Recent Read: Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

 

 

 I first saw this book on Tiktok from the user @luckyleftie (definitely go check them out for some disturbing book reviews and good content). I put the book in the back of my mind until I stopped by Barnes and Noble as I tend to do at least once a week (or anytime I'm having a rough day) and spotted the book in the horror section. I decided I would give the book a try. 

This book is very good. It messed with my mind, had me questioning humanity and capitalism, and I tore through it. 

The premise of this book is that humans are no longer able to eat meat because of a virus in animals that kills humans. At first, all hell breaks loose and people are panicking. People get attacked and eaten until the government decides that it would be in the best interest to legalize cannibalism.  Now, if you've read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (I have the book, but have yet to read it) you have an understanding of the meatpacking process and if you've watched any PETA video about farming you also have an idea of the horrors of the farming industrial complex (yay capitalism). Now, imagine both of these things, but instead of animals, it's humans. 

Marcos Tejo is our main character and he works for one of these human meat processing plants. His job is to check the livestock holders, meet with the butchers, meet with the game facilities (yes, there are people who hunt humans), and meet with the scientist. He's really just floating through life, numb, questioning his reality, abandoned by his wife, dealing with his sick father, and ignoring his selfish sister. That is until he is gifted a female "livestock" and has to figure out what to do with her. 

I think this book is a great thought experiment on how far people would really be willing to go to meet their own desires. It also could be interpreted as an interesting commentary on the faults of capitalism (like do we really need to kill people in order to uphold the monetary system of meat consumption, this book says yes). Although the book was disturbing and I didn't always agree with his decisions, I really liked Marcos. I thought that he was in a tough situation, but clearly, he seemed better than some of the other people such as his sister and the boss of the tannery. 

If you look at Goodreads, you'll find a lot of people praising the ending, but that's the part that ruined the book for me. I know it's deep, but I was disappointed in Marcos. I had liked him so much and then he really let me down. 

Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. It was a good book. I enjoyed reading it and I would definitely recommend it if you like disturbing reads. Also, despite being disappointed by the ending, I don't regret reading the book.