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manikahemmerixh 's review for:

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
3.75

I’ve been intimidated by this book for a long time and finally decided to just sit down and read it. It’s definitely graphic and disturbing, but I didn’t have as visceral of a reaction to it as I feared I might just knowing what the concept was. It’s a pretty small window into what would be an incredibly complicated, scary world so if you’re looking for an in-depth understanding and picture of this dystopian universe, it’s not really there. For example, as a vegetarian I know that there would be a large community of people who would NEVER just normalize eating humans and there’s only small nods towards that. However I think it’s a successful character study of what one living experience may look like in a world where cannibalism is not only legalized, but sanitized. The ending, specifically, is something I can’t forget. 

I realize I should have seen it coming, but there’s something so striking about Marcos’ internal struggle (although he’s clearly desensitized) and then when it comes down to it he doesn’t hesitate to use and discard Jasmine. He may sympathize, but sees her as human no more than the others he’s so disgusted by.