Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

102 reviews

mikeyz's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Alcohol, Suicide, Trafficking, Gore, Excrement, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Rape, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Infertility, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

emviolet's review

dark sad 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

2.5

i heard a lot of great things about this book, and i do think the idea of the overarching metaphor (humans treating certain groups as less than, dehumanizing certain groups to make them seem “animal”, etc) could be really powerful. but…the amount of gruesome, awful images throughout the book are just painful, and there isn’t a lot of actual plot or development or action to make any of it feel justified. it just feels dark and violent for the sake of being dark and violent. i wanted to like it, i really did, and it had a few moments. but i don’t think i could ever recommend this to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Murder, Trafficking, Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Dementia, Medical content, Alcohol, and Blood

j_emerson18's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

Traumatizing. Twisted. Dark. Gruesome. Recommend by one of my best friends. She's gonna need to pay for my therapy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Grief, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Child death, Sexual violence, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual content, Rape, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Murder, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Car accident

maggie_gaca's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

2.5

I am not a queasy reader, but I found this book disturbing. The concept is intriguing and it is written at an easy-to-consume pace, but there is just not enough balance between the brutality and the message the author is trying to portray-- leaving an unnecessarily graphic piece. 

There are moments where I really saw what the author was getting at. Bazterrica briefly touches on racism, classism, sexism, animal abuse in research/livestock industries, government control, and human trafficking. The biggest theme the reader was meant to grapple with is capitalist overconsumption and the general cruelty of human nature. However, it never reaches that poignancy to really make me sit back and reflect. I personally came out of this book with nothing new (except for some gross images), but it was almost there. 

I feeI Iike I can't either recommend or not recommend this book, but it may hit others differently!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Murder, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Physical abuse, Gore, Animal death, Death, Racism, Rape, and Violence

kelisabeth's review

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

abae0's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• 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

3.5

A slow burn, which isn’t a bad thing. However the tone is so bleak that until the last quarter I was reading just to get through as it is such a short novella. A powerful read but not for the faint of heart/weak stomachs. This one will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Cannibalism

katharina90's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

Brutal commentary on supremacist delusions and how we justify and normalize violent, socially constructed hierarchies so we can oppress, exploit and extract.

The message is most obvious in regards to human supremacy and capitalism but the book alludes to and is easily applied to other systems of oppression.

I enjoyed the matter-of-fact, detached writing style and the almost Orwellian language.

A fascinating, deeply disturbing book with lots to unpack.

"After all, since the world began, we’ve been eating each other. If not symbolically, then we’ve been literally gorging on each other. The Transition has enabled us to be less hypocritical."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Violence, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Classism, Rape, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Child death, and Racism

Minor: Dementia, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Slavery, and Suicide

Other: ecofascism, trophy hunting, graphic descriptions of animal agriculture, slaughterhouse operations and animal testing/experimentation

raebennison's review

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

I hated it. I was drawn in by the macabre but even for me that was dark. I hated the characters, all of them. Not one had any redeeming qualities. It was a struggle to finish, I just wanted it over and done with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Rape, Animal death, and Torture

howilliams's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

The book managed to catch me off guard at every turn. Poignant, grotesque, eloquent… wish I had read it in the original language because even translated it read sometimes like poetry. As a new horror / thriller reader, maybe not entirely for me- gripped by the story, yes, but found myself glad it was done…

It’s tough to know how much distance we want between ourselves and people who would terrify us… reading is an invitation into minds we may be afraid of. I was horrified by the main character yet also felt deep empathy for his grief. That’s what reading can do- create empathetic links even in the imaginary….
The end was… astounding and I did not see it coming. Well done

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Body horror, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Murder

elinhaldira's review

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Classism, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Animal death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, Murder, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Gore, Racism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, and Death