Tender Is the Flesh
By Agustina Bazterrica
- Release Date: 2020-08-04
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
Reviews
Thank god for the yuck
3By Kenzi 😜if it weren’t for the gore it’d be a boreHoly moly. That ending. 😀
4By liyahjeanlEnjoyed this book, surely made me uncomfortable. Also that ending was very unexpected. #animalsruntheworldTender is the Flesh
4By morbidgalAn absolute page turner! Be prepared for some intense and bizarre dreams if you read this before bedtime. Only reason I’m giving this book 4/5 stars is that the ending felt a bit rushed and left me yearning for more. Morbidly twisted read if you can stomach the content.Just ok
3By deebbeeedeeThe setting is bleak (and so is the ending) but other than that this is pretty standard heavy handed social commentary fare. Points for grossing me out though.horrifying and gorgeous
5By MaddiefromTXbeautiful, hyper-realistic horrorEh
3By Kaylee_AlexandraI had high hopes. Ended up being a lot of plot that wasn’t interesting and not enough of the interesting stuff. Would still read thoNot Worth the Read for the Rnding
3By ceci marieI really like the concept, I think overall the author executed things nicely; she does a really good job getting you to empathize with the main character even while reading about the awful things that he has to do. The author also has a beautiful and visual way of writing that I absolutely loved. With that said, the ending was totally out of left field, and while I enjoy twist endings, there was virtually nothing that would make the ending make sense for the main character. It made me feel unbelievably angry, which may have been the author’s goal, but that anger was not only from the main characters actions, but also from how much his actions didn’t make sense. The ending completely undid ANY growth the main character did. It was a huge plot twist that was underwhelming and, in my opinion, makes the book not worth reading. I wouldn’t reread this book, and I don’t think I’d recommend it either. I absolutely love books with morally gray, and oftentimes “bad,” main characters… but this.. I would rather no ending.ow.
4By E.L. Kaiseroverall this is a gripping read that has you on the edge of your seat, it brings you joy and most definitely pain. if you read this and expect to smile you’ll instead be met unequivocal disappointment.No words
5By Wendy0709Oh my gosh!!Eh.. it’s was okay.
3By Yagurl22I did enjoy reading this book. However, it was all over the place. The ending was rushed and the “plot twist” left me with more confusion than shock.
