Can I get my religious trauma with some sapphic pining? Yes, thank you.

"The Unworthy" by Agustina Bazterrica (translated into English by Sarah Moses) is a dystopian horror novel about a pseudo religious commune in a post-apocalyptic world. They take in "the unworthy" or young women that wander in from the wasteland and brainwash them to follow their hidden leader, only referred to with the capital H "Him." They all seek to become "The Chosen" or "The Enlightened" for this god-adjacent person, accepting mutilation as part of the ritual. And they're willing to do horrible things to themselves and each other to make that happen.

This novella was... a lot. The writing style was just shy of magical realism and confusing to follow. There was one character spoken so reverently and poetically about that I assumed they must have been a former lover, only to find out it was a cat. It was also strange for the set up of the book itself. The narrative is meant to be an in-world journal from the protagonist, who has a severely limited amount of paper and ink to use, only to go on long-winded. It could be that some things just don't translate well or need a certain context to be fully understood. For me, I was rereading a lot just to understand the basics.

This book is labelled as horror, but it doesn't really build much tension. You're dropped in to the middle of horrible things (it literally begins with cockroaches in a girl's pillow) and it just stays bad the entire time. It might have also been a personal thing, as the more confusing the writing style is, the less scary the horror is. But I was hoping for more of a gradual descent in the religious fervor that keeps them all trapped, watching the brainwashing slowly take them over a la the BITE model. But, conveniently, all the women seem to forget their lives before wandering in and immediately accept the new arrangement.

There was also supposed to be this mystery about what goes on behind the big closed door with a reveal at the end. But if you have the most basic knowledge of what goes on in cults between a male leader and his female following, you know exactly what's happening from the beginning.

The cult itself makes a big deal of the fact that it's better than the "false god" of the Catholic monks that were there prior, but it's just Catholicism by a different name. That's not necessarily a ding against the worldbuilding, plenty of irl cults claim to have the grand new idea when they're just retreading old ground. Still, the religious trauma was a little too over the top to really hit home for me. But that might be the Protestant upbringing talking.

As for the romance, I didn't really feel it. True, I am a slow burn girly and this is a novella. But more could have been done with the short run time. The romantic interest doesn't even appear until nearly halfway through and when she's there, a lot of of the page time is still spent on other flashbacks. There was some talk about prophetic dreams, as if that explained their quick connection, but overall it was hard to feel the connection.

All of that being said, I do believe there's an audience for this book. Readers that like highly purple prose and a lot of things left open-ended or taken on faith. But for me, it just didn't hit.

What a small but mighty book - Bazterrica manages to pack so much emotion into these 200 pages. Definitely not for the faint of heart! As a reader, you’re dropped into a dystopian future where the narrator lives as part of a mysterious covenant (a cult, basically), and the story is told through the narrator’s writing in secret. My only complaint is that I found the world so fascinating, and would loved to have gone even further into who the cult was, how they came to be, and how we got to that point in the future.

I’m seeing a few reviews from people that have said that they loved Tender is the Flesh but couldn’t get into this book, but that wasn’t the case for me. I think this felt more subtle in some ways? I’m struggling to think of how to better compare the two, but if you (like me) like books about dystopian futures, cults, and female protagonist I think this will be up your alley.

Thanks for the ARC net galley!

After having read “Tender is the Flesh”, this wasn’t what I was expecting from this author. It wasn’t reading to me as cult as it was just deranged. This plot felt like it’s been done before in other religious fanatic books, and I felt a lot like going in circles, I got to around 50% and just didn’t care for this anymore and felt bored.

I thank the publisher for this opportunity to read this ARC and hope on the future I will pick this up again with a new perspective, as I really do enjoy this author.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★.5
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: March 04, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

You can’t change my mind otherwise, Agustina Bazterrica is a favorite of mine. I devour her writing up. When I saw Agustina was coming out with The Unworthy I knew I HAD to read this and already knew I was going to love it. The backdrop, the setting of this book was perfect for the storyline, the feeling and vibes you feel throughout this book was spot on, it was a heavy feeling as well. We see horror, destruction, death, pain etc, things I expect to see and feel in our authors writings. It really sets the mood for the read. You can vividly SEE the things within this book with the writing, it’s so impeccable. I’m not diving far into this book just giving my quick look inward for you all but stating that if you loved Tender Is the Flesh, please dive into this one, you won’t be disappointed. I will recommend this to the select few of my friends who would love this type of read…I know that they’ll love it!

