A review by thereaderfriend
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is haunting. So gory and graphic. Calls out how disgusting humans can be. The way that people treated humans (mainly women, and lower class members of society) that were discarded or chosen to be "special meat" was insane. They even bred "heads" -- "special meat". Some even "sacrificed" themselves, but the readers were raised to question if it's really sacrifice; "a sacrifice generally requires consent from the person being sacrificed..." But what really got me was how easy it was for people to transition from animal meat to human meat because of the supposed overpopulation, impoverity, etc. I don't know how anyone can justify cannibalism. It seemed like the transition took place through a matter of months! That's so short! Definitely seemed like many were very prepared. The things you do to live... and what that means to people is astronomical. This book raised many hard questions and reflections. I was so uncomfortable most of the time and rightfully so. So glad I read this. Definitely recommend to those that can handle gore and analyze through it. Definitely took time to read. Was slow in some parts too but didn't hate it.
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