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mahry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Genocide, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Racism
ienbdri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book is pretty eye-opening and I can absolutely see how it would be disturbing to other people. As someone who has read and watched endless documentaries on the meat industry and how animals are treated, the cannibalism and human meat industry seemed rather realistic and not at all surprising (which doesn't mean that my stomach didn't twist while reading). The plot itself was clearly less important than the world building and personally I think that is okay for a dystopian novel. A quick and sick read that will stay with me and keep me vegetarian/vegan for sure.
also I read this in public and I wouldn't recommend that.
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Grief, Incest, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Torture
svincent2210's review
- 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: 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
stephy13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Pedophilia, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Animal death, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Infertility, Drug use, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Genocide, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship
tonysipsandreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Every character in this book is going to hell! There are no heroes in this book. At one point, I truly thought Marcos was going to make a change and do better, but in the end he showed his true colors as well! There were no good people in this book, so be prepared!
This book was deliciously disturbing and weird. Please check the trigger warnings before you read this book, because there are several! I highly recommend Tender is the Flesh, you will not be disappointed.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Body horror, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Gore, and Murder
thearchivist03's review
- 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
4.25
The world building and how society develops out of cannibalism is fascinating and well thought out, but the characters aren't necessarily there to be loveable, which I like. The way these characters are written out are matter of factly; they are butchers who witness the world and accept it as their reality because they know of nothing else. They may wish for a different world, but you can' change the world totally in one day. The whole thing is disturbing, but I think that's what is good about it, especially the ending. It really made me reflect upon the animal industry and humans' role in nature compared to others overall. The plot and characters go fast in the beginning, and it is hard to track the main characters' name since the book barely mentions it. In the second half of the book, there is more "explaining" to give context to the world and show how horrible it is rather than the fast plot. There is a big time skip, and the ending is left open as we don't know what happens in the future.
Do not read if you're an avid animal lover.
Man, the content warnings on this bout to go crazyy
Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Classism, Body horror, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Alcohol, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Addiction
riverpuppy's review
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Confinement, Dementia, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: Addiction, Car accident, and Drug abuse
faeriequeenlauren's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The writing was basic, rudimentary at best. There were times I felt like the book was written pretty well and conveyed its attempt at social commentary somewhat decently, but for the most part this just fell flat for me. The writing was bland and apathetic towards the subject matter, which diminished the emotional impact of the majority of what was happening for me. After reading this for a bit, everything just felt one-note and indifferent where it could have evoked more emotion had it also been disgusted and disturbed by what was going on.
Gratuitous gore and rape throughout does not make this book a good horror book, it simply makes it horrifying and not fun to read. In particular, I found the violent r*pe scene in the middle of the book, as well as the drawn out scene with the puppies extremely unnecessary and borderline exploitative, as neither one had any lasting impact on the overall plot and/or any of the characters involved. I really disliked that these scenes felt like they were included not to add depth to the story or characters, but rather to elicit certain emotions from the reader, which is lazy writing at best, and bad writing, at its worst.
The ending was somewhat okay for me, as it felt realistic for the story and it invoked questions about the gloom and disturbing nature of this new version of the world, though it still does not raise this rating from 1 star.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Body horror, Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Cannibalism, Trafficking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Torture, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Infertility, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Abortion, Drug abuse, Excrement, Trafficking, Alcohol, and Drug use
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, and Suicide
Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
layla_reads's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Sexual content, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Dementia, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Racism