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Scribner.

I loved Tender Is the Flesh, but The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica left me feeling confused and disappointed. I struggle to connect with books that drop readers into the story without providing much context, and unfortunately, this was one of them.

The premise had so much potential—a dystopian, post-climate crisis world with elements like the House of the Sacred Sisterhood could have been fascinating. However, the lack of context made it difficult to immerse myself in the story. Despite being a short book, it felt repetitive and, frankly, tired.

This wasn’t a ~no plot, just vibes~ book—there was clearly an attempt at a plot. But it wasn’t executed well, as nothing significant happened until the very end. And even then, the ending felt completely unsatisfying.

While I appreciated the initial promise, this one didn’t live up to my expectations.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the arc! <3

I had high hopes for this after Tender is the Flesh but it really didn’t work for me. The whole story felt repetitive. It was just constant descriptions of torture that didn’t seem to go anywhere. I found myself getting bored.

In the dystopian hellscape of what is left of the Earth, a former convent now hosts a Sacred Sisterhood where its members trade access for food and shelter for violence against their bodies and the words of an unseeable holy man and a holy language all their own. Agustina Bazterrica's The Unworthy is one woman's secretive diary of her time in the convent and how she came to be there.

The structure of the convent is a caste system with servants as the expendable base and then different levels of women overseen by a sadistic and militaristic Superior Sister. The unworthy can be beaten, whipped, forced to clean rooms with their tongues or other creative and abhorrent punishments to show their devotion. Our narrator maintains her sanity by secretly writing at night using what every sort of medium possible, be it pilfered monk ink, berry juice or her own blood. Each night she records her days and as the narrative unfolds, also shares her past.

Earth had been rocked by catastrophe, continents flooded while others become barren deserts. Technologies have failed, diseases widespread and survivors are left to scavenge, forage or kill one another. The coven appears a refuge, but only women are able to enter. What makes one survive? Faith? The company of others? Love? The ability to read and dream of what was before and could be again?

Recommended to readers of possible dystopian futures, the extremes of human emotions or personal narratives of survival.

Tender is the Flesh is one of my favorite books from the last decade and has stayed with me since finishing it so I'm probably biased as hell. This wasn't it. I was very disappointed with it and couldn't really get into it. Reminded me a bit of The Obscene Bird of Night as well so it fell down a bit more too.

A broken world, fading with time, leaves ashes of life that seek to survive. Those ashes drag themselves to a place where they promise salvation but it is only one more nightmare, a lie that its creators cling to. They trap and torture bodies, impose and foster pain until the lost world is only a memory.

The Unworthy is a story that overflows with the crudeness of a cult. It reveals fear and fanaticism to maintain a divine power that only exists in the chaotic minds of survivors. Women who escaped the corruption of nature to enter a new life of salvation. However, that salvation is covered in pain, spilt blood, broken teeth, burned flesh and lost hope. With that terrifying tone that clings to the marrow, the author manages to unravel a frenetic story of beliefs and hypocrisy, abuse and coercion. In this story there is a beautiful prose that nourishes the rawest part of the human being, of the cult towards something superior. With simplicity, Agustina Bazterrica creates something fascinating and painful to read.

I have reservations about some plot issues that I would have liked to see explored a little more. I feel that they would have enriched the story even more. As well, there were flat moments that failed to connect with me, others felt like a reality check. It is a fascinating story, all things considered.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

hi, *deep breath* wow what did i just read???? oh right a COMPLETE masterpiece.

umm Augustina is hands down one of my absolute favorite authors, i don't understand how this work exists....

ok let me just start off by saying the first 40% i was confused, trying to understand the world, trying to figure out this language, and the hierarchy. but then you get to a point where you are so immersed, and you understand and then you don't want to understand anymore. you don't want to be in this world or know what is happening. what an incredible piece of literature...not for the weak by any means.

the translation was done sooo phenomenally i just need to give a standing ovation. this is a story i will not forget about lightly, but something i will come back to often as i do with all of her translated work.

thank you so much to netgalley, augustina, and scribner for the opportunity to read this early!!

between the brutality and torture within the coven is a love letter to the natural world. it was slow at first, difficult for me to piece together the world building at times given the chaos of the stream of consciousness, but undeniably poetic. oh how I wish I could speak Spanish because I know Agustina was cooking in these passages but the English language can’t directly translate its beauty 🥲 such gorgeous writing describing the divinity of earth and *women* ♡ And the devastation with Circe. The heartbreak I felt in how the narrator spoke of her companion had me sobbing. Excited to read more from this author! Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Unworthy is much more subtle than Tender Is the Flesh, but grotesque in its own right. Bazterrica does gross well, and that’s why I like her:
* Eating rats? Gross!
* Cult followers with their eyes sewn shut? Gross!
* Using blood as ink? Gross!
* Crickets? Gross! And cockroaches too? Also gross!

tldr; it was gross and I liked it.

