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 … 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.
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Brutal but in a good way. Well-written, very graphic and not for the faint of heart. Not even kidding. Likely the book of the year for me right now, too. The characters are brilliant, the impact of what’s happening makes you think, and the ending will tear you apart. But hopefully not eat you.
“He tried to hate all of humanity for being so fragile and ephemeral but he couldn’t keep it up because hating everyone is the same as hating no one.”
A strange virus has made all meat unsafe for humans to eat. Hello vegan paradise! In response, the governments have initiated the Transition.
Marco, heir to the local processing plant, slaughters people for human consumption. Is that Vegan? Ponder on that. His wife has left him after a horrible loss and his father is deep in the chaos of dementia. Not much of his life is left to be desired.
Enters the most amazingly beautiful human specimen he has seen. Knowing the punishment for interaction with them is a torturous death, he seeks personal contact and finds a beauty he had forgotten he lost. How can he to back to the ways things are now? Can he save his humanity and himself?
Agustina Bazterrica writes, Sarah Moses translates, with such artistic prose that I often forgot that this is a legal cannibalism story. It touches on themes of capitalism, abuse of power, and widespread fear. How dare we question the sanity of our government when they have saved us!
So I ask you, could you eat Special Meat?
“Trató de odiar a toda la humanidad por ser tan frágil y efímera, pero no pudo seguir así porque odiar a todos es lo mismo que no odiar a nadie”.
Un virus extraño ha hecho que toda la carne sea insegura para los humanos. ¡Hola paraíso vegano! En respuesta, los gobiernos han iniciado la Transición.
Marco, heredero de la planta procesadora local, sacrifica personas para consumo humano. ¿Eso es vegano? Reflexiona sobre eso. Su esposa lo ha dejado después de una pérdida horrible y su padre está sumido en el caos de la demencia. No queda mucho de su vida que desear.
Entra en el espécimen humano más asombrosamente hermoso que ha visto. Sabiendo que el castigo por interactuar con ellos es una muerte tortuosa, busca el contacto personal y encuentra una belleza que había olvidado que perdió. ¿Cómo puede volver a las cosas como son ahora? ¿Puede salvar su humanidad y a sí mismo?
Agustina Bazterrica escribe, Sarah Moses traduce, con una prosa tan artística que a menudo olvidé que se trata de una historia de canibalismo legal. Toca temas del capitalismo, abuso de poder y miedo generalizado. ¡Cómo nos atrevemos a cuestionar la cordura de nuestro gobierno cuando nos han salvado!
Entonces te pregunto, ¿podrías comer carne especial?
This was easily one of the most horrifying, disturbing novels I’ve ever read. It starts slow and didn’t answer one of the biggest questions I had, but the premise had me turning pages so freaking fast. I just had to know what happened. This is definitely not for the faint of heart, and with how graphic it is, I’m so very grateful for my aphantasia.
Trigger warnings for practically everything you can think of.
‘Tender is the Flesh’ came onto my radar by seeing a lot of readers saying they’d read it and found it gripping and repulsive.
Color me sold.
Any time a book is presented as featuring a ‘fresh’ trope that hasn’t been done a lot it’s something that gathers buzz.
What I liked: This story at its heart is a tale of grief in a world struggling to adapt and survive.
We meet Marcos, the right-hand man at the food processing plant. Simple, right?
Not so fast. The animals of the world have been decimated by a virus which made them unable to be consumed, which means man needs a new form of protein to ingest.
This is the part where many people will find it repulsive. Because the new protein is harvested from humans.
I really loved the methodical, sterile approach Bazterrica took when dealing with the “cattle.” In my real-life profession, I took a cadaver lab where we dissected some donated patients. The approach the instructor took was very similar to how Bazterrica went through the more unfortunate parts.
Along the way, we learn more about Marcos job, his family and what has happened to cause his grief. The storyline with his Father was fantastic, even if incredibly bleak and the loss Marcos has suffered was truly sad. Those two parts worked to elevate the descent Marcos is suffering and ultimately why things finish the way they do.
What I didn’t like: This is a tough one for me to review because Bazterrica did a fantastic job with portraying grief and I loved the world this was set in, as hideous as it sounds. Unfortunately for me, when a delivery is made, we’d already learned of Marcos loss, and for me the entire story occurred exactly how I expected. When the delivery arrived, I thought that x will happen, leading to x, which will end with z happening and it did, which really resulted in me ultimately not enjoying this as much as I’d hoped. For me, it was all too predictable.
Why you should buy this: This book is extreme horror with heart. A really fantastic look at grief and sorrow in a world where things have taken a turn and the new reality is something that you can’t turn away from. Bazterrica really has created a unique experience and while I found it a bit predictable, it may read completely differently for you.
Good stuff.
Great start of the year with a 5 . I loved the setting i loved the environment it developed, i loved all the characters and the ending was just so twisted love and hate i loved it all
I was told by a Library if I wanted twisted stuff to read to check this out this was the first book I finished in many years. It was so sick and twisted it held my attention and that ending made me yell and toss the book haha worth a read but no I’m not going vegan because of it….did make me question life though hahaha
Well… lol
I can appreciate the message – replacing animals with humans and giving us a glimpse of slaughterhouses, hunting, laboratories, etc. It’s a unique and terrifying concept, definitely making me consider never touching animal meat again in my life. So in that regard, I give it an A+ for making its point.
On the other hand, this book was highly disturbing and graphic. It held my attention but I feel gross after finishing it and it’s not one I would recommend unless someone was wanting a shocking, quick read that makes them feel sick throughout