The Unworthy is a short novel whose concept was intriguing, but the execution fell short. The story felt shallow, underdeveloped, and riddled with plot holes. I believe my enjoyment of this novel would have been greater if Bazterrica had made this story longer to give time to fully flesh out some of the great ideas and themes that were only briefly explored. The sapphic romance was arguably the best part.

I received an arc from Netgalley and publisher in return for sharing my review.

Agustina Bazterrica's books always seem to have better ideas than execution.

In Tender is the Flesh, we're introduced to a post-pandemic society where animal meat is unsafe due to a virus so the government has legalized "special" (human) meat only available to the highest bidder. Rather than let us digest (hehe) the connections between this form of human exploitation and the form we are living in right now thanks to capitalism, we are tidily told what the metaphors are (and somehow also subjected to a boring—sorry, not sorry—account of a factory worker's life).

Here, as in there, we are dropped into an indeterminate dystopian future where the climate crisis has caused population collapse and the remaining few have to fight for survival. We follow an unnamed woman living in a convent with a strict hierarchy of Sisters. She, along with the other Unworthy, are the lowest in the caste and have to prove themselves through grueling self-mutilation if they want to attain status of Enlighted—the chosen few who are able to communicate directly with their invisible leader, "Him." She forms a bond with another woman who she chances upon in the surrounding forest and is conflicted between a growing resentment for and attraction to her goodness.

[SPOILER]
The themes are a bit obvious here, particularly when we find out that the notorious "Him" is just some guy who is exploiting the women of the convent for his own purposes and using their self-mutilation to repress them and turn them against one another. And sadly, surrounding them, we have another boring—eek!—backstory of this woman's life interspersed with a fair amount of self-flagellation, which eventually loses its shock value over time.
[END SPOILER]

This book is not for the faint of heart but if you're looking for a quick, horrifying read this will satisfy that craving for sure! It grabs you right off the bat with the bugs and body horror - if you aren't a fan of these things this may not be the book for you.

Dystopian culty horror!? Loved it!

This was my first Bazterrica book and I officially need to read her other books and every single one that is to come in the future. This was a dark, bleak, read but it was absolutely fantastic! 4 stars!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Unworthy is a haunting and atmospheric novel that explores power, survival, and faith in a postapocalyptic world. The story unfolds through the journal entries of an unnamed narrator, a low-ranking member of a strict religious order living in a ruined convent. Using whatever materials she can find—ink, dirt, berries, even blood—she documents the rituals, punishments, and buried memories that shape her life.

The writing is spare and evocative, creating a chilling, claustrophobic environment. The novel captures how power can be internalized and enforced within closed communities, especially among women. The horror builds slowly and relentlessly, more psychological than graphic, and leaves a lasting impression.

Some readers may find the worldbuilding intentionally vague or the plot somewhat underdeveloped, but the emotional weight and thematic depth make this a powerful read. It is a sharp, feminist examination of control, shame, and resistance in a crumbling society.

Recommended for fans of literary horror and dystopian fiction who are drawn to stories about the cost of survival and the quiet forms of rebellion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Agustina Bazterrica explores a post-apocalyptic world through an unnamed woman, who joined the Sacred Sisterhood, a convent where she is protected after climate crises and economic and system collapse has made the world a wasteland. Told in epistolary-like style, of her writing her story in bits and pieces as she finds time and material to write, the horrors of the world are unraveled and revealed. If you liked Tender is the Flesh, you will appreciate what Bazterrica is doing with this novel.

This is my second book I've read by Bazterrica and unfortunately I just don't think that this author is to my taste. As with Tender is the Flesh, I found this to be overly gratuitous torture porn. Set in a post apocalyptic climate-destroyed world, the story follows a woman who lives in a cruel all-women cult led by a man. I found myself reaching the end of the book and realizing that all I read was women being brutally maimed or killed over and over for 200 pages. Bazterrica's prose can be elegant and dreamlike, but without character development or proper world-building, I found this to be lacking anything deeper than gratuitous violence and edgy vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this read but it was confusing at sometimes .. I also hate cockroaches lol .. it was a good read however I love how descriptive the author is!!!

