Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Cadáver exquisito

This is a dark, dark world we find within the pages; a world where animal meat is no longer an option, so people turn to eating humans instead. The madness of this social shift pierces deep, its bloody fingers snagging every conceivable part of society.

I have a lot of thoughts. I think that the raw horror of so many things in this world come and then pass you by just as quickly. It does a lot to inform the reader on the attitudes of people at large, and those even more specifically of the main character, but it means that there are many moments or beats where the book leaves the space immediately, not giving the reader a chance to fully absorb the grim reality even if the charscters on page are (intentionaññy or not) not cognizant of it. This is a story that snatches away what little scraps of hope you have. I enjoyed it a lot, but I wanted a little more space on the page to really let the reader chew things over, to not make it so easy for the resder to breeze over what the cast might be.

Ultimately: a stark, grim, merciless near future, and a story set within the space that I wanted to see a little more bite from.

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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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graecus_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

absolutely wild book which i enjoyed thoroughly. marcos is completely and utterly revolting. i did not see the end coming. i wouldn’t say that this is a “meat is murder” book, but rather a commentary on humanity and the extent to which dehumanization is possible and the extent to which atrocities become normalized. it definitely is gory and disgusting, but i would definitely recommend.

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lizzisok's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-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

4.25

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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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anissawren's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

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ashlynregan's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.0

LOVED the ending to this book, even though it was a complete reversal of the character arc.

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