Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Cadáver exquisito

This book was INTENSE! So gory! So many amazing visuals! I am an avid horror movie fanatic and man did this book compare. I enjoyed every part of this book, the crazy images, scene descriptions, characters. I had a good time reading it :) Highly recommend if you like the horror genre.

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mconroy9137's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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simpag's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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? No

2.5

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spookss's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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sierrabowers's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought this was a very interesting take on dystopian America. I would not recommend to anyone who is sensitive to gore or horror. I was not surprised by the ending, but I think that the author’s slow and gradual character degradation was done very well. The main character slowly descends into madness, and you can truly see it.

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lauriebird's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book had me. This book grabbed me by its claws, dragged me down, and forced me to come face to face with one of the most bleak books ever written.

Make no mistake, this book is a horror. But it is also a masterpiece of literature. This book is brutal from beginning to end. This book made me feel gross. This book made me reflect on the classism of politics (specifically in the United States). The book stresses that

this is a government plot to ensure population control, not a true virus

. I did not like this book but not because of Bazterricas fantastic execution. I did not like it because we are not meant to like it. It is written flatly in a clear voice of Marcos. Marcos is nihilistic and each description of everything that he goes through, right down to the colors of his world, echos that nihilism.

The last line of this book shattered me.

“She had the human gaze of a domesticated animal.” She was just an animal to him. A means to an end. Marcos, a character that we are meant to see as “on the readers side” ends up being as amoral as the rest. You cannot live a moral life in a society devoid of morality. As you read the last line, you realize that Marcos saw Jasmine the same as his dogs. The way he talks to and cares for her is still that of an animal. Yes, he sexually assaulted her for his own gain, but he still sees her only as a means to an end. The book sets this up for us to believe Marcos may overcome the societal pressures and challenges and realize that the head are in fact, also human and deserve to be treated as human. The last chapter tears every bit of that hope from you.

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annathechaoticreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Initial Thoughts:
Booktok very much over hyped this. It was a very okay novel, I can't think of anything it did wrong or to justify a lower review, but I also can't think of anything it did particularly well. It was mildly disturbing and made me stop and think a couple of times but not all that life/perspective changing. If you tend to like dystopian fiction and are newer to the genre, I think it's worth a try, but beware booktok strikes again, go in with lower expectations than I did.

Thoughts Upon Reflection:
The book is very heavy handed about its eating meat=bad beliefs which I found exhausting. At many times throughout the story I found myself shouting "OH MY GOD I GET IT!!! MEAT IS MURDER. JUST TELL ME THE STORY" into the void. It makes very weird parallels that I don't agree with and there was next to no room for nuanced discussion. I will say its possible that because it is a translated novel that the above issues only apply to the English translation and that its a fault of the translator rather than Augustina.

Another issue I have is that to me none of the characters actually felt like fleshed out people, rather just objects things happen to/around. The main characters motivations make no sense (especially in the second half), where he doesn't even feel like a person, you don't really get to know him and then what little you do gets completely contradicted in the second half of the book. I can't even call it character development because it feels like he sees one shitty thing than a switch flips and he's completely different. Through the whole time reading, I did not feel any type of way towards any character, I didn't care about any of them which made it hard to care about the novel. When I first finished it I felt no type of way but the longer I've had to sit with it, the more I'm growing to dislike it. The worst part is that it could have been so good, with some more nuance and character development it would have been a very interesting story!

There is also a graphic sexual assault scene which I wish I had known about going in. As a surviver of S/A I try to stay away from novels with it unless I've had time to prepare and be in a good headspace to consume it. So a completely RANDOM S/A scene that doesn't matter to the plot really caught me off guard and almost immediately ruined the book. I'm fine with assault scenes if and only IF it is important to the plot/character development. My problem is when its thrown in to demonstrate a character being shitty or for shock value, which I feel is the reason it was included in Tender Is The Flesh; if you removed the whole chapter it would make absolutely no difference and THATS where I have the problem.

People call it a horror novel when its really not, its a dystopian and while not a huge issue, it just sets up expectations that it doesn't live up to! It felt a lot more akin to books like the Handmaids Tale than those in the horror genre. So if you want a horror novel, probably don't pick this up but if you want a kinda disturbing, dark dystopian then maybe this will be your book!

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