Book guide
Tender Is the Flesh
In a world where cannibalism has been legalized, a slaughterhouse worker begins to see humanity in the one person he is forbidden to touch.
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About Tender Is the Flesh
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.
Reading signals
- Spice
- None
- Darkness
- Extreme
- Pacing
- Balanced
Content warnings
- cannibalism
- human slaughter
- body horror
- violence
- death
- dementia
- animal cruelty
- animal death
- gore
- rape/sexual assault
- trafficking
- torture
- pregnancy
- child death
- physical abuse
