Tender is the Flesh brings up similar sentiments as FRESH, Good Neighbors, and The Dinner...on steroids. The content warnings know no bounds. Please proceed with caution.

Voluptuous. Grotesque. Not for the faint of heart or weak stomachs.

At times was distracted by my curiosity at how the original Spanish text reads in some of the more graphic scenes. The reading experience was generally fascinating and horrific all at once, and incredibly triggering. I'd have read it faster if I wasn't so inclined to stop and talk about it every few chapters to anyone who would listen.

This one was a DNF for me on this attempt, but I'll attempt again after seeing so many readers rate it highly.

This is easily the most disturbing book I have ever read. But honestly, I should have expected that going in.

Animals have become contaminated so they are no longer eaten. However, people need protein. Therein lies the problem, and the solution is cannibalism. However, in an attempt to make everyone feel better about eating their fellow humans, those raised for food are treated as cattle. The MC works at a slaughter house, but does not eat meat. He is dealing with the loss of his young son, his wife's estrangement, an illegal attachment to a "head," and his own growing discomfort with how things are done.

It was so well written that I couldn't stop reading it, but this is definitely not for the squeamish or faint at heart.

This is probably in the top 3 most disturbing / disgusting books I've ever read. I don't normally get chills while reading or having physical reactions - but this book gave me both. It's impossible to imagine a world like that, and I am blown away that the author could create a world like that; and one that is both vile and readable. It's a balancing act, and they did a great job!

Wow, why did I wait so long to read this? Super impactful, brutal, disturbing, and thought provoking. I wish there were a part two so you could see how the state of this society played out, but I see why it ended the way it did. This was not what I expected and I was immediately hooked! Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the free digital copy.

I honestly don't know how to feel about this book. The premise is super interesting and the descriptions were horrifying, but I feel like we got a lot of descriptions and I wanted a little more plot. I honestly don't mind the lack of general backstory with how the world ended up in this state, but I still ended this book wanting more from it. The ending was disturbing in the best way. I would definitely read more from this author. I really appreciate getting to read translated works, especially from women in horror!

In the novel "Tender Is the Flesh," author Bazterrica forces the reader to question what human beings will do in order to survive. In a world where animals are dangerous to eat and humans are now farmed for meat... what does a country do to mask the horrific reality of what is happening and how does it trickle down to the individual person? This novel is incredibly dark and at many points hard to stomach. With that said, I loved the themes and messages brought forth through the author's words. But wow... did it hurt to read at the same time.

I sat with my thoughts for awhile before getting to this review, but I'm still not sure what my thoughts are. This is definitely a book that will stay on my mind for a long time.

This book is gross and disturbing, but that's the point. It was also disconcerting to me because after 2020 you can almost imagine something like this happening in the real world. The things that happen in this book...digging up graves to eat the dead, being ok with breeding and killing humans for food, how certain classes of people were treated, the raping....I found believable. This is exactly how people would behave if found in this dystopian world.

Through most of the book I never felt like we could get emotionally invested in Marcos. Sure, I felt sorry for him, but it was almost like we didn't get a sense of his emotions or thoughts. Not sure if this was because something was lost in translation or if being emotionally detached from the story was sort of the point. I could see this being made into a movie.

Read this only if you have a strong stomach! You've been warned. One of my first translated works, I think the story itself was full of great imagery and the main themes translated well. The ending alone was surprising but left me feeling ripped off a bit. I had a hard time wanting to read this book because it was so violent and visually queasy. But I can see that the story itself is full of really important lessons and themes.

There are certain horror stories that grip you from the beginning simply due to the premise. In Tender is the Flesh, we learn a virus has made all animals inedible. With a lack of meat, people turn on each other, and eventually it becomes normal to go to the supermarket and pick up human meat to feed your family. This basic concept is horrifying, and by the time Tender is the Flesh begins, the entire world finds this practice acceptable.

