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annathechaoticreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Booktok very much over hyped this. It was a very okay novel, I can't think of anything it did wrong or to justify a lower review, but I also can't think of anything it did particularly well. It was mildly disturbing and made me stop and think a couple of times but not all that life/perspective changing. If you tend to like dystopian fiction and are newer to the genre, I think it's worth a try, but beware booktok strikes again, go in with lower expectations than I did.
Thoughts Upon Reflection:
The book is very heavy handed about its eating meat=bad beliefs which I found exhausting. At many times throughout the story I found myself shouting "OH MY GOD I GET IT!!! MEAT IS MURDER. JUST TELL ME THE STORY" into the void. It makes very weird parallels that I don't agree with and there was next to no room for nuanced discussion. I will say its possible that because it is a translated novel that the above issues only apply to the English translation and that its a fault of the translator rather than Augustina.
Another issue I have is that to me none of the characters actually felt like fleshed out people, rather just objects things happen to/around. The main characters motivations make no sense (especially in the second half), where he doesn't even feel like a person, you don't really get to know him and then what little you do gets completely contradicted in the second half of the book. I can't even call it character development because it feels like he sees one shitty thing than a switch flips and he's completely different. Through the whole time reading, I did not feel any type of way towards any character, I didn't care about any of them which made it hard to care about the novel. When I first finished it I felt no type of way but the longer I've had to sit with it, the more I'm growing to dislike it. The worst part is that it could have been so good, with some more nuance and character development it would have been a very interesting story!
There is also a graphic sexual assault scene which I wish I had known about going in. As a surviver of S/A I try to stay away from novels with it unless I've had time to prepare and be in a good headspace to consume it. So a completely RANDOM S/A scene that doesn't matter to the plot really caught me off guard and almost immediately ruined the book. I'm fine with assault scenes if and only IF it is important to the plot/character development. My problem is when its thrown in to demonstrate a character being shitty or for shock value, which I feel is the reason it was included in Tender Is The Flesh; if you removed the whole chapter it would make absolutely no difference and THATS where I have the problem.
People call it a horror novel when its really not, its a dystopian and while not a huge issue, it just sets up expectations that it doesn't live up to! It felt a lot more akin to books like the Handmaids Tale than those in the horror genre. So if you want a horror novel, probably don't pick this up but if you want a kinda disturbing, dark dystopian then maybe this will be your book!
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Violence, Torture, Rape, Murder, Animal death, Slavery, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Classism
anissawren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Slavery, Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, Animal death, Death, Child death, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Dementia, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Abortion
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, and Racism
vinise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Genocide, Sexual assault, Body horror, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Torture
beergoddess2391's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Rape, and Slavery
bookwormbarber's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
The entire first half of the book is world building, and this world is f*cked and let’s just say I’ve never been more happy to be a vegan while reading a book.
The rest of the plot seemed really disjointed and rushed. I know there’s probably deep messages about humanity, loss, and grief, but the graphic cannibalism over shadowed that a bit, you know?
Graphic: Gore, Death, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Pregnancy, Dementia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Medical content, Murder, and Rape
parkerluck's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
ja605235's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Vomit
Minor: Rape, Medical content, Slavery, and Child death
kirtreads's review against another edition
- 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
It focused so hard on the gore of it all that the really interesting psychological aspects were buried. I was expected to take a lot on faith as a reader, which fine, but then the main character doesn’t even trust that the virus is real.
I needed the book to be from any other characters perspective. She took the most boring character in a cast of very interesting characters.
The story felt weirdly stilted. We got huge internal dialogue pieces and then the ending is so rushed. It felt very off.
The premise was good and I wanted to love this book but it just was not what I wanted it to be.
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Infertility, Torture, Trafficking, Death, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Excrement, Death of parent, Rape, Child death, and Forced institutionalization
0leander's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, and Slavery
Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Animal death, Child death, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Rape, and Death of parent
mightydub's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, and Sexual assault