Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

39 reviews

bibliofanatic's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cannibalism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Grief, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism, Dementia, Gore, Infertility, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Torture, and Violence

rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Torture, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery, Confinement, Cannibalism, Classism, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, and Sexism

chloeforkerway's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

minus .5 points because marcos is wild. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Confinement, Cannibalism, Death, Child death, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Blood, Abandonment, Gore, Rape, and Body horror

reginacattus's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I think this book might be the most tense and physically uncomfortable read I've ever encountered, and incredibly thought-provoking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Infertility, Cannibalism, Death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Confinement, Blood, Sexual assault, Gore, and Death of parent

Moderate: Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Classism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Cursing, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

shmayjoy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Blood, Rape, Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery, Confinement, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child death, and Excrement

Minor: Suicide, Genocide, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Misogyny, Car accident, and Dementia

smilingsammie's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual violence

fromthefoxhole's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

oh my stomach hurts, but god it was so good. a mess of trigger warnings apply here, please heed that !!

from the very first chapter, this book had me oscillating between voracious interest and making sure I had a trash can nearby in case I needed to vomit, which I think is a testament to how well written it is. 

Marcos, our main character, is a very broken man, surrounded by death, in both his professional and personal lives. Working in a meat processing plant is already a somewhat gruesome process, but it's made infinitely worse when a virus makes eating animals impossible, and the government shifts to "special meat", aka humans bred specifically for consumption. Marcos finds himself on a precipice - on the one hand, he does still find this work morally wrong, and is frustrated by the dehumanizing language surrounding the whole affair. On the other hand, it's all he's ever known. 

There are so many passages where I briefly forgot the crux of the story, and would be yanked back to the truth so forcefully that I felt like I was developing whiplash. The ending, especially, broke my brain so severely that I just sat in silence for a few hours, trying to process everything I had just read. Absolutely a five star read, but I never plan to revisit it lol.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Violence, Mental illness, Grief, Cursing, Cannibalism, Slavery, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Excrement

jeannelynne24's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment and Slavery

svincent2210's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

graphic, not for the faint of heart but a great critique

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Trafficking, Incest, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Alcohol, Infidelity, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Torture, Terminal illness, Stalking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child death, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Medical content, Infertility, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

dannilmp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

Tender is the Flesh is a gripping discussion of what our world could be like if cannabilism was the norm. An interesting read with a lot of potential for reflection on humanity and our morals in general.

While this was still a good read for me, I don't think it lived up to the hyped expectations I had with what I was seeing on social media about this book. When you stop to consider the power differences between people, some actions start to seem a lot worse than others, especially when the topic of

consent

comes into play. 

Despite the build up and the shock of the ending, I don't think the build up and the finale lived upto scratch as some other sections of the book. personally I found

the hunting grounds and especially the want for pregant female "cattle"

to be more concerning than the base cannabilism. 

I would recommend this book to someone looking for a horror book that really makes you think, especially as this isn't completly outside the realm of possibility for our world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Abandonment, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent, and Child death