Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

22 reviews

fayfaybleugh's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

review unfinished: This is the most horrifying book I’ve ever read- I cannot rate it because its content and delivery cannot possibly be “good”, but it remains thought provoking and is truly a horror if an unconventional one. Despite being a page turner that I finished quite quickly I had to take many pauses and many times thought I would put it down and not pick it up again. The content warnings on this one are a mile long and they just get worse and worse as the book goes on.

The novel follows Marcos who works as the right hand man of a “special meat” processing llant in a dystopian future (or alternate reality) where a virus that kills humans has contaminated all animals causing all slaughterhouses to be shut down, all pets and animals that interact with humans euthanized. In what is called the Transition, the loss of the meat industry is replaced with humans. The references to factory farming are heavy-handed and obvious from the way that “special meat” and “specimens” are talked and labeled for consumption:

feet sold as “hind trotters”, not regular kidneys but “special kidneys”

, etc. There are references that it is illegal to outright discuss the consumption of humans or cannibalism, and that specific language must be used (“head” instead of people, “carcass” instead of corpse), but over the course of the book it becomes apparent that people are well aware what they are taking part in, particularly when Marcos visits the game reserve.

Throughout, other characters are insistent that “head” are not people or human- it is meat and nothing else- and is furthermore seen as a status symbol as evidenced from the description of scavengers who exist as a starving underclass at the edges of the story who tear apart corpses unfit for production outside the slaughterhouse fences. Despite the clear line that humanity has drawn to distinguish “people” from “meat”, instances of people being very aware of consuming humans are made from the celebrity hunted down at the game reserve whose parts are eaten in celebration because it had a name, the practice of keeping live head in your own house to butcher piece by piece so it is fresh, etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Excrement, Infertility, and Medical content

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