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A review by dholivero
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
In 200 pages, the author is able to construct a realistic dystopia where humanity no longer exists and leaves you questioning how you can keep your own.
In this world, a virus made animal consumption and interaction dangerous so governments replaced animals with marginalized peoples. The story follows Marcos, an executive at a slaughter house, who is both coping with the destruction of his family and the horror of the new world he is living in.
Bazterrica introduces us to the players and stakeholders in human slaughter and skillfully leaves bread crumbs to instances in our own reality that made her horror possible. While the consumption of human flesh may be unimaginable to most (as it was to me), much of the horror she details in her novel warns what we can do and have done to each other.
This is one of the best dystopian novels I have read in a long time. Simply focusing on the gore and criticism of the meat industry is failing to understand the full context of Bazterrica’s writing.
In this world, a virus made animal consumption and interaction dangerous so governments replaced animals with marginalized peoples. The story follows Marcos, an executive at a slaughter house, who is both coping with the destruction of his family and the horror of the new world he is living in.
Bazterrica introduces us to the players and stakeholders in human slaughter and skillfully leaves bread crumbs to instances in our own reality that made her horror possible. While the consumption of human flesh may be unimaginable to most (as it was to me), much of the horror she details in her novel warns what we can do and have done to each other.
This is one of the best dystopian novels I have read in a long time. Simply focusing on the gore and criticism of the meat industry is failing to understand the full context of Bazterrica’s writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Blood, Dementia, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship