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Tender Is the Flesh

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Tender Is the Flesh

By: Agustina Bazterrica
Narrated by: Joseph Balderrama
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It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then, governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' - human meat - is legal.

Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans, only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later.

But the specimen haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, her eyes that watch him, that seem to understand. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost - and what might still be saved...

©2020 Agustina Bazterrica (P)2020 Audible, Ltd Dystopian Science Fiction Fiction Scary Emotionally Gripping Thought-Provoking
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Wow.. Just wow. What awful imagery this book brought to my mind but I think that was the point. You wouldn't want to listen to this while eating your dinner (I am vegetarian). Awful to think that the practices in the book are already being done to animals. Thought provoking book, but I wouldn't recommend it for the faint-hearted.

Will turn you vegan

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Really, really, really badly written. The ending was stupid with no real explanation.
Boring.

Badly written

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It's basically Soylent Green, but cannibalism is accepted, legalised, and encouraged.

Unfortunately, I was hoping for more world-building and a thorough explanation as to how humanity got to this point, but the book never really goes into it.
It's just: "A virus made all animal meat poisonous, therefore humans started eating other humans, because why not".
If a virus were to make animal meat poisonous, I would like to think that humanity would find ways around it: plant-based products, lab-grown meat, fish, 3D-printed food, bugs, etc. I'm sure we'd take anything over eating other humans.

I find the world too unbelievable. Soylent Green was a great story purely because the cannibalism was covered up because such a thing would be unacceptable if it were out in the open, but everyone in the world of Tender Is The Flesh seems to be a very inhuman, monstrous, and immoral person who has no qualm in the fact that people are bred like cattle for food just because we are no longer able to eat animal meat.

Great narration! Wouldn't recommend eating or snacking whilst listening though.

Great narration, story was ok

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When a book about systematised cannibalism feels bland, you know the writing's seriously lacking something

Disappointed

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The narrator is perfect, the read is engrossing and challenes your perceptions of our world

Impactful

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