Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

 

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⭐ 5/5 Review: Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica — A Sickly Brilliant Dystopia

👉 Grab your copy on Amazon [affiliate link]

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING: Full plot breakdown ahead. Seriously, we’re talking everything. If you want to go in blind, bail now.

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🚨 Trigger Warnings

• Cannibalism / human slaughter 🍖

• Sexual assault / rape 🚫

• Misogyny and gendered violence 👩‍🦰

• Animal cruelty / puppy death 🐶💔

• Death of children 👶

• Moral corruption & graphic violence 🔪

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🌍 Welcome to the World of Tender Is the Flesh

Imagine a world where a virus wipes out all animals. Suddenly, people need to eat… and humans become the livestock. Disturbing? Absolutely. Fascinating? Also yes.

Agustina Bazterrica’s 2017 dystopian novel dives deep into human depravity, misogyny, and the ways language is twisted to justify atrocities. It’s horrific, it’s brilliant, and it keeps you questioning the very essence of morality.

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🧵 Detailed Plot Summary — FULL SPOILERS

Marcos Tejo — Manager of a Human Slaughterhouse

Marcos Tejo, drawing from childhood memories of his father’s meat plant, runs Krieg, a human slaughterhouse. He visits his father (now with dementia), deals with estranged family tensions, and navigates a morally bankrupt world.

Tejo doesn’t eat human meat anymore after his son died, but he works in an industry that commodifies humans. His sister Marisa is superficial and self-interested, his wife Cecilia lives with her mother following their baby’s death, and the world around him is… well, rotten.

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The Arrival of Jasmine

One of Tejo’s suppliers gifts him a female human raised as livestock — a “special” gift. This human, who he names Jasmine, has arms, legs, and full humanity (not the mass-produced armless, legless stock).

Tejo keeps her in his barn — initially a burden, but he grows fond of her. Soon, their relationship crosses forbidden lines: he teaches her to live in his house and begins a sexual relationship, exploiting the inherent power imbalance.

⚠️ Reading it during the story, this might have seemed tender or consensual, but by the end we clearly see this was rape. Tejo’s misogyny, manipulation, and hypocrisy are consistent throughout. He only wants Jasmine for breeding — not for love.

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Life at Krieg

Tejo continues his work, giving tours to new job applicants and showing the brutal reality of human livestock: inspected, cleaned, stunned, and killed like animals.

• One applicant is horrified; the other is thrilled by the spectacle — Tejo immediately sees the moral compass of people.

• He visits clients, including the Church of the Immolation and hunters at a game reserve.

• He reluctantly participates in consuming humans when social pressures demand it.

Meanwhile, Tejo reflects at abandoned zoos, witnesses puppy killings by teenagers, and juggles morality against the normalized horror of his profession.

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Jasmine’s Pregnancy and the Shocking End

Laws prohibit relations between humans with full citizenship and livestock, but Tejo ignores that. Jasmine becomes pregnant. Tejo’s wife Cecilia returns to assist with the birth.

In the horrifying climax:

• Tejo kills Jasmine after childbirth.

• He and Cecilia plan to pass the baby off as their own, cementing the ultimate act of moral corruption.

• The story ends with a chilling reflection on how society has normalized cruelty, exploitation, and dehumanization.

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🧠 My Thoughts — Sick, Shocking, Brilliant

I can’t watch horror movies, but I love horror books — especially ones with strong storytelling, foreshadowing, and twist endings.

Tejo is foreshadowed as a morally grey character all along, yet we ignore the signs and convince ourselves he’s “tender.” Looking back:

• He’s misogynistic from page one.

• His relationship with Jasmine is rape, plain and simple.

• His hypocrisy and cruelty are consistent, making the ending horrifyingly inevitable.

💥 This book isn’t just shock value. It’s smart, disturbing, and perfectly executed, with a twist that makes you rethink every “tender” moment.

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✅ Why You Should Read Tender Is the Flesh

• Chilling dystopia with social commentary 🏚️

• Strong moral and ethical critique 🔪

• Foreshadowed twist ending that lands perfectly 🎯

• Writing that forces you to confront human nature 😨

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📚 If You Liked This, Try:

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy — bleak, dystopian survival

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro — commodification of humans

• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver — psychological horror and moral ambiguity

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🌟 Final Verdict

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

A disturbing, brilliant, and unforgettable read. Tender Is the Flesh is not for the faint of heart, but if you can handle horror with depth, moral complexity, and a twist that slaps you in the face with clarity, this book is an absolute must-read.