Director Note: This blog contains content suitable for mature audiences (18+). Please proceed with discretion.
Blog CW (Content Warning) : Discussion of Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic.
In light of the spooky season, I decided to read something I won’t usually pick up at a library, and that is a horror book. Personally I’m not a big fan of horror, as I’m easily scared and will dwell on whatever scared me for days and be paranoid!
But I wanted to try something new, and I did some research into what books I should read, and this one stood out for me. The topic is cannibalism.
Before I go forward, I’m going to add a content warning. This book is quite mature, and is more suitable for teenagers. Just keep this in mind, though everybody can read this review!
I’m going to write a review without going too in depth on the plot or spoiling anything, because I do want you to read this book as well. I’m just going to write some reflections I had on the themes, and give you sort of a warning on the book as well.
The book was originally written in Spanish, and the author is from Argentina. It’s won many awards, and has been highly praised, which made me want to read it. Now I’m not going to comment on the writing, because it is a translated work. I find with translated books the writing always seems a little off, and that’s expected. The magic fades when the original voice is distorted, and in this case, the distortion is translation. Therefore, I’ll leave it at that.
Now if you are vegan, vegetarian, etc. or are easily disturbed by gorey activities, then this book will be a lot for you….there is a lot of slaughter. Not murder, not death, but slaughter. So it can definitely make you feel queasy at times.
Now for the plot, the book is placed in this dystopian society, where eating animals have been replaced with eating humans , because of a supposed virus that inflicted society. As a way of adapting, the government legalized cannibalism, and it soon became the norm to eat other humans. But it isn’t every person to themselves type of cannibalism, there is a system to it, with regulated slaughterhouses.
The main character, our protagonist, is the right hand man of the most notable slaughterhouse. He hates his job though, and hates what he does for a living, but does it out of necessity. His name is Marcos.
Marcos, going deep into themes here, is a good example of conformity out of necessity. He’s adapted to this very dystopian society in order to support his father. He hates it, but survival is key in this book. If you aren’t protecting yourself, you will end up being regarded as food. You have to forget the morals you have, and sort of suck it up in this book. With every dystopian society, you don’t question the way things are, and if you do, you will be questioned and dealt with. This is the case in this book, and even though on numerous occasions people have hinted at their displeasure with the way things are, they aren’t doing anything about it, because there are consequences, such as the municipal slaughterhouse. In the book, criminals are killed and eaten. Nothing else. Therefore, for the people, you are either the food, or the consumers. Your choices and status dictate this. Therefore, what Marcos does is disgustingly horrifying, but it’s not really his choice.
Now I won’t talk about what Marcos does in the book, but I’m going to tell you my reaction to the ending. It made my jaw drop! I was in tears on the bus, when I finished this book. I couldn’t believe Marcos did what he did! Just writing about it is making me emotional again. It’s such a horrifying plot twist, and not what I expected. I thought Marcos was going to end up in the municipal slaughterhouse for what he was doing, but the book ended with so many questions. It doesn’t allude to a resolution to this terrifying way of life. Also, I have no clue if Marcos is going to get away with what he’s done, and if he’s going to use his status to find a way around the system. It makes me sick, and to put into perspective, people with power and influence can really get along with anything in any sort of society. Marcos is like that in a way. Throughout the book we are rooting for him, in a twisted way. But in the end, I can’t believe he did what he did. He betrayed us all!
As I’m writing this, I’m currently feeling queasy, because firstly the subject matter, and second, I’m on an empty stomach with nothing but two coffees. It’s not great, and this book won’t help you keep your stomach in place as I’ve previously mentioned. Therefore, make a conscious effort to eat before you read, so you don’t get sick easily.
Also, I want to talk about the virus in the book. Something discussed in the book is if the virus is fake in order to take control of overpopulation, crime, and climate change. This reminded me of all the paranoia that was happening during the pandemic. There were conspiracies that Covid-19 was a hoax, and it was a way for the government to decrease the population. The pandemic wasn't great, and many of us have family members and friends who’ve had their lives taken by the virus. It wasn’t a great time, and I’m glad it’s a chapter of the past. But it’s crazy if you think about it, the way society just normalised the idea of a pandemic really quickly, and adapted. It gets thinking about future catastrophes, and in what way will society adapt? Is it truly possible that we will move on to accept cannibalism as acceptable? Will human flesh really replace animals?
Something to think about.
Happy Halloween, stay safe everybody.
