Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

45 reviews

miascupoftea's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this is one of those books where it’s written amazingly like there’s no flaws in the technique or world-building or anything, but it so hard to read just because of how heavy the subject matter is. i thought i knew what i was getting into with this one but i didn’t. not at all. it was so hard to finish this book because every chapter was just more nightmare fuel. BUT it was extremely well-written and a great concept. it’s kinda scary how much more certain parts of the subject matter are relevant post-2020.

i also really am in awe of how much  the author took current issues and found a way to add the whole eating-humans thing to it, like with debt, hunting, science experiments, sex trafficking, etc. i also absolutely hated the ending, but it was true to the narrative and tone so i shouldn’t have expected anything different.

this book Is really good, but i don’t think i’ll ever recommend it to anyone because of how gruesome it is 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ogik's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

megafish's review against another edition

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

Tender is the flesh is gut-wrenching and vile, it's disgusting how fascinating it is. I don't think I can recommend this to anyone who does not know what this story entails.
I have read more gruesome things but they also usually have been more heartless, and there definitely is an argument that can be made on how much of the detailed descriptions are needed to progress the point of the story. I personally however was so invested in the atmosphere that I enjoyed the read a lot. I do have to say that the premisse is a big stretch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Dementia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Excrement, and Death of parent

keabored's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Torture, Vomit, and Trafficking

kris386's review

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? It's complicated

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Excrement, Dementia, and Death of parent