Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

788 reviews

parkerluck's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Rape, and Gore

50shadesofrae's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Death, Classism, Cannibalism, Violence, and Rape

renee_fae's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Death, and Suicide

yamtastic's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.5

Beautiful prose for such a disturbing story. The ending gets a lot of hate, but I think it was perfectly suited to the characters - a setting like this does not create a happy ending. In a way, there was no chance at a happy ending from the very beginning. Dark, intimate, sick and twisted, this is a book that will make you stop and consider what it means to be human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Confinement, Body horror, Rape, Grief, Violence, Blood, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

mightydub's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, and Sexual assault

dnietoperafan's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

Me le quito el sombrero a Agustina Bazterrica. Esta novela va a estar implantada en mi memoria para siempre.

Mi hermana me recomendo este libro. He sido vegetariana desde hace 2 años ya, y mi hermana sabía que disfrutaría este libro de una manera macabra. 

Las descripciones de Bazterrica son de las cosas más grotescas que he leido en mi vida (en la mejor forma posible). Ese mundo distópico que creó no se siente tan lejano. Amo como algunas preguntas no se resuelven através de la historia, lo cual hizo que el libro se sientiera más real (?). 

Los personajes están muy bien caracterizados. Amé como Bazterrica no nos tenía que decir como eran las personalidades de ciertos personajes, ella solo nos lo mostraba através de sus acciones. 

De verdad me gustó esta novela, y la recomendaría a los lectores de estómago fuerte.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, Sexual content, Torture, and Cannibalism

niamhrowanch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

she has the human look of a domesticated animal?!?!!!?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Violence, Infertility, Trafficking, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Blood, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Rape, and Torture

pantslint's review against another edition

4.0

I'll write a clearer review after a re-read. This book is horrific tho, no doubt. A quick read, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Dementia, Animal death, Slavery, Torture, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Miscarriage

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Alcohol

anjae's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

This was so nasty and I wish I could wipe it from my brain, but I’m also glad I read it. It’s a pretty on-the-nose analogy for mass industrial animal agriculture, but it still worked really well. This was well written and captivating, but I don’t know if I would ever recommend it to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Child death, Confinement, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Torture, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

ellevlt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

wow this guy really hates women! 

Idk I think it just wasn’t for me. I thought the premise was so promising and really interesting at some parts but I just couldn’t get past the main character. Wanted to get through it in case twist paid off but ending fell flat for me too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Death of parent