Review; Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Last month, I read Tender Is The Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica, but I wanted to post my review now as August is Women In Translation Month.

Description from Goodreads

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

My Thoughts on the Book

Tender is the Flesh is a gory and mentally disturbing book that just may turn some people into vegetarians after reading it as it's not a book for the faint of hearts. It also makes one think a bit about the ethics of farming animals and slaughter in general.

Tender Is The Flesh has multiple layers, an interesting plot, and some well-written characters while other characters felt a bit more one-dimensional.

Overall though, it's a book that's worth the read and it's one of those cases where I feel the hype is worth it.