Hello everyone! It is officially October and a chill is in the air. I wanted to kick off spooky season ASAP for you all, so you could settle down with something chilling to read. I am fully committing this year and want to watch a couple of horror movies I have been meaning to get around to for a bit now. I will include a massive trigger warning for this novel before I get into it. I suggest you do some research for yourself, if you so desire. Let’s kick off October with Tender is the Flesh.

Trigger Warning: Violence, Gore, Animal Abuse, Sexual Violence, Derogatory Language

A virus has swept the world, infecting every animal and killing all livestock. In order to prevent starvation, society decided that the only suitable replace for animal livestock would be human livestock. Marcos Tejo makes his living at a processing plant, which he had to take over after his father developed dementia. Marcos is wracked by the guilt caused by his job, still mourning the loss of his infant son, and trying to get his wife back. One day, he is gifted a live female specimen by one of his business partners. Contact with her would result in Marcos being sent to slaughter, but that doesn’t stop him from developing feelings for her. For the first time in a while, Marcos has a sense of hope and may be able to create a better world for the future.

I’d heard amazing reviews of this novel and now I can say that it lived up to expectations. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting going into this, but I was shocked and riveted by every page. Bazterrica creates a terrifying introspective narrative that makes you question what it means to be human. The imagery is as gruesome as it is powerful. It was hard to look away from the violence being depicted on the page. It was a truly provocative experience that I want to read again, but will wait as I still have other spooky reads to get into. This novel isn’t for the faint hearts or the weak stomachs, which is what makes it all the more of an unputdownable novel.