Reviews

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

eggyriver's review

Go to review page

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? Yes

3.75

faedyn's review

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

cerysjoanne's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective medium-paced

5.0

dessski's review

Go to review page

5.0

Absolutely loved this book. Such a captivating idea, and I loved the brutality of it. Wish I could find more like it.

finnjer's review

Go to review page

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

4.0

lizzisok's review

Go to review page

challenging dark 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

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cryptidenthusiast's review

Go to review page

dark fast-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? It's complicated

1.0

Outside of just being gross to be gross, this book really isn’t much beyond shock value. I can’t quite tell if there’s supposed to be a message about “human greed and lack of empathy” (which is a moot point considering actual studies done proving otherwise) or everything else that felt shoehorned in. 

Is it commentary about ‘meat=murder’? How quickly people are willing to change their morals and follow whatever laws are in place if it means their own life isn’t disrupted? We jump from the processing plants, to actual human experimentation and that’s just brushed over? It felt like the author was trying to make too many points in a 200 page book, which just hurt the overall plot. 

Marcos is an exhausting character to follow through the narrative. There’s NOTHING to him beyond being numb, emotionally detached, and contradictory. Despite being no better than the people around him, he carries himself with an air of being the smartest man in the room. 

The sudden sexual assault chapter also felt completely unnecessary, and did nothing to move the plot along or actually provide anything outside of more disdain for Marcos.
 

The ‘plot twist’ wasn’t really a shock, and the ending felt like it was just tacked on to leave you uncomfortable. 

As for the writing itself, it felt extremely chopping and disconnected. A lot of sentences just put together with no real flow. It looks like the book was originally in Spanish though, so this is more of a point against the English translation than the author. 

Not really something I’d recommend, and it was definitely overhyped online. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

abigail8908's review

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

5.0

A flawlessly written, absolutely crushing story.

lillyturmel's review

Go to review page

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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautifully written, incredibly dark, and a story worth reading

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hamahannah's review

Go to review page

4.0

A book that I had to put down a couple of times because of the gritty images it conjured. A horrifying tale of sanctioned cannibalism that has you shocked until the last page.