Tender Is the Flesh

By: Agustina Bazterrica

Narrated by: Joseph Balderrama

Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2017 Agustina Bazterrica. English language translation ©2020 Pushkin Press Limited. Originally published in Argentina in 2017 by Alfaguara as Cadáver Exquisito. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Audible, Ltd. All rights reserved.

What a terrifying reality to be in

Oh boy! This was a lot, I didn’t joy it for the fact it delivered on shock factor. I definitely thought the story was going one way, and it ended in a totally different way. I don’t want to give away too much, but this story was disturbing yet very intriguing. I could not stop listening to it. I would definitely spend the credit, but again it is disturbing.

Interesting

The narrator did a great job, overall story was interesting but maybe I listen to too many horror stories I am a boy desensitized

whoa

This was not what i thought it was gonna be. Haunting but powerful. Not for weak stomachs

Well I’m going vegan

Overall, horrifying read and it has genuinely caused me grief over my food choices. I haven’t been able to stomach meat since I started this book and I’m seriously considering veganism, That’s how gross this book is.
The performance is fantastic. Balderrama puts plenty of character in that you would otherwise not get from the physical book experience. Genuinely laughing when a character is making a joke, actually chewing and smacking his lips when a character is eating (which also adds to the overall horror and disgust of the characters’ culinary preferences) and pausing to compose himself when the character is emotional.

That being said, I wish the story elaborated more on why society was able to so quickly grow accustomed to eating humans. That is such a drastic thing to introduce to people and I was surprised that it was portrayed as such an easy and smooth transition. But I am able to suspend my disbelief for the sake of the rest of the book.

MILD SPOILERS
I was shocked by the ending and initially thought it was a completely out-of-character moment, but after some thinking I believe that this was the author commentating on how often a person can condemn something until it benefits them to join in on it.
I believe Jasmine’s role in the story could be viewed as a metaphor for how women and/or disabled people are viewed by society and the people who socially outrank them, more specifically men.

A vegan it was interested to listen to

I’ve been vegan for 6 years and know all about the absolutely awful shit that animals go through in slaughter houses. I’ve often wondered how people would feel if this awful stuff was happening to human beings. This book was a look into a world like that- the humans were truly treated like cattle. In this fantasy world, it showed how far humans will go to have their “meat” rather than just change to a plant based diet (one area of the book I didn’t like- apparently doctors in this world said a plant based diet was unhealthy, although there were still vegans mentioned in the book). Besides this, it was shocking, disturbing, and extremely thought provoking. The main character Marcos was REALLY a piece of work though. Extremely hypocritical and I was left with ZERO respect for him, especially with the ending of this book.

Wow

I could not stop listening to this story. Disturbing, yes, horrifying, yes, and the narrator did an amazing job!

mostly world building, not much story, not bad

not much plot, mostly describing the world. nothing super major happens. think "catcher in the rye" but with a depressed adult and a world of cannibals

Disturbing and enjoyable

This is a really unique story with great parallelisms with real life. Do not get discouraged by the gruesome details. They are there for good reason.

Excellent and disturbing

Many will not enjoy this book because of its themes and graphic depictions of cruelty and violence. However, it is excellently written and performed. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys extreme dystopian stories and unconventional horror.

Brilliantly Painful

Had to give it 4 stars because it viscerally hurt to read, the ending wrecked my life and I have never liked something so disturbing.