Just like Tender is the Flesh, this book was absolutely disgusting and made my skin crawl, but it was absolutely stunning. This author has such a poetic and lyrical way with words that lends itself to the grotesque nature of her books. Will always be reading from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC!

ugh I LOVED THIS!! agustina has become an instant-buy author for me. following her other works was a challenge, but she did not disappoint. i love love love how she isn't afraid of the dark and the weird, especially related to women's lives. an incredible literary horror, although it that may not be for everyone, as most books are not. but if you're into the bleak, women vs. the void type of books, i think you would love this.

I found this book to be confusing but also very good. This book is essentially about a world where the climate and planet has died off and there is this Sisterhood that is honestly a cult wherein females live and sacrifice many parts of themselves for this god of theirs.

I usually love horror but this was…really hard for me to read. I’m unsure if it’s because it was such specific woman on woman crime in the name of religious devotion or what. I was so excited about this but I couldn’t finish.

Wow, this was sooooo intense and disturbing, ya know? It drops you right into this creepy, apocalyptic convent where the vibes are super dark and everyone's either suffering or scheming. The narrator is, like, totally unreliable and a little off, but honestly, who wouldn’t be in a place like that? The whole "diary written in dirt and blood" thing was giving major gothic horror energy.

The atmosphere was so eerie and oppressive. You can feel the bleakness of the world outside and the terrifying control of the Superior Sister inside. But like, it was also frustrating? There’s all this mystery and barely any answers, and by the end, I was like, "Wait, that’s it?" The pacing was slow too. I kept waiting for things to happen, and while there were moments of shocking brutality, it didn’t fully click for me.

Also, the themes of faith, survival, and manipulation were hella heavy. It definitely made me think, but I wish it went deeper into the world-building and characters. Like, give me more context, pls! So yeah, 3.5 stars rounded up—it’s one of those books you can’t stop reading, but you’re not sure you actually enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 💕

After escaping from 4 men who nearly kill her, a woman finds her way to a convent and joins the ranks of the sisterhood. THE UNWORTHY tells this woman’s story through diary entries (some written in her own blood), and we are given glimpses of the convent’s hierarchy as we learn the outside world has come to an end due to environmental disaster and mankind literally turning from God and worshipping artificial intelligence.

Bazterrica’s second English-translated novel might not be for everyone, but those looking for a different type of end times story may enjoy it, and don’t let the cover art fool you: this story deals with nuns, but it’s not “Nunsploitation.” This is a dark, strange, and unusual literary horror novel that will leave you contemplating where we may be headed.

Hauntingly lovely. I really enjoyed the sense of not fully understanding what was going on, due to the reluctance of the narrator to be too explicit in her descriptions on the pages of her illicit journal. The story unfolded in a tantalizingly measured way, repeatedly referencing past, yet unexplained events and people, all the while steeped in an atmosphere of urgency and earnestness.

I am truly the target audience for this book. From religious horror, to LGBTQ+ representation in navigating autonomy and identity, to the backdrop of an ecological disaster, this has everything I craved.

I loved the use of found-diary storytelling because you can see the narrator fighting herself in her own record of her experiences. It’s gives an additional layer of character development that I absolutely loved and deeply appreciated. I thought it was expertly balanced in its weighty plot-driven narrative, punctuated with flashbacks of her life story and how she arrived at the Sacred Sisterhood.

I am the type of reader that wants to understand why characters make the decisions they do, and, in that vein, readers should understand that The Unworthy is a (truly superior) literary horror. You get the mundane daily fabric of her life, mixed in with horrific descriptions of blood atonement. The contrast serves as a prime example of how ordinary this vulgar treatment is to the sisterhood.

I loved this book. Of the 118 books I’ve read this year, this easily cracks the Top 10. I’m obsessed and plan to recommend it to ALL of my horror and LitFic lovers.