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noosh_pdf's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
"I know that when I die somebody’s going to sell my flesh on the black market, one of my awful distant relatives. That’s why I smoke and drink, so I taste bitter and no one gets any pleasure out of my death.” -Spanel
"She had the look of a domesticated animal," -Marcos Tejo
Just wow.
An utterly disgusting, stomach churning, gut wrenching book. Completely revolting. But I loved it.
The book is beautiful in such a way it is absolutely atrocious to read, the descriptions the author uses disgust me to a point of gagging. I have to say, although I loved it, it was not much of a memorable read.
It's not the best book, but it's definitely worth the time I spent. If you do wish to read this, I highly advise you to check the trigger warnings because even for me, it was terrifying.
The book itself is very slow paced, the actuality of whats happening does not reveal itself until Part Two of the book, however, I think that was the whole point of this novel.
Personally, if everyone had resorted to cannibalism for meat, I'd just go vegan, as long as I have seasoning with me, I'd eat plain lettuce for all that matters.
Now the plot itself, is basically about Marcos Tejo and how his wife is struggling after the death of their baby, Leo. This book exists in a dystopian world where all animals have been affected by a Virus and people have resorted to special meat for survival since they can't live without meat. The special meat in this case is Human Meat. Humans are specifically breeded for slaughter and are referred to as, "Heads" because they hold no specific value in life and can't speak since their vocal cords have been cut out.
That's all I will say about the description.
I do think this book showcases the inhumanity some people can posses, the craze for murder and blood. I have nothing else to say.
Read for yourself and see how the ending just leaves you speechless and disgusted.
Graphic: Death of parent, Cannibalism, Child death, Slavery, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infertility, Car accident, Bullying, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Blood, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Gore, and Dementia
autihd_elno's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I found this to be a powerful dystopia, it felt like the author had a grip on how she was handling it throughout, and I thought she handled the ending well - I found it to be satisfying (in so far as any ending that takes place in a world where society has decided to normalize cannibalism can be "satisfying," ha ha). To me,
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Animal death, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Classism, Confinement, Dementia, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Car accident, Classism, Sexual assault, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Vomit, Grief, Infertility, and Infidelity
This book does not pull any punches as very as details are concerned. It is about a society that has embraced cannibalism and follows a character that works at a meat processing plant. I would not recommend it for the squeamish/those with weak stomachs as far as written descriptions of gore go. It was certainly a nauseating read.thesaltybibliophile'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
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Infertility, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Torture, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
kateiscoolerthanu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Cannibalism
Minor: Death, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, and Cursing
snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death, Excrement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Sexism
jinxed_reads's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Genocide, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, and Torture
8090js's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cannibalism, Dementia, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Slavery, Sexual assault, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Car accident, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Torture, Gore, Infertility, Violence, Miscarriage, Blood, Excrement, and Forced institutionalization
reginacattus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Infertility, Cannibalism, Death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Confinement, Blood, Sexual assault, Gore, and Death of parent
Moderate: Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Classism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Cursing, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment
maddie1280's review against another edition
- 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? No
2.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Sexual assault, Cursing, Death, Torture, Trafficking, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Slavery, and Death of parent
zsabella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
characterization & narration
heavy usage of pronouns are used to refer to the protagonist instead of “Marcos”. it was hard to keep track of which characters were doing or saying different things, especially when they identified as male or weren’t given unique names. I’m still wondering if this was a tool used by the author to intentionally dehumanize Marcos or if it was a byproduct of translation.
I was left wanting more from all the side characters and exploring their relationships with Marcos. it felt odd that Marcos and Cecilia’s entire relationship and parenthood journey is given what feels like a montage reel in a single chapter in part I. Marcos is just ok as a morally gray character, and serves well enough as a protagonist who grew up already working in an unforgiving industry. however, I was surprised that he wasn't shown having a more active role at the processing plant, like a stunner or assembly line butcher, and felt like an opportunity was missed while reading about him as a higher-up executive instead.
the quality of dialogue and nuance deteriorated as the plot advanced. the author literally skips over what could have been added characterization of Cecilia by writing:
“Cecilia says that the umbilical cord needs to be cut, and the baby cleaned and wrapped up… Once she’s taken care of these things, Cecilia hands back the baby…”
I would have loved to have delved into Cecilia’s mind, even for just a couple sentences, in those last moments of the book but it barely goes deeper than surface level. Marisa felt under-developed too—it’s obvious she was a representation of the “sheeple” who have blind trust in their government and institutions, but that’s all the author cares to write about with her.
I do want to point out that the narration by Joseph Balderrama was enjoyable and elevated the writing. his voice work for the side characters aren’t overdone or distracting. I like how smoothly the production was edited and it definitely heightens characterization and tension, which I would find lacking without the accompanying audiobook.
plot & themes
the premise falls apart for not being thorough and left me wondering why this society has never solely relied on alternative food sources. it also raises questions about where human and animal rights groups ended up after the transition. were they all steamrolled by the government too? it comes across as if the author was really proud of writing vivid, brutal scenes of assault, animal abuse, and other depraved acts, then wrote in an underdeveloped premise to prop up these scenes.
the way exposition was written becomes heavy handed and oversimplified in part II. part II is less shy in villainizing the government, but doesn’t actually interrogate the end goal of the entire system. essentially, it just points and says “look how bad it’s all gotten! isn’t butchering and eating people so awful?” part I did a much better job of world-building than the second, where every aspect of the special meat industry that is depicted begins to feel gratuitous or stale.
my biggest gripe is with how the ending is handled. Marcos’ decisions to ask Cecilia for help and immediately eliminate Jasmine after labor is purely written for shock value. rather than dissecting how keeping a specimen might further damage his and Cecilia’s relationship, or parsing out Cecilia’s thoughts on raising a half-specimen child in an epilogue chapter, the story stops dead in its tracks. it’s implied that Cecilia would still be glad to raise the newborn with Marcos, even after calling him “crazy”, “sick”, and even though she realizes the potential consequences of him impregnating a specimen. so when I read the following line: “As though his words were magical, she [Cecilia] begins to move and tells him to start boiling water, to bring clean towels...” largely motivated me to drop my rating.
Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gore, Confinement, Infertility, Sexual content, and Miscarriage