Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Rape, Abortion, Pregnancy
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy
If everybody was eating human flesh, would you?
Translated from the Spanish, Tender is the flesh is a commentary, horror talking about the natural fall to consuming human flesh once animals have become infested with something that will kill humans upon consumption.
It is horrifying and thought-provoking bringing questions to mind, such as are we all simply sheep, following the easy route rather than challenging what's quickly becoming the norm? What happens to morality upon the introduction of a new threat to the species? Is the current state we keep our livestock in, and the practices we carry out on them, fit for purpose or needlessly cruel?
This story follows Marcos. Marcos felt simultaneously complex and hollow. You could clearly see that he had this deep rooted distaste to what was happening within society and the whole idea of consuming human meat, but at the same time he was clearly struggling with his own losses and had this 'shell-of-a-former-self' type quality to him that made his reactions either completely emotionally unavailable or extreme in how he responded.
On the topic of human meat... wasn't it's fascinating how they were distingushed from humans (and further still the distinction between the 'us' and the 'degenerates')?
I was endlessly enthralled by the clever use of terminology to dehumazie what was being eaten, such as how the processing plants referred to the 'product' only as the 'product' or special meat, or sticking to the basics of 'the female' for e.g., yet in the same hypercritical breath using pronouns like 'her' and 'she', making it all feel strangely human. It really messed me up, as you could see that society was perhaps still coming to grips with this degradation of life (interested me how some words didn't envoke 'omg I'm eating a person' and others did), but I was especially troubled by scenes of the 'product' cowering in fear like an animal expecting abuse.
I can't say I could have guessed what this story would bring and I definitely can't say that I predicted the ending because I sat there in disbelief as I turned the last page, expecting to have some sort of explanation. My mouth had dropped open and I shouted 'what the fuck?!'. It shocked me to my core. I didn't know what to think, how to feel. I think I even forgot how to breathe for a second.
I was truly at a loss for words when I closed this book.
What Augustina Bazterrica attempted to do with this awfully debase book was pulled off absolutely exquisitely. The themes (and commentary through the eyes of Marcos) were disturbing yet thought-provoking and left me wondering...would I actually eat human meat if that was what society and the government was publicising to the masses, that this was the new norm?
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Car accident
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
I needed so much more explanation about why they couldnt have just eaten plants lmao
also felt so many contradictions and complications about the rules and why they were called heads etc and why did he love jasmine then the ending with her was just like???? Why????
The bits in the zoo with the puppies??? Baffling, did anything come of it? Was the virus real? I'm so confused, too many questions
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
When I first started reading this book, I really didn’t think that the author could convince me that such a large scale of the population would accept and gleefully participate in cannibalism.
But when I really think about our current consumption, like really think about it, it’s not that far fetched. So much of our clothing is made in sweatshops, iPhones use child labour, we have legalized slavery through the prison system, and we are so separated from our food that many of us have never set foot near a slaughterhouse or factory.
We don’t really think about where these things come from because the second we do it’s really daunting and horrible. It is much easier (and kind of necessary to get on with your life ) to push it to the back of your mind and continue using your iPhone, which I am currently typing on…
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Cannibalism, Murder
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic