A review by sarah984
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

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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