Agustina Bazterrica is a wonder. THE UNWORTHY, in my opinion, does so much more than TENDER. It's an incredible book.

Thanks to the publisher for the e-galley.

this was a bit off the mark for me in comparison to bazterrica's past releases. the first half felt very repetitive and slow so it was hard to stay interested in the story. but that second half? it almost felt like i was reading a totally different book, everything came together out of what felt like nowhere and i couldn't put the book down! overall, i have very mixed thoughts on how i felt about this.

This book is everything I wanted from a new Agustina Bazterrica. It's horror, insane main characters, and unsettling at times.

Obsessed with this book! The writing is phenomenal and the story is so original. I absolutely loved it.

The pacing felt incredibly slow, and at times, I found myself feeling lost in the narrative. While I appreciated the eerie atmosphere and the author’s ability to craft unsettling themes, the writing style just didn’t click with me this time. I kept hoping for that gripping intensity I loved in 𝚃𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙸𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚑, but it never fully delivered.

That said, I can see how this might work for others who enjoy a more abstract, slow-burn approach to horror. Sadly, it just wasn’t for me.

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I loved Tender is the Flesh and had high hopes for this one, but it was a DNF for me. There wasn't enough context and I tried to push through to finish it, but ultimately found it too boring.

Wow. I will never sotp thinking about this book. Agustina Bazterrica is a true master of the craft and I'm deeply unsettled after finishing this.

With Tender is the Flesh in her rearview, Agustina Bazterrica has created enormous shoes to fill, and unfortunately, it seems as though she may not be ready to fill them.
The Unworthy is unique in form and content, though perhaps too ambitious in scope for its length.
I was more than excited to get my hands on a copy of The Unworthy, but it took me over a month to make my way through less than 200 pages, and that is not a good sign. The plot itself was meandering and slow, written in a stream-of-consciousness style, leaving readers removed from the poorly constructed dystopia. I was not even remotely interested in the protagonist until the last 20%, when the story finally begins to develop and the protagonist's past unfolds.
Overall, the lack of worldbuilding led to a shallow and disappointing reading experience.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for this ARC!

*I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
Actual rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Review:
I loved Tender Is the Flesh, so I was excited for this book and truly intrigued by the premise, but I was ultimately disappointed. The book is only 175 pages, but for about 120 of those pages I was confused about what was going on. I get that the story is told in a journal style, so the narrator jumps around a lot, but it was mainly confusing because you never know if the narrator is being honest and if you should care about her. The world has essentially ended and our narrator is in this supposed oasis (cult), but things are confusing. I don’t understand how this oasis exists, it’s confusing to go from present to past with no indication of it happening until you’ve read it. There were many times I was reading and didn’t know the narrator was talking about the past till I went back and reread past entries.
I like the idea of this story, I do, but I think the execution could have been better. I’m not sure how, but I have read some good journal entry type stories that I loved.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not gonna lie, this did take me a bit to get through. The beginning felt really confusing in a "whole lot of different things happening but somehow nothing to move the plot along was actually happening" kind of way. The 2nd half of the book really picked up though but the last quarter of the book is really where EVERYTHING happens all at once? I didn't really like the formatting, maybe the published version is different, but the sentences that were crossed out and the random cutting off of other sentences really had me stumbling to follow along. I know that it's intentional to show how the MC writes whenever she can spare the chance and abruptly stops so not to get caught but it took me way too long to finally get it. Honestly I'm still kind of confused about what happened. I would've liked more world building to set up how we got here, how the future ends up like that and how this cult was formed. The ending where it's revealed who is behind the cult felt really lack luster. Like that's it? It was just disappointing. I liked the story overall, but I just didn't get it.

The writing is beautiful, but the story is depressing. Someone described this as a kind of "torture porn" horror and I can't disagree with that.
In our current times I find myself gravitating toward dystopian fiction, especially when I'm really wanting to rot in hopelessness. This is a good book for that.
This might have gotten four stars if it had been longer, or they had done something more with the love interest, Lucia. However, the sapphic love story in the midst of a convent was surprisingly engaging. The scenes between the two of them felt vivid, more so than the multiple parts where the main character was talking about roaches. (Gross.)
I hate asking, "But what did it all mean??" at the end of a book. But also...what did it all mean? What's the point. Life is miserable, then you die. Oof.

A haunting dystopian read. For a short one, it packs a tragic and heartbreaking punch.

eARC on Netgalley

Dark, violent, haunting. Most striking is the power of fear and hatred between people in the same group relying on each other to survive. "The Unworthy" certainly isn't a story with a straightforward narrative or clear conclusion, but provides plenty of thought-provoking content.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Well, that put me in a weird mood after, but no regrets.

The Unworthy is a chilling, dystopian nightmare set in a crumbling world where a woman, deemed unworthy, writes her story from inside a brutal convent. She longs to ascend to the ranks of the Enlightened, but when a new outsider arrives, her carefully controlled existence starts to unravel. As she questions the Sisterhood, her past, and what really happens to those who ascend, the book spirals into a harrowing look at religious extremism, environmental collapse, and humanity’s ugliest instincts.

Bazterrica’s writing is unsettling, visceral, and utterly immersive. The oppressive atmosphere, the grotesque rituals, and the lingering unease kept me hooked even when I wanted to look away. If you’re into dystopian horror with a feminist lens, surrealist WeirdLit, or stories about religious exploitation, this is a must-read.

