Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

239 reviews

hollerfeller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Gore

Minor: Infidelity, Cursing, and Mental illness

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. 

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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

ori250's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Infertility, Infidelity, Cursing, and Body horror

megandavis768's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Murder, Slavery, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Rape

Minor: Infidelity

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Grief, Abortion, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gore, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Dementia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, and Rape

ashley_bee_'s review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Rape, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual violence

ahhmii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Pregnancy, Rape, Infidelity, Gore, Suicide, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Death, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

mothmania's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Child death, Pregnancy, Dementia, Gore, Pedophilia, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Slavery, Infertility, Infidelity, and Rape

oliver_thorne's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Trafficking, Rape, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Infidelity, Cannibalism, and Torture

Moderate: Infertility and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood

nightmarebees's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

3.25

the best parts of this were the language and the writing style. i had multiple times where i said “okay i’m gonna read 20 pages today” and ended up exceeding that goal by multiple chapters because i was really drawn in. that said, my personal main reading doorways are characters and plot, and this was kind of lacking in both for me. 

i’m largely a genre reader, so i kept wanting this to lean harder into horror or dystopian themes than it actually did. there’s some question on certain aspects of the world that is built (how did it happen so quickly? is the virus even real?) that i felt could’ve been explored more, and this is mostly bc i’m more interested in the day-to-day of this alternate world than i am in marcos as a character. i don’t think characters should have to be completely likable and unproblematic in order to tell a story, but i just didn’t really care what happened to this dude. 

i’m also unimpressed with the way women are characterized in this story. cecilia is blamed for mourning the loss of her child and treated as though she’s the problem in their marriage. spanel, as far as i can tell, assaulted marcos as a minor and then serves as an object for him to fuck to get over some hurdle in his grief about his son. and jasmine? i get that she wasn’t socialized, and we know that humans are animals, but it just rubs me the wrong way that she is this pathway to ‘healing’ for marcos when she is literally the silent and submissive fantasy taken to the extreme. he doesn’t start seeing her “as a human being” (i know authors aren’t in charge of the back cover summaries for their books), he sees her as a fuckable incubator.

i get that this wasn’t supposed to be an uplifting story. i get that the point was to illustrate the horrors that humankind can become desensitized to. but i just think it fell short in terms of making me care about what any of the characters did or how they reacted. part of this is my own preferences, and i’m realizing i might just not be into literary fiction or stories about straight men right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, and Blood

Moderate: Cannibalism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent