Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Особливе м'ясо by Agustina Bazterrica

126 reviews

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I was prepared for a certain level of weird considering the main topic was cannibalism but I could not have prepared for how messed up these people were.The writing worked well for the intent of the story. Our narrator is cold and distant about how their “special meat” is raised and processed. His tone reflects how desensitized one has to be to participate in such horrendous activities. The thing that stuck out most to me was how obvious it was that the government was pushing a false narrative but how resistant people were to do anything other than comply. I enjoyed this story because it made me think. How far are we willing to go to continue eating meat? 

Definitely worth the read but be mindful and check the TWs/CWs

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challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

De los mejores libros que he leído en mi vida, pero a que precio.

No se como hablar de el sin dar spoilers pero me parece una construcción increíble.

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The first half of the book is kinda slowly and can mess with your head a little since the main character is struggling with the way of the new world but it gets dark, gross and kinda/really messed up in the second half. 

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dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book gripped me from page one and then left me speechless at the end. 

Here we are in a dystopia where a virus has made it so that all animals are no longer able to be consumed, even pets have been sacrificed! This is not the worst of it, now it has been made into law that human flesh can be processed and consumed. This means that now there is a group of humans that are bred and raised for human consumption and in this book we follow Marcos, a man who works at a processing plant where humans are processed and distributed. The plot of this might sound completely nuts but the point here is that what is told in this book is exactly how we currently process the animals that we consume, chickens, cows, pigs, etc. We also get to take a peek other areas of society that have replaced animals with humans, such as research labs, hunting ranches, and even the fashion industry. 

The novel doesn't just focus on this processing of humans, it also focuses on Marcos and his life. He's married and has recently lost his only son and he's also taking care of his elderly father who is in a nursing home. Marcos has a lot going on so when someone gifts him a female human to consume or breed, Marcos ends up with way more on his plate than he expected. He does his job in order to care for his father since it's expensive to keep him in the nursing home but other than that he's completely detached and doesn't want to have anything to do with human meat outside of his job. Now he's forced to spend time with a human who he's supposed to consider meat and nothing else. Any interaction with humans meant for consumption is illegal so it's a bit of a problem. 

Bazterrica's writing is what pushed this solidly into 5 stars for me. Her descriptions of stress and solitude definitely resonated with me. Her pacing also kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through to the end where she just hit with the last twist that left me speechless. An excellent book that'll keep me thinking for a long while. 

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wandsoflight's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 46%

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challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A

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dark emotional sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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horizonous's profile picture

horizonous's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 66%

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