Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

519 reviews

kennawicc's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, and Death

bodiless's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

this was the most insane book ever

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Gore, Murder, Trafficking, Torture, Body horror, Classism, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

2busyreading's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Rape, and Animal death

Minor: Sexual content

sic_vic's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wtf did I just read? The author was so detailed and thoughtful with the entire process of cannibalism. This is extremely graphic and detailed. It’s literally an A24 horror film. 


<Spoiler> below













The ending messed me up soooo bad. Why did it have to end so abrupt? I wish I found out if the teenagers had the virus. I wonder if he caught the virus when petting the puppies, since he coughs and looks ill at the end of the book. 


I saw someone say that his morality changed when he ate meat again. After losing his dad, he had nothing morally keeping him grounded. He was rude to the nurse who was also grieving Marco’s dad’s death. He felt like he didn’t owe her respect anymore because his dad was gone. He could do whatever he wanted, even if he was disgusted with everyone else. He stopped viewing people as people. He was okay with killing scavengers because they were the bottom of the population resorting to cannibalism in a desperate situation. He was okay with poisoning them in revenge for Luis the driver. He was okay with killing Jasmine because his wife came back and now had a son again. His wife didn’t have good morality either, since she was interested in getting more kids out of her. At the end Marcos had nothing keeping him at a disadvantage, so he began accepting the system. What once was cruel and a sacrifice for him, at the end became the benefit and sacrifice of others. Even if their sacrifices weren’t consensual. (As he once stated himself)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Gore, Death, Child death, Body horror, and Blood

q_bert13's review

challenging 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? No

3.0

A dark, frightening look at a dystopian capitalist world ‘forced’ into cannibalism via an animal-attacking virus. Don’t go into this book looking for likeable characters either. Overall the storyline is interesting, with twists you don’t expect. The book so separated in two parts (with a time jump between them), with part one going much slower than the second half. I feel like the inclusion of a middle chapter, either featuring the main characters or just focusing on the society as a whole would help ‘flesh out’ the story (pun not intended). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Blood, Classism, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Infertility, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia

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

sppalmer467's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Sexual content

ori250's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Infertility, Infidelity, Cursing, and Body horror

fernash's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Pregnancy, Gore, Sexual content, Trafficking, Body horror, Violence, Cannibalism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Dementia

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