Book Review For "Tender Is the Flesh"

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Title:

Tender is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

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Year it was published:

2017

Summary:

Tender Is the Flesh is a dystopian novel set in an unspecified time.

In the first few pages, the main character, Marcos Tejo, explains that a virus made consuming animal meat fatal.

As a result, humans resorted to growing other humans strictly for consumption.

Marcos works at a human processing plant and details how humans (referred to as “head”) are systematically grown, slaughtered, and eaten.

Throughout the novel, he grapples with feelings of guilt and repulsion.

Marcos, however, finds a silver lining when he’s gifted a female head.

My thoughts on the book:

I write about horrible things people do to each other for a living and I am not easily alarmed about topics like murder and, yes, even cannibalism.

However,  Tender Is the Flesh continually evoked negative feelings about humanity for me.

Author Agustina Bazterrica thoroughly explores cannibalism through a capitalistic lens and how it’s no different from how society slaughters animals.

Moreover, Bazterrica argues that anything, including cannibalism, can be normalized by the government or people in power.

Having said that, I had high hopes that Marcos’ character would be a redeeming factor in the book, an anti-hero of sorts.

I was wrong.

Tender Is the Flesh gives the reader hope that there will be a positive outcome, but one never comes.

It was an enthralling albeit disconcerting read.

My favorite quotes:

“Teaching to kill is worse than killing”

“Hating everyone is the same as hating no one”

Rating: 3/5

You can purchase Tender Is the Flesh on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.