I ventured into the hucow world a while back when I was reading a bunch of fringe smut (coronavirus and clippy novellas, I’m looking at you) between the alien books. The Amazon algorithm decided in its vast wisdom that since I like reading about human abductees finding love with sweet aliens, maybe I would be interested in hucow. I read one short story and that was enough for me. I did not venture further into that subject. Rape and humiliation are not my bag.

However when I read the description for Matthew Vaughn’s Valentine’s Day release, Bowery, I knew this was right up my alley. You see in my mind, the idea of being enslaved and hooked up to a milking machine is terrifying. Horror. Bizarro even. Not erotica, the usual place you find hucow. I’m not here to kink shame. I read one, decided it’s not for me, and moved on with my life. If you’re into hucow kink though, you should probably pass on Bowery because this is gonna kill it for you.

Bowery starts with a heavily pregnant woman waking up in a strange place strapped to a table with a whole cut out for her belly to hang through. She is naked and on display. Some farmhands enter the room and her nightmare begins when she realizes this is really happening to her. She is in a facility full of other cows, as the farmers call her. They are kept pregnant so they can be milked, forced to walk on their hands and knees, are not allowed to say anything other than moo, and housed in stables. Their babies, which the farmers call calves, are taken from them at birth and they never see them again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. Matthew Vaughn is now on my must read list. This whole story is a mindfuck. I like Vaughn’s writing style. He paints a vivid picture and whether intentional or not, makes you think about how we treat actual cows in our ongoing demand for dairy. However I felt like there were some details missing that would have made this a 5 star novella. I kept wondering about Sandra’s partner, why this Bowery even exists, what about the bulls. They clearly can’t be used for breeding. I wondered about law enforcement, though an incompetent police force is a believable addition to the story. The ending was baffling, though I can really say much more without giving it away. That said, this is a great book and I look forward to reading more of Vaughn’s work.

You can buy Bowery, by Matthew Vaughn on Godless for a buck. Go on, do it.