Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Tender is the Flesh

I don’t really know what to say about this book… I didn’t really like it, but I also can’t stop thinking about it.

The entire first half of the book is world building, and this world is f*cked and let’s just say I’ve never been more happy to be a vegan while reading a book.

The rest of the plot seemed really disjointed and rushed. I know there’s probably deep messages about humanity, loss, and grief, but the graphic cannibalism over shadowed that a bit, you know?

Content Warnings

lavendar_fr0g's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-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

4.0

I don’t like dystopians too much, so I kept that in mind as I went in.

The scenes are gruesome, detailed in a wonderful way but nothing special if you’ve a reader of extreme horror in general. To people who aren’t used to intense horror and gore, it’ll definitely be a hard one to get through.

I strangely felt more sad than horrified, but there’s something nice about that- horror doesn’t always have to just scare you; it can invoke other emotions too. The ending surprised me, but looking back at the course of the book- it makes sense.

Don’t go in expecting for the protagonist to change the world and society (a common trend in dystopians); he’s complicit in it. A participator and even an enforcer.

Content Warnings

catsarecool43's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-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? Yes

3.5

It's very interesting seeing the dehumanisation of this society, and how someone working in the main area causing this reacts to and thinks about his job. It was written relatively well, although the first 2 chapters definitely felt like they were trying to make up for the fact that it's not a very long book. I'd like to read something set during The Transition since that seems like it could be very interesting.

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kadbee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

Content Warnings

parkerluck's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.75

I was rec'd this based off of how much I like Oryx and Crake and it was indeed in line! Good writing, I didn't feel like the violence or content was "gratuitous" or shock over substance or whatever else. The subject matter is horrific so heed warnings, but it's explored well and I felt it was pretty in line with, again, O&C or other bleak dystopia stuff. Enjoyed the character work for the MC, the rest of the cast wasn't as fleshed out but didn't really need to be for such a quick read.

The people saying the ending was a "twist" don't know how to read imo. The book does a good job of building Marcos, showing you who he is, who he thinks he is, how he fits into the world.

As far as unreliable narrators go, he's not even very unreliable and the story doesn't try to conceal what he's doing or capable of doing at any point. Combined with the Icarus thread he tells himself at the end (it doesn't matter if you fall, what matters is that for a moment you were a bird), it's a very basic set up and execution of him as a character. Frustrating to see other people have so much trouble with the dissonance between the actual narrative and the narrative Marcos himself constructs tbh but what can you do.

Content Warnings

lulublanche368's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

50shadesofrae's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The kind of book so dense with social commentary that it should be taught in schools, if only it wasn’t so uniquely horrific. I loved, and I can only recommend it to a handful of people.

Content Warnings

jojothefool's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-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

4.5

This book……… is so messed up. I really enjoyed myself. But basically after every chapter I would put the book down and reflect, “….. what the HELL am I reading?” And then I’d pick it back up and keep going. Very dark, very disturbing, but really makes you think about kind of everything? Government corruption, the meat industry, the class system, the inherit value of man……. I can’t give it 5 stars because it messed with me too hard, but it was very well written and a very interesting read that I would recommend if you can handle the content warnings.

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