Circe dying killed me!! After everything she went through and they also did that fucking cruel

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me, at around 25%. I have been on a big dystopian kick lately, but this one (literary dystopian/horror) is just too bleak for me. It is very, very violent with no real plot beyond torture for the first quarter of the book. I have read that not much happens until toward the end, and I can’t endure all of this torture until then. I also did not love how we were dropped into this world without much context. While I sometimes enjoy that, if there is fast-moving plot to help you along, there just wasn’t enough here for me to get invested in the main character or world. Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for this honest review.

Bazterrica’s latest is lean, intense, and emotionally searing. Her prose is spare but deliberate, every word serving the weight of the atmosphere she builds—one of silence, control, and pervasive dread.

What stands out most is the emotional restraint. There’s a cool detachment to the narration that mirrors the characters’ survival mechanisms, which makes the horrors all the more impactful. Rather than sensationalizing violence, the book presents it as systemic, methodical, and disturbingly normalized.

This is not a comforting read, nor should it be. It’s allegorical, yes, but its commentary doesn’t require decoding—Bazterrica is clear-eyed and unapologetic. That said, the book’s intensity may not work for every reader. The subject matter is bleak, and the lack of overt character introspection may leave some feeling emotionally removed.

Still, it’s a powerful and disturbing work, one that lingers long after the final page. Readers who appreciated the visceral unease of *Tender Is the Flesh* will find similar resonance here—if not more.

The Unworthy is an intense and uncompromising feminist horror with a visceral look into power, submission, and the violence embedded in both. I was drawn to the atmospheric and thematic horror as this is a brutal, haunting odyssey without traditional closure. Bazterrica’s masterpiece lingers uncomfortably long after the final page, forcing the reader to confront the inner mechanics of cult control, faith, and the desperate drive to be seen beyond the surface.

started and finished this book in one day. I could not put it down.
The world was twisted and rich and writhing. The women were awful and powerful. What a terrible, enlightening, gut wrenching glimpse into a climate crisis with a cult-y twist.
Just wow.
Trigger warnings: torture (lots of torture), animal death, sexual assault, child murder

This work is a masterclass in tension, expertly balancing gripping suspense with emotionally resonant characters. The plot twists are unexpected yet perfectly crafted, keeping you constantly on edge. Every chapter raises the stakes, pulling you deeper into its dark and compelling world. It's a smart, fast-paced read that satisfies from the first page to the unforgettable finale.

THE UNWORTHY by @agustinabazterrica has two of my favorite things in books: a weird ass cult and a young feral woman. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher, @scribnerbooks for the e-ARC.

This story follows an unnamed female narrator living among the Sacred Sisterhood, a religious cult born out of the recent climate disasters. She lived among the Tarantula kids at first, a feral group of scavengers and killers until they were all slaughtered and she barely survived. At first she relished the sisterhood's brutal isolationist ways but after meeting another young girl named Lucia, she starts to remember what it was like to have companions.

At first this young character terrified me with her deranged, obsessive torture plans. The cult is even more horrific, operating on sacrifice, cruelty and forced mutilation. I was anxious about the MC and then for the MC. This world sounds brutal and unforgiving, a wasteland of former wealth and ecological destruction. A cautionary tale of our time mixed in with some seriously menacing characters.

