Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

312 reviews

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

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

sarahshock's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing book! Highly recommend. The ending is insane!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Genocide, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, 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

ex_hardesty's review

challenging dark sad tense 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? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Trafficking, Violence, Rape, Death, Confinement, Vomit, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Suicide

heavenperry's review

sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Murder, Cannibalism, Confinement, Infertility, Slavery, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Blood

sophduncshep's review

challenging dark sad fast-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? N/A

3.5

Right up until the last couple of chapters, I found this profoundly sad. Then I hated it. It’s brilliant for what it achieves but I don’t even want it in my house anymore 🤣 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, Dementia, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Medical content, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

bookishchaos's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Not sure how I feel about this. It has a unique concept for a horror novel but it also made me feel icky. The environment/world setting is pretty horrfic and shows the terrors that humans could possibly be capable of. But this book is very short, so the characters weren't devoloped, it focused mainly on the politics of the story, and by the end of it, the book felt incomplete.

However, I did like at the end when you realize that our main character is the villian. His character starts out okay, but progressively becomes horrible. That was very different and unexpected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cannibalism, and Rape

Moderate: Torture, Child death, and Murder

Minor: Medical content, Infertility, and Pregnancy

jennygeee's review

dark reflective sad 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Medical content, Rape, Violence, Child death, Gore, and Torture