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3.5 

Tender Is the Flesh

By Agustina Bazterrica and Sarah Moses
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica and Sarah Moses digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

1172 Reviews

3.5
Anxious Face with sweat“genuinely made me go what the fuck the entire time!”
Multi-layered charactersDescriptive writingEasy to readOriginal writing
Thinking Face“For a book belonging to the genre of horror it sure leaves you hanging on that point. With a very weak plot, this books focus manly on talking about controversial topics, like cannibalism, but even that was not done as well as I hoped it would. It sure has a vast and rich description of the scenes that were amazing grotesque and, if we are being honest, the best part of the book, but only a good writing doesn't make a good story. Also, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed and came out of nowhere which left me with unsettled feelings and trying to make sense out of it. In conclusion, this book is definitely not made for people with weak stomachs, but I consider it ideal for someone who wants a light read that makes you think.”
Reviewed in:Dumb and Dumber
Multi-layered charactersDescriptive writingDark settingDarkThought-provokingAnimal abuseSexual assaultViolenceUnsatisfying ending
Surprised Face with Open Mouth“What a gut punch of a final sentence! I am stunned. Pretty solid but not as impressive as I thought it would be. I wonder if it's due to translation. I kind of want to read it in the original Spanish now to see!”
Dark settingDarkThought-provoking
Surprised Face with Open Mouth“When I say “unsatisfying ending” I mean it like it didn’t end the way I thought it was going to and I’m unsure how I feel about it. Overall, I loved the book! The descriptive detail made my stomach churn which is a success to me. Often times I read books and am unphased by certain details but this one, well it wasn’t the case. Worth a read! TW: animal abuse. I don’t fully know the extent of it because when I got to the part about the teenagers with the puppies, I knew what was going to happened (and by context you can tell) so I skipped those pages.”
Multi-layered charactersDescriptive writingUnpredictableDark settingDarkAnimal abuseViolenceUnsatisfying ending
Anxious Face with sweat“This book shook me to my core. I was initially annoyed by the lack of world-building, and having to suspend my disbelief that all of humanity would immediately succumb to cannibalism, but as the story continued I found myself captivated by the writing style and wasn’t so concerned about the lack of logic. All that to say, I was here for the vibes. The ending - specifically the last page - stuck the landing for me. Had me gagged. Disturbed. Upset. Angry. Disgusted. One of my fave books we’ve read”
Multi-layered charactersOriginal writingFast-pacedSuspensefulDark settingDarkThought-provokingAbuseAnimal abuseViolence

About Agustina Bazterrica

Agustina Bazterrica is an Argentinian novelist and short story writer. She is a central figure in the Buenos Aires literary scene. She won the prestigious Premio Clarin Novela for her second novel, Tender Is the Flesh, which has been translated into twenty-three languages. Several of the stories in Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird have also won awards, including First Prize in the 2004/2005 City of Buenos Aires Awards for Unpublished Stories and First Prize in the Edmundo Valadés Awards for the Latin American Short Story, among others.

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