"A brilliantly unexpected, acutely comic YA melange of the Walking Dead and sapphic romance."
June 2024 Debut of the Month
While O.R. Sorrel‘s awesome Apocalypse Cow debut might be dystopian YA romance at its best, it’s certainly not dystopian YA romance as you know it. The question is, might this be the end of the world as we know it?! Given what a lively page-turner this is, readers won’t have to wait long to find out.
Narrated by the inimitable Mel — “the only out lesbian in our school, and quite possibly the surrounding thousand miles, since Year Eight” — the story begins with Mel mooning (well, lusting) over Sasha: “My best friend. The future mother of my children”.
So far, so funny, and the stage seems set for a classic “will-they-won’t-they?” YA romcom. But then comes the killer twist. Against the background of it being 30 degrees in January, Mel has an encounter with a “rabid cow” and then comes a government announcement about ”an unprecedented natural event” and an advisory to seek shelter.
With everything “fire and rain and falling trees and mutants”, Mel is forced to take shelter in the sprawling mansion of irritating posh-boy Dorian, along with Ella, her former BFF from childhood-turned-enemy. Just as it looks like they might be the last people on Earth, in the company of giant hedgehogs, mutant mice that can melt titanium doors, and talking ravens with red mohawks, her enlarged pet rabbit delivers a message to Dorian’s mansion… Laced with lust, laughs and truths of the heart, with a comic love quadrangle, Apocalypse Cow is a super-refreshing read.
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Mel loves Sasha and dreams of a day that Sasha might reciprocate her feelings (even though she's straight) - so the fact that it's thirty degrees outside in January and hasn't rained for a year simply passes her by. She's just about coping with being the only 'out' lesbian in school and all the sniping Janis and Ella aim her way, as well as her dreary Saturday job with the stupidly posh Dorian...
But when domestic animals suddenly lethally turn on the human race, Mel finds herself stuck in a mansion with only Ella and Dorian as survival companions - and her lovelife turns on its head in the most extraordinary way - if she survives the apocalypse, that is.
A screamingly funny LGTBQ+ lovestory from a brilliant new talent.
Apocalypse Cow started as a short story which won the Guppy Open Submission in 2022.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Apocalypse Cow and determined it is suitable for children aged 15-18 years old
Apocalypse Cow features in the following genres: Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Fantasy / Magical, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Funny, Romance / Relationship Stories, Star Books, Featured Books for Young Adults
Apocalypse Cow is available in Paperback
Apocalypse Cow was written by O.R. Sorrel and published by Guppy Publishing Ltd
Apocalypse Cow has 309 pages
£8.09
