Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

318 reviews

ja605235's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

This book gave so little but also fed you just enough. I hate this book but will be thinking about it for the next few days! The ending made me throw the book at a wall. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Medical content, Slavery, and Child death

niamhrowanch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

she has the human look of a domesticated animal?!?!!!?!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Violence, Infertility, Trafficking, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Blood, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Rape, and Torture

gasrat's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Torture, Animal death, Rape, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

ravenousrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Confinement, Dementia, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

enyltiak's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

This book made me so furious that I hate finished it rather than simply DNF. The violence against women, use of the born-sexy-yesterday trope, the writing so clinical and detached which I get but I felt really didn't service a story that seems to want to have a strong emotional core—never mind the fact that the main character is almost never mentioned by name in the narration, in a story of mostly male characters, which makes figuring out who said or did what incredibly confusing and irritating. There's an interesting social commentary under all this, but by the end of Part One I didn't care, and in Part Two I was just disgusted by the main character, and not even in an interesting way you would expect from a horror novel. And this is personal to my boundaries but the animal cruelty made me sick. Overall just not a good time with this one, actually put me into a slump, and just depressed the hell out of me—I don't feel like I even got anything from that feeling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Gore, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Grief, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Child death, Trafficking, and Medical content

emviolet's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i heard a lot of great things about this book, and i do think the idea of the overarching metaphor (humans treating certain groups as less than, dehumanizing certain groups to make them seem “animal”, etc) could be really powerful. but…the amount of gruesome, awful images throughout the book are just painful, and there isn’t a lot of actual plot or development or action to make any of it feel justified. it just feels dark and violent for the sake of being dark and violent. i wanted to like it, i really did, and it had a few moments. but i don’t think i could ever recommend this to anyone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Murder, Trafficking, Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Dementia, Medical content, Alcohol, and Blood

q_bert13's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A dark, frightening look at a dystopian capitalist world ‘forced’ into cannibalism via an animal-attacking virus. Don’t go into this book looking for likeable characters either. Overall the storyline is interesting, with twists you don’t expect. The book so separated in two parts (with a time jump between them), with part one going much slower than the second half. I feel like the inclusion of a middle chapter, either featuring the main characters or just focusing on the society as a whole would help ‘flesh out’ the story (pun not intended). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Blood, Classism, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Infertility, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia

roxiehrt's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Wow. This book is depressing. I watch depressing true crime docs for a living and this was tough to get through even for me. Very graphic sections of murder, cannibalism, and dehumanizing behaviors…this is one of the most nihilistic books I’ve ever read. I gave it a 3 because it is well written and the intentions of the book really resonated, but it was a challenge to get through because the content was just…a lot…like…A LOT. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infertility, Medical content, Sexual content, Trafficking, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Torture

maggie_gaca's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I am not a queasy reader, but I found this book disturbing. The concept is intriguing and it is written at an easy-to-consume pace, but there is just not enough balance between the brutality and the message the author is trying to portray-- leaving an unnecessarily graphic piece. 

There are moments where I really saw what the author was getting at. Bazterrica briefly touches on racism, classism, sexism, animal abuse in research/livestock industries, government control, and human trafficking. The biggest theme the reader was meant to grapple with is capitalist overconsumption and the general cruelty of human nature. However, it never reaches that poignancy to really make me sit back and reflect. I personally came out of this book with nothing new (except for some gross images), but it was almost there. 

I feeI Iike I can't either recommend or not recommend this book, but it may hit others differently!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Murder, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Physical abuse, Gore, Animal death, Death, Racism, Rape, and Violence

sarahshock's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Amazing book! Highly recommend. The ending is insane!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Genocide, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, and Violence