Marcos works in the meat industry, a buyer for his dying father’s slaughterhouse, and estranged from his wife. He inspects his family’s slaughterhouse, buys meat from farmers, and makes sure all the customer orders are fulfilled and the customers are happy. This is actually pretty normal business if the business is not buying, selling, and killing humans.

Society has rules. For example, it is still illegal to eat someone with a first and last name, and there should be no personal contact between humans and the herd. All of the herd humans are to be registered and inspected. When Marcos receives a woman as a gift from one of the farmers, he does not know what to do with her, so he keeps her in his barn and goes about his life. This solution feels like the entirety of this novel, how everything is so terrible that the characters do not even see that it is terrible anymore. Instead they go about their business and their lives with just this little change to the culture.

There are many aspects of this novel that can be picked apart and examined, like how people can turn other people into food as long as there are rules and regulations and how those who cannot afford the meat in the store spend time at the slaughterhouse fence to get some of the leftovers, like how animals are treated during the outbreak and now that society has moved forward from eating them, or like how the virus affected animals but not humans, as if there was a barrier between the two. One of the small undercurrents that I could discuss all day is did the virus even exist or was it made by the government to control the population? Marcos’s sister always has an umbrella outside because she is afraid that she will get infected by birds flying over and her getting hit with their droppings, but that brings up the question of how birds exist? It makes me believe that the story before this story is just as important and a great thing to speculate. Even though this is a short novel, there is so much depth to explore that Tender is the Flesh is a novel that will be valuable to reread often.

Tender is the Flesh (or Cadáver exquisito) is one of those books that it will be difficult to forget. There are no stories like it, but elements of it did remind me of the detachment of Patrick Bateman in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, the government anxiety of Orwell’s 1984, and of course the description of meat packing plants like in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Even though the feelings are comparable, the books are not. Tender is the Flesh stands as a unique work that really shows that horror is created by society just as much (if not more) than by individuals.

I received this as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

Incredibly gross and messed up, but something was missing from this for me. I didn’t care about Marcos or anything to do with him, and wanted to know more about the state of this world he lives in. The ending redeems a lot of it, which feels weird to say given how it’s also disgusting. This book is a fast read but went by a little too fast without enough happening.

Trigger warnings: graphic descriptions of violence and gore, animal abuse, and rape

Oh. My. God. I finished this book not even 10 seconds ago, and I don't really know how to sum up my feelings about it. Earlier, I peeked at some reviews of Tender is the Flesh, and the top two words that showed up in these reviews were "brutal" and "disturbing." Well, that's an understatement. I hesitate to go too much into giving my opinion on the writing style because this is a translated book, but just based on the English version, I think the translation is excellent. Though I haven't read the book in its original language (so my opinion might mean nothing), the translators seem to have done a wonderful job. The writing is poetic and full of imagery that makes sense and leaves an impact.

As for the plot and the characters. Wow. There's a lot of violence. I included trigger warnings at the beginning of my review, and I'll add here that all of those definitely apply. Tender is the Flesh is not for the faint of heart. I actually almost stopped reading the book after Marcos, the protagonist, rapes one of the "head." As someone who's lived through sexual assault, I felt disgusted and horrified, and I was ready to immediately write off that a book was written from what was essentially a rapist's point of view in a way that's arguably sympathetic. I wrestled a lot with the age old question of whether protagonists need to be "good" people and why I have certain boundaries in place. For example, I love Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series. He's a literal serial killer, and I love both the book series and the TV show. Why do I give characters like Dexter (A SERIAL KILLER) a pass but not Marcos, a rapist? I think ultimately, for me, it comes down to tone. Dexter and Tender is the Flesh have two extremely different contexts and tones. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that yes, Marcos is presented in a sympathetic light but only to a certain extent. Personally, I never really found myself rooting for him. I was hooked into the story and wanted to know what happened next, and I even felt sympathy for the situation with his dead kid, but I don't think I ever really WANTED him to thrive, which makes me think that maybe that was the point? I don't know. My mind is still reeling around this book, and I'm on the verge of yelling.