Pick up this cli-fi dystopian horror with a side of religious fanaticism today! I got my signed copy from my @night_worms subscription box in February!

actual rating: 3.5/5 stars

i always find it hard to rate books like the unworthy. this is one of those reading experiences where i was constantly caught between being impressed by the writing and wishing i was more connected to the story itself. i've decided to give it 3.5 stars and i think if certain elements had been fleshed out more, it easily could have been higher for me.

augustina bazterrica’s writing is stunning. the prose is dreamlike and unsettling, pulling you into a world that feels just out of reach. which really worked for the kind of story this is. i was often completely wrapped up in the language. the tone and atmosphere she created is honestly some of my favorite i’ve read this year.

but at the same time the story’s dreamlike quality also made it hard for me to fully engage. for most of the book i had this constant sense of not quite knowing what was happening or how things fit together. and while that was clearly intentional, it’s not always my personal favorite kind of reading experience. i like having something to hold onto and here i often felt disoriented.

what really pulled me in were the glimpses we got of the cult and the world itself because those parts really fascinated me. i loved the concept of exploring this kind of society and its structures and i thought there was so much potential there. but i found myself wishing for more depth and detail about the cult, the way the world operates, and the dynamics at play. the parts we did get were some of the most compelling in the book and i wanted them to be more fully realized.

this is a novel that thrives on ambiguity, atmosphere, and mood. and in those areas it absolutely succeeds. but i also think that left me a little detached emotionally. i wanted to feel more and to have a clearer sense of where the story was taking me.

that said i’m still glad i read it. the writing alone makes this worth picking up if you enjoy literary horror or more experimental storytelling. i think this will be a perfect fit for certain readers who love being immersed in an eerie, unsettling space without clear answers for example if you loved i who have never known men, which was a 2 star for me, i think you could really enjoy this one! for me i just wanted a bit more clarity and worldbuilding to really fall in love with it.

i’ll absolutely be keeping an eye out for whatever augustina bazterrica writes next. the talent is undeniable and i’d love to see her take on something a little more grounded in its world next time.

thank you to netgalley, scribner, and agustina bazterrica for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The only reason this book isn't a 5 star is because I have no idea what I just read. This is not a book for readers that need answers to everything because in all honesty, it has very little world building and you never learn how The Sisterhood came to exist or what happened to the world outside the walls. Agustina Bazterrica always does an amazing job writing really unsettling descriptions of horror and she never fails to add complexities to the character that you're following. While I don't want to go into much detail about what the plot of this book is, I think the story telling was really well done and the way the story was told was super unique. I'll forever read everything Bazterrica writes because she is just an incredible storyteller.

While this didn't hit quite as well as effectively for me as Tender as the Flesh, it's a great second novel. I appreciate the length and the lack of a need to explain everything that is going on. Bazterrica does a fantastic job of creating fully fleshed out (excuse the pun), terrifying worlds.

First off, let me just give a quick thank you for NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

And now onto the book itself on which I have extremely mixed feelings.

The tone of this novel is something to behold. It's dark. It's delicate. It's haunting in a way that I cannot say I've come across before. It's beautiful. The most the reader will be able to take away from the description is that there has been a great apocalypse - The Water Wars, brought on by the worship of AI (sound familiar?) Little else is given to us in a way of explanation, but I felt that that was a good choice really. It's mysterious and dark, and a perfect setting for the masochistic monastery.

Now onto the story.

The first half of this novel drags on. There is no real point. Just a repeat of torture scenes by a morally confused lead with no name. I have no connection to her, so frankly, I didn't much care. Then finally, with the introduction of Lucia, the story surges forward. I had previously picked at this book with little sips. And from then on I sat down and finished the rest.

Only to have it end.

Just like that.

So suddenly that I feel almost nothing about it.

All in all The Unworthy is a dark and haunting read, that comes up just a bit short of what it could have became.

3/5

Will Bazterrica ever write something that lets me down? It isn't looking likely. I don't know how she does it, but each thing she churns out manages to make my stomach churn and my pulse race. She does what other horror authors often get wrong - She doesn't write gore or oddities for the sake of shock value. When she does it is intentional and feels like if she hadn't included those details, it wouldn't be the same read.

Unworthy will grip you from the first page and keep you enthralled until the last.

Agustina can do no wrong. I've been a fan for years - thank you for the early copy of this. I've devoured everything she writes and The Unworthy is no different. We are blessed to have a writer with such intensity. 10/10