationships and focusses on 3 very different characters.

This book is quite addictive in so much as you feel you have a friend next to you telling you a story. The book follows the story of three female protagonists: Tara, a single mother and online documentary-maker, Cam, a single 30 something independent blogger and Stella, a lonely, soon-to-be single P.A. carrying the BRCA gene. Stella is grieving the death of her twin sister, Alice, from ovarian cancer. This book supplies great diverse characters that mix together like a good Gin and tonic.
This book is brave in terms of the subjects or themes 'O 'Porter tackles and I really liked her openness, boldness and honesty throughout her narration.However, if you are swearword-averse, you might recoil at some of the language used here, so be warned!
The characters are believable, although some of the 'pickles' they get themselves into are slightly far-fetched, but what do you read a book for, other than to escape? This book gives you oodles of escapism in large quantities and I loved that about this book!

The Cows proves itself to be an entertaining read fascinating, thought provoking 'deeper dive' discussions of women and their friendships. It attests to all kinds women, the choices they make and how they choose to live their lives, It also makes the reader question their own views on what is acceptable or not in terms of women in the modern world. I liked the fact this book made me think about the themes as I was driving to work or cleaning etc. It really does make you think but 'O' Porter enables this in a lighthearted, thoughtful way.
This would be a great holiday read and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to net galley for my copy.

This novel follows the lives of three different women, living very different but connected lives. Cam is a successful and single lifestyle blogger who chooses to do what she wants, when she wants, without the ties of a husband or children. Tara is a single mother who's life takes a dramatic turn after she is filmed masturbating on a train. Stella's mum and twin sister have both been killed by cancer, and she is left facing the choice between life-altering surgery or facing the same fate. The whole premise revolves around being female, and examines the intricacies of women's life choices in family, careers and friendship.

The three storylines are equally engaging and link together in an understated but completely plausible way. The narrative voices of the three women could have been more different. They were all a bit too similar which made them blend into one and made the book slightly harder to follow, but they each had a good story nonetheless.

The message of this book is not even remotely discreet, but it's not pushy or intrusive either. Dawn O'Porter manages to make a clear point about feminism in the guise of an engaging and entertaining story, which is, frankly, very effective.

I was attracted to this book because of the cover and the title, and I'm very pleased to say that the inside is almost as good the outside.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this at all - the characters were all awful (who cares who does or doesn't want babies?) and the tube carriage incident was just so ridiculously implausible that it rendered much of what followed just pointless.

I struggled to read this book. Well written but not really my sort of read. I am glad I persevered as found the last 25% of the book more enjoyable.

This was a truly great story. A totally unexpected storyline that worked extremely well. Very strong characters and descriptions which made them come alive. The conclusion continued the excellence of the storyline. Great read.

What a read! The characters are brilliant and believable (although some of the situations they get into aren't - empty tube??). I couldn't put this down and I found myself laughing, crying and cringing with their embarrassment! It is not the genre of book I generally read but I shall be looking out for Dawn O'Porter again - she's irreverent, perceptive and a natural writer. It is so up to date with blogging, vlogging and trolling - life as it is today. It's a breath of fresh air - I could go on and on. It might surprise you to know that I'm a 68 year old retiree but I still have a zest for life and this book was about modern life. Loved it! Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read it.

I really like Dawn O'Porter and enjoyed this book but felt there was too much focus on babies.

There's a side to social media and mobile phone culture that I really don't like. It's the shaming photo/video of someone who doesn't realise their image is being captured, then being uploaded online for the world to judge and share. There are pages dedicated to it, women applying make-up on public transport, people eating lunch, tube snoozers; Eurgh.





I dislike this trend for two main reasons 1. It could easily be me one day. I sometimes touch up my make-up on a journey, I eat lunch daily and I've been known to have a snooze once in a while. To think that at any time I could become "internet famous" and shamed for minding my business and doing any of those things is ludicrous. And 2. Behind each "hilarious" photo or video, there is a human being with feelings who didn't consent to being photographed or filmed.





(Having said all of that, I've realised that I'm a big old giant hypocrite....have you SEEN Hot Dudes Reading? OMIGOSH. Sorry. We are all flawed.)





In The Cows, single Mum Tara finds herself going viral after one particular train journey which is captured and shared online. Cam is a successful lifestyle blogger, sharing her honest views and opinions with the world. Stella is dealing with the loss of her twin sister and mother to cancer and coming to terms with her genetic destiny.





Between the three women, there's a lot going on and the story cleverly weaves everything together through the consequences of their decisions. Unafraid to approach difficult and controversial themes, Dawn O'Porter has created a really sassy, smart & witty story which captures a moment in our social media obsessed society in a very entertaining way.





I absolutely loved this book. It is topical, bold, empowering, courageous and funny. Thanks to Netgalley & the lovely publishers for the opportunity to review honestly (always).



Also....side note....the cover is gorgeous and I love the "Don't Follow The Herd" message. Dawn's hair is also swoonworthy. So bouncy. So shiny. So beautiful. That's of zero relevance to the book or this review but I felt I'd be doing an injustice to beautiful hair if it was left unsaid.





Get your copy here. From me it's a definitely-not-following-the-herd-but-I-loved-it five cwtches.