Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

57 reviews

sydoodle's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This is the worst thing I’ve ever read. It was incredible. Hated every second of it. It was so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

sarah984's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

1.0

This was a strange read for me - sort of a cannibalistic version of The Jungle. I didn't mind the matter of fact descriptions of the brutality of the meat industry (in fact, the words the industry has come up with to mask what they're actually doing is one of the few things I actually liked about the book) but could hardly stand any of the rest of it. So much of this book is about this sort of whiny annoying character who feels superior to other people for no real reason, unappealing sex scenes and mind-boggling world building. The idea that the land didn't change at all when most animals were slaughtered is kind of ridiculous, as is the idea that every government in the world agreed to this plan at the same time

when the virus (likely) doesn't exist and it doesn't even solve the stated problem. The Transition is posited to be a solution to "overpopulation" but eating non-agricultural humans is in most cases illegal and the ones in captivity are bred for meat purposes so the population is the same??

I didn't get this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Gore, Animal death, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Child death, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Vomit, Gun violence, Self harm, Abortion, Terminal illness, and Suicide

oliviareese's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Confinement, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Gore, Kidnapping, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Trafficking

Moderate: Drug abuse, Car accident, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Fatphobia

lilybear3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Trying to delve into more horror and this book was incredible for me. It was everything I wanted in a horror. LOTS of TW so be sure to check those out. I felt the characters we're developed just enough, like we still don't know everything about them and I love that mystery. It was truly shocking, nauseating, and the idea was really...fleshed out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Genocide, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Classism, Self harm, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Torture, Death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Sexual assault, Excrement, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, and Sexism

Moderate: Cursing

voidflowers's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Violence, Terminal illness, Excrement, Slavery, Sexual content, Infertility, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma, Rape, Animal death, Pregnancy, Infertility, Cannibalism, Child death, and Death

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Car accident, Addiction, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Trafficking, and Body horror

rhianonw's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Infertility, Gore, Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Dementia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Self harm, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol, Slavery, Abortion, Confinement, Suicide, and Infidelity

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cannibalism, Animal death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Death of parent, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Gun violence, Torture, Trafficking, Infertility, and Pedophilia

Minor: Grief and Racism

pan_to_ffel's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

This is a slice of life story in a dystopian world, where cannibalism is the norm. Trigger warning? You name it, it has it... Probably.
I'm not sorry I read the book, the style was flowing nicely, it's very slow paced. It was horrifyingly fascinating to see how a world of cannibalism would work, how a society would work and what mechanisms might develop in this scenario. 
The character isn't the most likeable but he's also not not likeable, if you know what I mean. He's describing his life in such a detached way - being part of the machinery, not really willing or able to change anything but not happy either way. It's an intriguing mix and probably true for many situations and people. Which is probably the reason I'm not a fan of the book - too much truth, not enough fairy tale rebellion :) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Death, Excrement, Gore, Child death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Grief, Cannibalism, Body horror, Violence, Animal death, and Dementia

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit, Addiction, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

annabel_blakey's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking

emmalouisesteer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Abortion, and Addiction