My Panda Book Review: Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Warning this post may contain spoilers.

Hello everyone and happy New year!

I am so excited to write my first book review for 2023. It is on Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook on Scribd and it was read and narrated by Joseph Balderrama. Trigger warnings:

• Sexual Abuse
• Animal abuse
• Inhumane conditions

Now to tell yall the truth, I have never read a Dystopian Fiction Novel before and definitely a book on what the world would be like if the world didn’t have animals to eat. I always stay in my safe place and love my mock soap operas in my romance and historical fiction novels. I remember always watching General Hospital, and Guilding Light, and Days of Our Lives at my grandma Liz’s house, and I tend to stick to books that (Before I got married.) helped shape my way in how I see romance and relationships. Now I’m going out of my comfort zone and I’m looking forward to reading more books that aren’t on my normal list of books to read.

The synopsis of Tender Is The Flesh is about a man named Marcos and due to a virus, animals are no longer safe to kill and manufacture for consumption. He is in the business of slaughtering humans and dealing with the aftermath of deaths in the family. Now be warned, this book is disturbing, but that is what makes this story great. Their are WTF moments. With no way of corporations slaughtering animals for consumption, it is now legal for meat factories to sell and slaughter humans for money.

I know this book is fiction, but I can’t stop thinking how if the roles in animal consumption is reversed in our society people would have their rights striped away and sold to feed the families in our world? Augustina has shown readers that the rich will strip a person’s right to live away for money. Consumerism and capitalism is not afforded to people who have no status in the novel. Marcos being the man he is, i believe is doing what he feels right when he took over his father’s business, and of course he feels like he has to shut down his views on the mistreatment of others and please other richer people to make a living. Marcos is even given an FGP ( First Generation Pure) to have and one day kill, but after the second tragity , he falls for her and against all rules, gives her a name. 

Now the ending had me flabbergasted. If you’ve seen any of the Saw movies, they tend to end with a cliffhanger. I feel as though Agustina had us hanging and didn’t go further than how the book ended. Like I stated, human beings will do what it takes to survive and get what they want, and Marcos did that without a care in the world. I dont want to give the ending away as I want you all to read for yourselves. If you like horror/ dystopian fiction, this book is for you. My rating of Tender is the Flesh is 4 and half stars. The half came from the ending not being explained in more detail. Part of me wants more of Marcos and the aftermath of the ending, but I have a feeling there won’t be a second book.

If you have read this book, let me know what your opinion is, Id love to discuss views with everyone one of you. Till next time , have a great week ahead!