Anyway, context is important when it comes to difficult stories like Tender is the Flesh. Marcos as a person and Marcos as a character are two different things, and it's important to take the context of his situation, his surroundings, his past, and ultimately, how he's been trained to think and feel into consideration. I also think the last chapter of the book really puts EVERYTHING about him into perspective with its giant twist. Damn. Tender is the Flesh is horrific and breathtaking all at once. It's not for everyone, but I'm damn glad I got to read it.

A perfect book for our times. Unsettling, intense, weirdly intimate. Tender is the Flesh will stay with you for a long time, though I don’t know yet if that’s a good thing or not.

In a world where animals are unable to be eaten due to a dangerous virus, society turns to legal cannibalism in order to replace the animal protein they are lacking. We follow Marcos and his journey through this sick and twisted world. Marcos is not a fan of this new way of life but he has to work in a slaughterhouse in order to pay for care for his sick father and provide for his family. This story lacks plot. It’s mostly a character study and a glimpse into this terrifying world. It’s hard to stomach at times, literally. Bazterrica doesn’t hold back and describes the processes of raising, slaughtering, and eating this “special meat”. It’s written in a satirical way that definitely made me think about how we treat the animals we eat and how terrifying it would be to live in a world like this one.

If you’re looking for a short horror novel that has no boundaries, is stomach turning, horrific, but thought provoking ... Tender is the Flesh is the book for you.

This is one of those books that you pick up for the premise and stay for the characters. What a literary ride! A must have to expand library collections.

This book had Under the Skin vibes, and that was exactly why I chose to read it. If you can’t handle brutal acts of violence, then this book won’t be for you. But if you love dystopian societies then you may want to check this one out. We’re introduced to Marcos, who’s in the business of slaughtering humans ever since a virus has contaminated all the animals and can no longer provide humans the protein they once did. In fact, in this new world, all animals have been destroyed, and the world is silent. Marcos is still reeling from his son’s death, and only continues to work at the slaughterhouse because it’s what he’s best at, and needs the money to keep his dad who’s afflicted with dementia in a retirement home. But, he’s never consumed the new “special meat” himself. In fact, when he’s gifted a female head (as humans that are raised to be livestock are called), he begins to see her humanity.

This book can be triggering for some people (especially if you hate violence directed towards animals and can’t stomach descriptions of people eating humans). I enjoyed the book (although enjoyed probably isn’t the right term cause that’s going to make me sound like a sociopath), but I did like that the author pushed boundaries and made you question what exactly makes us decide that certain animals are deemed worthy of consuming and which ones are considered worth saving.

This is a brutal book, read it if you can deal with violence and triggering events, or you enjoyed Under the Skin.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book! It's weird, often horrifying, and will definitely creep you out. The writing is a pleasure to read despite some of the gory details. I had no idea what might happen next or where it would all end. I just enjoyed the ride, the constant surprise, and the battle in my head over what I might do in similar situations. It will make you think about what we already do.

If you're squeamish, this is probably not the book for you. Everyone else, please read it.

I just... have no words. This book is BLEAK. It is no-holds-barred, dark gritty realism, allegorical prose that is revolting and terrifying and intriguing. This is a book that beats you over the head with a hopelessly nihilistic world and then kicks you when you're down with a brutal ending. If you're at all squeamish, I absolutely do not recommend this book. Any recommendation for something like this should come with a list of content warnings. But, at the same time... I'm that bitch who loved <em>Cannibal Holocaust</em>, so I'll still say READ THIS BOOK.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. Tender is the Flesh is one of the strangest books I've read in a very long time. If you are not easily bothered by subjects such as cannabalism, with an interesting story attached, give this one a try. This is really a unique story and I do recommend it.

Look, sometimes a book has a premise that is so far out there that you just have to cave to morbid curiosity and give it a taste. This ones worth it, if your stomach can handle it. It’s gruesome and introspective. Horrifying in a way that gets deep under your skin