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.

BUY THE BOOK

Published Aug 4, 2020

224 pages

Average rating: 7.16

1,100 RATINGS

|

Join a book club that is reading Tender Is the Flesh!

Mix of Flavors

Book club that includes variety of books to engage in rich, deep and diverse thought among individuals of diverse backgrounds.

North Side Thrillers Book Club

Join us each month on the North Side of Chicago as we dive into the world of suspense, intrigue, and plot twists!

The Midnight Chapter

The Midnight Chapter is a small, laidback book club. We dive into Mystery, Thriller, Horror. (18+)

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...

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.
Raseel
Jan 03, 2026
4/10 stars
The concept the of the dystopian future was great, but the story fell short of the expectations. There was much more potential in the concept
Pzza!
Dec 14, 2025
8/10 stars
In this day and age, it's not hard to believe that a dystopian future is likely in store for us Earthlings. Leaves you savoring our Sunday bbqs and grill outs with the best cuts your money can buy.
Wulver
Dec 09, 2025
10/10 stars
Very disturbing but fantastic critique on capitalism and the people living under it.

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.