Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

561 reviews

parkerluck's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

I was rec'd this based off of how much I like Oryx and Crake and it was indeed in line! Good writing, I didn't feel like the violence or content was "gratuitous" or shock over substance or whatever else. The subject matter is horrific so heed warnings, but it's explored well and I felt it was pretty in line with, again, O&C or other bleak dystopia stuff. Enjoyed the character work for the MC, the rest of the cast wasn't as fleshed out but didn't really need to be for such a quick read. 

The people saying the ending was a "twist" don't know how to read imo. The book does a good job of building Marcos, showing you who he is, who he thinks he is, how he fits into the world.

As far as unreliable narrators go, he's not even very unreliable and the story doesn't try to conceal what he's doing or capable of doing at any point. Combined with the Icarus thread he tells himself at the end (it doesn't matter if you fall, what matters is that for a moment you were a bird), it's a very basic set up and execution of him as a character. Frustrating to see other people have so much trouble with the dissonance between the actual narrative and the narrative Marcos himself constructs tbh but what can you do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Rape, and Gore

jojothefool's review

dark reflective tense medium-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

4.5

This book……… is so messed up. I really enjoyed myself. But basically after every chapter I would put the book down and reflect, “….. what the HELL am I reading?” And then I’d pick it back up and keep going. Very dark, very disturbing, but really makes you think about kind of everything? Government corruption, the meat industry, the class system, the inherit value of man……. I can’t give it 5 stars because it messed with me too hard, but it was very well written and a very interesting read that I would recommend if you can handle the content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Torture, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Classism, and Excrement

Minor: Rape

renee_fae's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Death, and Suicide

yamtastic's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.5

Beautiful prose for such a disturbing story. The ending gets a lot of hate, but I think it was perfectly suited to the characters - a setting like this does not create a happy ending. In a way, there was no chance at a happy ending from the very beginning. Dark, intimate, sick and twisted, this is a book that will make you stop and consider what it means to be human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Confinement, Body horror, Rape, Grief, Violence, Blood, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

bookie1708's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Cannibalism, and Death

Moderate: Child death and Grief

jpauguste's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Bazterrica says it best: in a capitalist society, we consume each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Child death and Sexual content

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?!?!!!?!

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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

anjae's review

dark sad fast-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

3.5

This was so nasty and I wish I could wipe it from my brain, but I’m also glad I read it. It’s a pretty on-the-nose analogy for mass industrial animal agriculture, but it still worked really well. This was well written and captivating, but I don’t know if I would ever recommend it to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Child death, Confinement, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Torture, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

ellevlt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

wow this guy really hates women! 

Idk I think it just wasn’t for me. I thought the premise was so promising and really interesting at some parts but I just couldn’t get past the main character. Wanted to get through it in case twist paid off but ending fell flat for me too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Death of parent

grilledcheesefan's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Sexual content

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Death, and Child death

Minor: Pregnancy, Animal death, Trafficking, and Animal cruelty