Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

28 reviews

roxiehrt's review

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

mel_jade's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

Well I can honestly say I have never read anything like what I just did. I'd heard about this book many a times and finally dove into it. What a crazy, disturbing, sometimes horrifying and brutal take on a future when the only meat source is humans.
There were moments when my heart broke for the 'head' as they were called and the way he has written this story sends a shiver down your spine for the fact alone at how realistic it is. He wrote it in such a way that this could really be what would happen in a situation and future like that. It shows how cruel, evil and sadistic human beings really are and what monsters they are capable of adapting and turning into.
This is a novel I will never forget and it will definitely stay with me for a long time.
If you love a good horror, with a Dystopian theme and have a good stomach for disturbing things then look no further, this book is for you!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Sexual assault, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Blood, Child death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Infidelity, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, and Slavery

thelibraryofanolive's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual violence, Torture, Excrement, Murder, Body horror, Chronic illness, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Dementia, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Trafficking, Violence, Alcohol, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Abortion, Kidnapping, Medical content, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, and Drug use

akaspiderlily'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? No

To be frank, it’s a terrible read. It is highly disturbing, while offering no real substance outside of its graphic detailed description of a cannibalistic future society. There is a fetishization at play almost, and the main character is a violent, raping, sociopath, whose only “human” characteristic lies in the fact that he does not enjoy eating human meat like “normal” with everyone else. Additionally, I found the truly horrific parts of it entirely too pathetically dismissive of the history this society would have had, as if caging humans, breeding them, hunting them, experimenting on them, and eating them, was not something practiced by white conquistadors and slavers on African and indigenous people. There is a literal mention of one of the villains in the story having a picture of a white colonizer with human heads in Africa as a point of reverence, yet only this present-day dystopia is horrific? Terrible. 0 stars. This is why I stay away from white authors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Abortion, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Trafficking

kkulhannie's review

dark slow-paced

• 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

3.75

imagine reading a book like this and thinking the overt misogyny wasn’t going to be a plot point…

yikes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Cannibalism, Medical content, Drug abuse, Slavery, Pregnancy, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Classism, Child abuse, Torture, Blood, Sexism, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Trafficking, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Drug use, Body horror, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

dark medium-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

3.0

“Abuse of power comes as no surprise.” - Jenny Holzer

Pacing is too slow at times and too fast at others. I didn’t find the ending shocking in the way some other reviewers did. I think this had some interesting things to say, but didn’t quite push far enough when it comes to exploring the government, capitalism, etc. Plenty of gore if that is your thing. Some parts are very beautifully written. The examination of grief is in my opinion much more effective than any sociopolitical argument being made. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Trafficking, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Cursing, Confinement, Rape, Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Torture, Slavery, and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Car accident, and Alcohol

wends_nblw's review

dark 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

2.75

I'm a bit 'eh' on this one. This book was a tad bit too dull for me. One of my special interests is cannibalism, so reading about the consumption of humans wasn't particularly disturbing to me. As well, the writing style was so bland. I understand that it fits the main character, that is his voice, but lord did I find him as a character to be bland too. Not a single thing in this book surprised me in the least, I even predicted the end. 

However, I will say. The end was my favorite part; the only good part, in my opinion. This isn't a bad book either. It just wasn't really for me, which is a shame because cannibalism is my favorite trope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Confinement and Pedophilia

Minor: Excrement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Dementia, Classism, Racism, Homophobia, and Car accident

niqhtparades's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i could not put this book down i was so invested but i also wouldnt recomment this to anyone ??? i could stomach it but its definitely not for the faint of heart. i wanted to hate this story and then i loved it and then i hated it again... it all became a terrible mess of mixed emotions from chapter to chapter but one thing i am certain on is wow this was such a tough one to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Blood, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Confinement, Pedophilia, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Racism, Classism, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Car accident, and Drug abuse

Minor: Mental illness, Child death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Infidelity

navayiota's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Not an enjoyable book in the traditional sense. A horrifying commentary of humans' ability to overlook anything for the sake of fitting in or getting clout. Incredibly disturbing and graphic, to the point of being physically nauseating. I can definitely see this becoming a modern classic, similarly to American psycho. It includes a sex scene that was so disgusting, both in the way it was written and what was b ing described that it made me reconsider the book in a bad way. I skipped the rest of the chapter because it felt like it just kept going. If it weren't included, I probably would have rated it 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Dementia, Animal death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Car accident

Minor: Drug abuse

charlottedejoya's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Torture, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Excrement, Grief, and Violence