Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

196 reviews

origamich's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

it’s just meh. unnecessarily gruesome, very simplistic and i can’t even say it was predictable because i hoped it would have a more interesting ending, not the obvious one, but okay. not worth the time in my honest opinion, it’s not even entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

samisaidhi's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Murder

playswithstring's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

When I first started reading the story I told my husband it reminded me of The Jungle with the details of the slaughterhouses. As I read I was disgusted at the turn of the world, but by the puppies chapter it felt like the author was just adding horrible things to add horrible things. By the time he calls Cecilia at the end of the book I had figured out what the twist was going to be and wasn't surprised by the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Torture, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Death of parent

junowo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Nauseating in the best way. This would’ve been an easy book to write poorly, to lean into a tirade, to take away the complexity of meaning in. Augustina Bazterrica avoided practically every trap door, and I’m very impressed.

I was horrified by this book, but it was such an incredible read, and I loved it for book club especially because there are so many layers of meaning in every choice made. I especially enjoyed (a word that feels strange to use) the way that the book ended, which caught me entirely off guard. I won’t say more, but I was shell shocked when this book ended and it hadn’t gone the way I anticipated.

This book *did* make me happy to be vegetarian while reading it, that’s for sure. Lastly, the content warnings here are about to be next level.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Slavery, Excrement, Police brutality, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

earlgreyesme's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 I'm still thinking on this one, I will be thinking about it for a very long time. It was truly horrific, as it set out to be. It's never anything other than what it is, which is a relentlessly bleak dystopia that is ultimately about grief, loss, and humanity. 
To list the content warnings makes it sound gratuitous and almost like torture porn: animal abuse, sexual assault, paedophilia, and the obvious cannibalism. But it doesn't read that way, it's so purposefully off-handed with its cruelty. It reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale a little, in how readily accepted atrocities are in the narrative. This was a difficult read, I had to put it down and take a break for a week or so at certain points. But I kept coming back, I had to know what happened, and the ending was unpleasant but satisfying. Horrific! I enjoyed it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kari_kinda_likes_reading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

disgusting, nauseating, repulsive...I give it 5 stars! one of the best books I have read this year. I devoured this in under 2 days. 

the prose is distant and almost surgical in Marcos' dissection of the world around him. we are tempted to see him as a hero since he has this moral superiority, he seems to be the only one in this world who is disgusted by the normalized cannibalism around him. 

(spoilers ahead)

but he is (of course) no better than anyone, and if anything he is worse than them. because he begins to see Jasmine (his female head) as becoming "too human" of a pet and decides he must put an end to it. 

the ending left me speechless. I could barely comprehend what just happened. I will have to reread because now I want to reexamine everything Marcos has thought and said since he impregnated Jasmine. he sees her as even less than his own dogs who he had to murder. it reminds me of those people who watch horror films and claim they are only affected when a pet dies, disregarding all the tortured humans left behind. 

there were a few parts that were hard for me to read (particularly hard I should say since this entire book is...not meant to be easy, to say the least.) When the pregnant women in the breeding centre are dismembered because they will kill their babies if not. the entire existence of game reserves (and that man's awful long creepy nails). every SA that is mentioned is absolutely awful, the girl left in the coffin under the bed and the 14 year old blond girl left half dead. the television show of the people who kill cats, it's insane how cruel this world has become. and how veganism is just out of the question. and then there's Marcos, who rapes Jasmine, treats her as a pet, pretend to love her but kills her when she becomes too human. I am still stuck on that last line and I may be forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Trafficking

ladawson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m at a loss for words. The escalating brutality was intense, and I found myself needing breaks to process it all.

I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings before diving in. The book doesn’t hold back on depicting a world where this is the norm. However, it’s exceptionally well written, offering rich character and world-building in very few pages.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

saracarlson's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Would not recommend, was quite depressing and macabre. The story and the way it was told was very simplistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

stephliljazz's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

When all the animals are dead and cannibalism takes over slaughterhouses. With a story of love in the middle leaving you feeling like WTF did I just read. Yeah it was a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic