Tender Is the Flesh

THE RUNAWAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL SENSATION

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.

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Published Aug 4, 2020

224 pages

Average rating: 7.21

1,220 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Tender Is the Flesh* by Agustina Bazterrica is a dark, disturbing dystopian novel that chillingly explores human nature and societal crue...

Karla
Apr 10, 2026
10/10 stars
This was a very uncomfortable read but it was soo good.
I was in shock the whole time. A little disgusted, kind of scared.
All animals meat is gone due to some virus and people are forced to start eating humans. They are farmed, they are grown in labs, they are bred.
It was a very interesting read!
nmimms
Jul 22, 2025
10/10 stars
The best book that I will never read again. I genuinely enjoyed the narrative but it took some WORK to get past the setting. If you can roll with the spirit of the novel then you get to see a fantastic break down of grief from a male perspective. It resonated with me in that way. But it also put me off meat for about a week.
Annie.S
Jul 01, 2025
7/10 stars
This book was so different than anything I have ever read. I enjoyed the comparisons that could be made to so many things about our indifference as human beings. At times it was hard to stomach but I understood that was intentional.
Ray M
Jun 01, 2026
1/10 star
The most depraved and grim book I have ever read. Poorly written combined with horrible characters. The best thing about this book is that it ends.
Sylleth
Apr 24, 2026
4/10 stars
It was good and some shocking moments, but honestly I do feel like it was overhyped. I was wanting a waaaaayyy more shocking ending. I feel like the ending was lacking.

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