A virus has infected all animals, and while this virus didn't seem to effect animal-kind too much, any animals consumed by a human will result in death to the human. The government has decided to legalize the consumption of human meat which they call "special meat". All meat processing factories that were used to process animals now process humans. This story follows Marcos an overseer of the meat plant who hates his job but needs the money to take care of his sick father.
I don't even know where to start...
A lot about this story worked really well. Was it horrifying? Yes! Could I put it down? Nope. The way the the story unfolded was so unique and it made sense. The author fleshed out (sorry, I couldn't miss the opportunity), all of the reasons this alternate "normal" functioned the way it did. Bazterrica answered all of the questions I had as to why things were the way they were and on a scary level, a case was made for how easy it would be to get here as a society.
The power of the dehumanizing language used to describe something so inconceivable really disturbed me. I read an entire chapter about human's being processed in a meat plant and yet, the horror of that didn't come from the descriptions but from the fact that the language was so dehumanizing I forgot multiple times that the subjects being processed weren't animals.
The mercy of Tender is the Flesh is the brevity of the story. The book clocks in at 240 pages and I am REALLY thankful for this small mercy. I'm not sure I could have handled 10 more pages of this. Tender is the Flesh had the wit and strength of a page turner and the lasting power of a classic.
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars
Reviewer's notes:
It is worth noting there should be several content warnings on this book outside of gratuitous descriptions of violence. There are mentions of rape, a graphic scene of animal abuse and probably somethings I blocked out shortly after reading it... so tread carefully!
I received an advanced copy of Tender is the Flesh from Simon and Schuster publishing in exchange for an honest review.
You can find Tender is the Flesh at bookstores near you on August 4th!
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