Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Wie die Schweine by Agustina Bazterrica

1226 reviews

29000xxxx's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

THIS BOOK IS CRAZY 
the story describes atrocities almost nonchalantly. it unsettled me in that i recognise i was supposed to be horrified, but half the time i just felt somewhat numb. perhaps the nearly indifferent or resigned tone throughout the book just acted like a sedative. but it is a good book within the parameters of a dystopian story that it is.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Rape, and Grief

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

gkf3232's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

Tender is the flesh is an extremely captivating book. Every chapter left on a cliff hanger, making it difficult to put down. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror

mconroy9137's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Confinement, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Excrement, Death of parent, Dementia, Infertility, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexism

Minor: Antisemitism, Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Car accident

simpag's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Child death, Rape, and Sexual violence

manders_mae's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Body horror, and Sexual assault

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

lucent_moon's review against another edition

4.5

A beautiful, and haunting dystopian novel. This book is well written from what I can tell, although I wish I was able to read the original, and not just the translation. 

I went into the book almost completely blind, and was completely on edge the whole read. Dark, cynical, and occasionally funny. Only thing keeping me from a full 5 stars are two specific scenes. I absolutely loved it, but I'm not sure I'll be rereading it anytime soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Classism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Slavery

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

katvanfos's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abortion, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Gore

lizzisok's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gore, Sexual assault, Medical content, Animal death, Excrement, Child death, Violence, Pregnancy, Cursing, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Rape, and Infidelity