Review by ceramicalien - Tender Is the Flesh

ceramicalien 's review for:

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

If I had a nickel for every book I read recently that featured a main character that was a father who recently lost a child, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t much but it’s interesting that it happened twice.

I think this book did an excellent job of making me uncomfortable, mostly to its benefit. It examines exactly how hypocritical humans are and can be when faced with moral dilemma. In the face of many real world examples of how society can create callous people who have no qualms with normalizing or turning a blind eye to atrocities, it becomes very poignant.

I was taken aback and disappointed by the way the book ended. But of course, that’s the point. We spend the entire book listening to his internal monologue looking down on others only for him to be the same, if not worse than everyone he looked down on. I can’t say I was INCREDIBLY surprised by the ending but I will say I’m surprised at how it went down and the abruptness of it. I felt like we never really got to become “attached” to the relationship Marcos had with Cecilia before their separation, so for her to just so quickly accept him and the situation felt odd, even if the grief of their lost child was clouding Cecilia’s judgement. Still, was a good read and definitely became a page turner for me during Part 2.

Content Warnings