Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Wie die Schweine by Agustina Bazterrica

56 reviews

fausticontrelibros's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Gore, Rape, Genocide, Slavery, Medical content, Animal death, Torture, Sexual content, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Blood, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Child death

lauriebird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book had me. This book grabbed me by its claws, dragged me down, and forced me to come face to face with one of the most bleak books ever written.

Make no mistake, this book is a horror. But it is also a masterpiece of literature. This book is brutal from beginning to end. This book made me feel gross. This book made me reflect on the classism of politics (specifically in the United States). The book stresses that 

this is a government plot to ensure population control, not a true virus

. I did not like this book but not because of Bazterricas fantastic execution. I did not like it because we are not meant to like it. It is written flatly in a clear voice of Marcos. Marcos is nihilistic and each description of everything that he goes through, right down to the colors of his world, echos that nihilism.

The last line of this book shattered me.

“She had the human gaze of a domesticated animal.” She was just an animal to him. A means to an end. Marcos, a character that we are meant to see as “on the readers side” ends up being as amoral as the rest. You cannot live a moral life in a society devoid of morality. As you read the last line, you realize that Marcos saw Jasmine the same as his dogs. The way he talks to and cares for her is still that of an animal. Yes, he sexually assaulted her for his own gain, but he still sees her only as a means to an end. The book sets this up for us to believe Marcos may overcome the societal pressures and challenges and realize that the head are in fact, also human and deserve to be treated as human. The last chapter tears every bit of that hope from you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Death, Infertility, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Misogyny, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

lavendar_fr0g's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

ravenousrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Cultural appropriation, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Confinement, Dementia, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

ed_moore's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Bazzterrica’s ‘Tender is the Flesh’ really leaves me conflicted on the opinions of the book, I certainly did not enjoy it, far from it, though it wasn’t at all bad. A dystopia where animal meat is diseased and inedible so the population turns to systematic cannibalism is just a theme that cannot be an enjoyable reading experience. Every single chapter was uncomfortable, the themes, descriptions of murder and consumption of humans with no remorse, care or ability to see the murder victims as human, but alike to the animals slaughtered in todays meat industry, was harrowing. It was the most unpleasant reading experience I have ever had. 

 

In substituting the animals of the meat industry for humans it was an extremely strong argument for veganism, and made me feel utterly sick every single chapter, and that is as a person who extremely rarely eats meat, never choosing to cook it myself and only having it when served to me by somebody else. The world building in the book was both incredible and utterly harrowing, but the theme was the only real standout element when it came to the writing itself. 

 

The whole book was written in an extremely blunt and to the point tone, almost like a list of events in the protagonist Marcos’ life and long list features to contribute to world building. While I recognise this could reflect the lack of remorse towards the consumption of humans and is a clever technique in such regards, it also came across as extremely bland and sloppy writing. The characters were also all quite flat, once again all awful people and one dimensional possibly for the focus on how little remorse existed in the dystopian universe, but also again uninteresting writing. 

 

‘Tender is the Flesh’ was eye-opening and so uncomfortable with a really interesting, impactful and harrowing premise, but aside from such was not the greatest in a stylistic or plot perspective (the plot also felt very lacking and only focused on world building, new elements of the human processing plant and universe being introduced in the second to penultimate chapter). This is book where the trigger warnings are a must, as it is the most uncomfy book I have ever read, is far from enjoyable, yet absolutely worth considering reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Torture, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death

tverma's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Vomit

vlpfeiffer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Pregnancy and Child death

Minor: Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

xeno_reads's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

A thought provoking look into a mirror of what humanity can be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Trafficking, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Pregnancy, Vomit, Ableism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Animal death, Abandonment, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Blood, Infertility, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Body horror, Torture, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Slavery, Classism, and Sexual harassment

bookmom91's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

This book is an amazing and gripping read. Once you start you are transported to an alternate world you can't leave till the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Slavery, War, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Genocide, Trafficking, and Rape

blueyapologist's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

4.25

Holy shit dude. This book had tension and twists and I have never felt a stronger urge to shower after reading something 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Torture, Drug use, Animal death, Addiction, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Blood, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Body horror, Dementia, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Infertility, Grief, Gore, Cursing, Confinement, Classism, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Murder, Misogyny, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Racism, Genocide, Car accident, and Animal cruelty