Now I have to go back and read Tender is the Flesh for sure.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5

I really struggled with the first half of this book. I was so confused and never felt grounded at any time, which to feel that way for most of this book, is really frustrating. I did like the 2nd part more, but that was mainly due to the few flashback pieces that were set in the apocalyptic landscape the narrator is now "safe" from.

The prose and horrific imagery used were great but it wasn't enough to make up for the lack of world-building, explanation, and lack of characterization. I will still read this author going forward, just wish I loved this more.

Woah…this book was dark, wild, creative, disturbing, creepy, and just absolutely chaotic, but I loved every second of it. I did find myself having to take breaks because I would get a little squeamish with the graphic details, but that’s part of what is making me give this 5 stars. This book is not for the faint of heart, but if you like dark and twisty and disturbing, this is the book for you!

As a fan of Bazterrica’s *Tender is the Flesh*, I was eager to dive into her new horror novel, set in a future where environmental and societal collapse have led to the shutdown of the electrical grid. The story follows a woman living in a secluded cult, revealing layers of cruelty, suffering, and the dark forces that led her there. This short but unsettling novel explores themes of religious indoctrination, the objectification of women, and sapphic love, all wrapped in a surreal, magical realism style that leaves a lingering sense of anxiety.

This was hard for me to get through since I am not a body horror fan. I did love Tender is the Flesh, which is why I requested this one. I felt like this was written strictly for shock factor with little time to really connect with any of the characters given the length of the story. The disjointed diary entries were a risk that ended up working for this type of read. This is one of the few times I will say that the gore worked well for the concept. Overall, I enjoyed this while having to look away a few times. If you're going to give this one a go, brace yourself. Four stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Scribner, for this ARC.

✨ Review ✨ The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica

Thanks to Scribner and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Feminist dystopian horror with big themes around gendered violence, religion, and climate crisis

Written by an Argentine author, translated to English, this brings in the baggage of violence and human rights violations in Argentina and South American more broadly. Issues around gender-driven and sexual violence, abuse centered in religious institutions, and fears around climate change all resonate deeply here.

The book is written like a journal by the main character, and can be confusing to read as it jumps between times, and can be confusing as she struggles to break free from the mentality instilled in The Unworthy, a group of refugee women living in an old monastery in the middle of a climate-crisis dystopia. Increasingly, however, we can tell she's gradually growing in resistance to the pseudo-religious structure that’s enveloped her, and this is really wonderful to read. The book also features queer love, against all odds, and hope in a climate that might one day be restored.

A few notes:
There's lots of body horror - beware
It's a novella - it has a slow start, but by 100 pages, I couldn’t put it down!
The audio might take away from your enjoyment because of the fractured nature of the narrative and the way that she crosses out words / replacing or redacting them, according to her mental state and sense of resistance.

I absolutely loved this and can't wait to finally read Tender is the Flesh

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: horror novella
Setting: dystopian
Reminds me of: Mariana Enriquez, CJ Leede (American Rapture), & Sister, Maiden, Monster
Pub Date: Mar 4, 2025

Agustina Bazterrica pairs an austere world with detailed accounts of divine suffering and delivers to us The Unworthy.

Shall we get into it?

World-building: Cutting straight to the chase, Bazterrica's world-building is absolutely phenomenal here. The picture that she paints for her readers is cold and absolute.. The post-apocalyptic background serves its story perfectly, as throughout everything that our main character's experience, it's still completely understandable as to why she stays with the convent. This was easily my favorite aspect of the book. 5/5

Characters: I found the characters to be just okay. Due to the nature of the story, as well as its length, its difficult to get close to our main character. This left me wanting. I wanted to be able to connect with her, to have a more emotional tie, but it just didn't happen, and I feel that I wasn't able to be fully invested in the story because of this. I wanted more from the Superior Sister as well. She was often described as terrifying, but I wanted to see that played out, and she never hit that mark for me. The epistolary style of writing was not doing any favors for me here, as it removes the reader from the story an extra degree. It felt to me like the Superior Sister was being built up to be this menacing villain, and then we never get to see her fully play that part. 2.5/5

Horror: This book is not at all subtle with it's horror elements. Most of it is just descriptions of different torture methods, which is effectively uncomfortable, yes, but feels like the author is relying too heavily on shock value here. Once again, the lack of emotional connection to the characters really hurt the story here. I think this story would benefit from leaning more into the emotional trauma that our MC is facing, and playing with the psychological elements of the story. At times, it felt like this book wanted to be a gothic, but it lacked that essential slow-building dread. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some good body horror as much as the next guy, but without any deeper connection, the torture started to feel one-note. 2/5

Pacing: I don't understand why this story is a novella. So many of my issues with this book could be fixed if it just had more time to play out naturally. As is, the story feels rushed, and the ending is unsatisfying. There are entire aspects of the story that feel incomplete, like our MC's background. We get several flashback scenes or mentions of events that occured in her past, but none of it feels fully explored by the end of the book. On top of that, the events that are currently unfolding feel rushed as well. We get very little time to process the MC's feelings about the new arrival to the convent and their subsequent romantic relationship. I really wish that this story was a full length novel. 1/5

Walking away, I just did not mesh well with this book. There were so many things I wanted from it that it did not deliver on. I loved the vibes and the world that Bazterrica set up, but I was not impressed with the story that played out. An extra hundred pages would have done wonders here. Im giving this one an overall rating of 2.5