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ashcrash 's review for:
Tender Is the Flesh
by Agustina Bazterrica
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
(libby audiobook, recommended by theo)
so. this is A Lot. very interesting premise and definitely something i’ll be thinking about for a long time. i liked the setup of marcos as a complicit/hypocritical narrator even as he is so vocally disgusted with his world. it makes for a really engaging back and forth between what he says and what he does and highlights how every character has their own relationship with the Transition, even if we don’t get to see it.
that being said, jesus. i wouldn’t say the pacing is necessarily slow, but extensive, detailed worldbuilding for a world that i personally did not want to stay in made it feel like a slog at times. i think the gratuitousness is part of the point, and i think it mostly works, but up until the ~70% mark it definitely felt like we were just bopping around aimlessly with marcos. it’s still interesting given the world he’s in and illustrate the industrial/bureaucratic aspects of everything, but it makes the book feel easily twice as long as it actually is. i don’t mind dread, but at a certain point it becomes a bit numbing. idk. would definitely still recommend to anyone interested in cannibalism/dystopian horror or your local vegan
so. this is A Lot. very interesting premise and definitely something i’ll be thinking about for a long time. i liked the setup of marcos as a complicit/hypocritical narrator even as he is so vocally disgusted with his world. it makes for a really engaging back and forth between what he says and what he does and highlights how every character has their own relationship with the Transition, even if we don’t get to see it.
that being said, jesus. i wouldn’t say the pacing is necessarily slow, but extensive, detailed worldbuilding for a world that i personally did not want to stay in made it feel like a slog at times. i think the gratuitousness is part of the point, and i think it mostly works, but up until the ~70% mark it definitely felt like we were just bopping around aimlessly with marcos. it’s still interesting given the world he’s in and illustrate the industrial/bureaucratic aspects of everything, but it makes the book feel easily twice as long as it actually is. i don’t mind dread, but at a certain point it becomes a bit numbing. idk. would definitely still recommend to anyone interested in cannibalism/dystopian horror or your local vegan
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide