Our protagonist and narrator has survived the horrors of a brutally dystopian future, only to find herself cloistered away with the Sacred Sisterhood. In this seemingly safe haven, the women of the Sisterhood (the unworthy) exist to serve an unseen god figure known only as "Him" under the watchful eye of the Superior Sister, who never hesitates to deliver brutal punishments to the sisters. The Superior Sister and Him divide the women into various groups, with most unworthy hoping to be named Enlightened. This shared aspiration serves to pit many in the Sisterhood against each other.

A lot is going on in this book. What would you sacrifice to meet your basic needs? What can you force yourself to believe when your life is at stake? Is true Sisterhood possible when there is no safety?

Bazterrica masterfully builds a bleak, foreign, yet familiar world, always withholding enough information so that the reader never feels truly at home in the text. We are a guest, but not a welcome one.

It's a brutal read. If you read Tender Is the Flesh, you're already familiar with the literary gut-punches Bazterrica is so skilled at doling out. She doesn't hold back in this one. In this novel, as in the world Bazterrica creates, there are no satisfying answers, only intriguing questions. If you're frustrated by ambiguity, you'll likely want to pass on this one. I'm sure we'll see comparisons to "I Who Have Never Known Men," and that's certainly accurate, but this is a leaner read with a vicious bite.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the eARC.

The Unworthy is a haunting exploration of a dystopian future where environmental collapse has led to a disintegration of society. The story centers itself on an unnamed woman confined within the Sacred Sisterhood, a secluded, oppressive and abusive religious convent. Through her secret diary entries she recounts daily rituals, punishments and the rigid hierarchy that defines the groups existence. The arrival of a new member disrupts the established order and prompts the narrator to confront previously suppressed memories which bring her to question the orders doctrines. The evocative prose, familiar to Agustina Bazterrica, delves deep into themes of faith, autonomy, and the souls resilience amidst pervasive desolation and extreme conditions. While it effectively mirrored the protagonist's turmoil, the novels fragmented structure and unabashed violence challenged me as a reader. The Unworthy is a compelling book for those who appreciate introspective, bleak and unsettling literature.

I’m on a dystopian kick and this does not disappoint especially as a sophomore follow up to tender is the flesh! The beginning has little context but as the plot develops the book becomes easy to follow. It’s not for everyone but definitely worth it especially if you like I who have never known men.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC. A post-apocalyptic story of survival, friendship, love, greed, misogyny, religious abuse, the list goes on. Bazterrica knows how to write a horror story that could very easily be humankind and earth’s fate in a not-so-distant future.

I loved the poetic dreamy writing, in the form of journal entries, of such violent and bleak events. My only complaint is too many cockroaches (lol) bc those are a fear of mine- which just means the horror was done a little *too* well at times.

I received this ARC from Netgalley. This book broke my heart! Sure it’s as black as my soul.. but it is now a shamble of pieces on the floor and I will live in my feelings for days!! How will I ever recover?? Therapy? Where do I send my bill?

This was definitely a 4 star read.. but for me it was 💯 a 5 star read. I got half way through this book and tried to go to sleep last night and I couldn’t stop thinking about this story. I got up and finished the book. Any book that demands I finish it now NEEDS a 5 star review!

I LOVE horror and horror is subjective. The Narrator is extremely likable and relatable. The POV is written in a journal of sorts and with any material she can use. There are pages missing and sentences scratched out, which I think add to the story. We get glimpses of what came before and some horrific scenes. Although, I knew what was going on in the room, it didn’t make it any less terrifying.

I read reviews that ppl had questions. Did read Tender is the Flesh? If you know, you know.

Justice for Circe!! JUSTICE FOR CIRCE! Listen the way her story was told was perfection. My Shayla ❤️‍🩹

A poetic, meditative horror that gnaws on climate change, human greed, misogyny, cults, and religious abuse.

This is a quick, <200 page read that I devoured in a single day. Even as I felt the mounting, hollow hunger for something more substantial, I remained captive in its strange sisterhood of pain and ecstatic color. Blues, blackened nights, rust red. We do have a plot, but it's secondary to our narrator's character study. This is sometimes to the story's detriment, though her transformation over the course of all she endures is substantial. And she endures a lot: Bazterrica embraces the cult's many on-page terrors with zealous determination. Body horror fans, you're in the right place, and if you like it steeped in surrealism then so much the better.

But despite the prose pros, The Unworthy's attempts to comment on gender violence are sorely lacking. While I think it makes some poignant and occasionally touching points about misogyny and how abusers use catastrophe (those real and imagined) as cover to subjugate and control their victims, the impact ultimately rings...not hollow, exactly. But simplified, incomplete. One version of extreme suffering with minimal cultural nuance is presented as if all women endure the same cruelties at the same hands in the same way. A bit Gender Studies 101.

The star rating system fails me here because I can't easily convey that I both adored The Unworthy's prose and conceit and was simultaneously unsatisfied by the larger themes with a simple 3/5. If the description or my review intrigue you, give it a read. I think you'll come away with worthwhile conversation starters, even if the book itself bit off more than it can chew. So to speak.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you, Scribner and NetGalley!

Stunning from the first sentence to the last. This is a deliciously dark and harrowing tale of finding love and hope even in the most bleak situations. Where Tender Is the Flesh made me lose hope in humanity, this book, strangely, made me feel more hopeful that we still have a chance. Its commentary is not quite as sharply focused as Tender Is the Flesh, but I don't think that's actually a weakness, just a difference. I loved every moment of this, and came close to crying - and I don't cry at books! Beautifully written and translated, this story slowly unravels itself in lush horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Scribner for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A woman in a dangerously violent convent tells her story through diary entries as the near future dystopian world outside is crumbling due to natural and man made disasters. Very much stream of consciousness and reliant on the vibes, but the vibes are certainly there. Left me with some extremely brutal imagery - so many cockroach scenes that genuinely made me sick.

2.5

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I think this book will work for you or it won't. I haven't read Tender is the Flesh - and while I didn't really enjoy this one, I'll definitely be picking up her other work as most people say it's 10x better.

I love reading about cults - add a layer of religious tones by being set in a convent and I'm even more intrigued. I like the dark and depressing atmosphere of the book, but I myself was in the dark most of the time... I was pretty confused and didn't really understand what was happening most of the time. It's hard for me to care when I'm not quite sure what's going on. There wasn't much character development - or really much plot at all? I had such high hopes for this dystopian setting - climate change has killed the Earth - but I just couldn't get on board.

It's a short and quick read which is very much to it's detriment.

This started off very strong, it was everything I wanted, a post apocalyptic cult, the unknowns of this story were intriguing but I ultimately just had a hard time getting through this, the writing was very captivating at first but after a while I just felt like it was redundant and I wasn’t intrigued enough anymore. I loved the vibes but I wish it had a bit more depth, it was a little too ambiguous for me after a while. Definitely a lot of enrapturing moments though. Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Unworthy.

Beautiful, stark and brutal, this one details life in a disjointed, bleak, and creepy way.

As time and events move on, it slowly becomes clear it’s something else.

The narrative has an unsettling dreamlike quality and I found myself very intrigued and constantly thinking about it.

I want to say more but I really don't want to give anything away.

The Unworthy takes place in a dystopian, catastrophe torn world, where plague is being spread and cities are underwater. Our main character is writing her story in letters from her cell in the convent of The Sacred Sisterhood.

Holy Moly. This book was beautiful. The imagery portrayed was stunning. I enjoyed the depth and fortitude of the main character and Lucia, whilst each having their own unique background and story.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for this ARC. Expected release date March 4, 2025.

I had high hopes for this as I love reading dystopian literature (especially as we get closer and closer to that reality). However, this doesn't feel like it adds anything new to the genre. It feels like it's trying really hard to be edgy and unique but actually just creates a confused, generic mess. I didn't like not having much context about what's going on (we know that the climate crisis has done a lot of damage to the world but that's it). Having minimal context was supposed to add mystery but instead left me uninterested and confused most of the time. When we did hear about the main character's past, I found this to be interesting. However, there wasn't enough of that and any interesting dialogue about women and religion was just missed in my opinion.

A woman writes her life story from her cell in a convent, while the outside world is engulfed in plagues, natural disaster and even worse events. This mysterious convent is made up of different classes and this woman in particular is deemed "unworthy". I won't give much more away other than this book is pretty bleak and horrific. It's very much stream of consciousness style, which I know might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really liked it. I am a big fan of Agustina's writing. This story was previously published in Spanish and is publishing in its translated version March 04, 2025. Thank you so much to Scribner & NetGalley for the ARC.

A poetic take on a post apocalyptic world, unique spins on old themes throughout kept me interested but ultimately the book was not for me.

An incredibly dark tale that drops you into the middle of the world with no details or context. I’m very anti-hand-holding when it comes to storytelling that does too much telling and not enough showing. But unfortunately this one picked up the pace a little too late for me. I felt like it was so nonsensical for too many pages that by the time the plot came into focus I was already disinterested.

The language and prose is extremely poetic, vivid, and strong. Strong imagery is peppered throughout and the writing is wonderful. I just wanted more from the plot.

A woman writes the story of her life as a member of the Sacred Sisterhood in secret, using dirt, ink, and blood. The world outside of the walls of the monastery is plagued by climate catastrophe. Fires, floods, and disease have ravaged everything that once was, and what survivors are left are fighting to live.

Our narrator, nameless throughout, is at the lowest of ranks inside. She desires to reach the rank of Enlightened, to finally please the terrifying Superior Sister. Inside the monastery, now a convent, torture is the way of life. There are horrible descriptions of blood and punishments for the slightest infractions.

Soon, a stranger arrives over the walls and survives the purification rituals. She joins the Unworthy, and throws our main character into turmoil. Her past starts to come to light, and she's haunted by what has brought her to this terrible place and what is actually happening to the world.
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Well, it's February 8th, 2025. The current administration is destroying everything: arts, culture, equality, history. North Carolina is still picking up the pieces from the unprecedented flooding from September 2024. Los Angeles is still smoking from the horrible fires from January. Climate change is not in their vocabulary.

THE WORLD OF THE UNWORTHY IS NOT FAR OFF.

This short book could be a cautionary tale or meta-future fiction. Who really knows? Agustina Bazterrica has written a horror story about something that could happen at any minute.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The book is set in a world post-climate collapse, where the earth is poisoned and few have survived through starvation and wandering. Our main character, who remains unnamed, is sheltered in a sadistic covenant where there is a "he" whose will is put out by Superior Sister through acts of violence, torture, and murder. There is a hierarchy in this all-female society: servants, the unworthy, minor saints, diaphanous spirits, and the enlightened. The unworthy the book follows wants to be Chosen, however, she does things against the rules such as keeping a journal about what is happening there and what has happened in her life leading up to this moment. Things hit a snag in her plans when she first discovers a female outside while hunting mushrooms for a funeral, and again when she finds the same woman. She creates a plan with her to be found so that she can come to seek shelter. This woman ends up being named Lucia, and once Lucia enters the picture our main character's world starts to change.

This book was a 3.5-star book - I preferred the author's book Tender is the Flesh Over this. I did round up on GoodReads to 4 stars. The book does a good job of showing how the desolation of humanity is on full, dark display. The main highlight for me was the setting of the book both in the church scenes and the past reflection scenes of our main character having to wander through the world trying to survive. The book heavily focuses on religious abuse - it's very cult-like in many aspects such as shunning members who speak other languages besides the one of the sacred sisters, different levels of the hierarchies having their bodies mutilated like the diaphanous spirits having their tongues chopped off. It took me a while to get into the book, which is saying a lot because it is a very short novel, and I felt like the ending could have been flushed out a bit more as everything happened so rapidly.

"The long-awaited new novel from the author of global sensation Tender Is the Flesh: a thrilling work of literary horror about a woman cloistered in a secretive, violent religious order, while outside the world has fallen into chaos.

From her cell in a mysterious convent, a woman writes the story of her life in whatever she can find - discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood. A lower member of the Sacred Sisterhood, deemed an unworthy, she dreams of ascending to the ranks of the Enlightened at the center of the convent and of pleasing the foreboding Superior Sister. Outside, the world is plagued by catastrophe - cities are submerged underwater, electricity and the internet are nonexistent, and bands of survivors fight and forage in a cruel, barren landscape. Inside, the narrator is controlled, punished, but safe.

But when a stranger makes her way past the convent walls, joining the ranks of the unworthy, she forces the narrator to consider her long-buried past - and what she may be overlooking about the Enlightened. As the two women grow closer, the narrator is increasingly haunted by questions about her own past, the environmental future, and her present life inside the convent. How did she get to the Sacred Sisterhood? Why can't she remember her life before? And what really happens when a woman is chosen as one of the Enlightened?

A searing, dystopian tale about climate crisis, ideological extremism, and the tidal pull of our most violent, exploitative instincts, this is another unforgettable novel from a master of feminist horror."

I don't know, a mysterious convent with no access to the outside world seems nice right about now no matter the horrors inside they can't be as bad as out here.

Agustina Bazterrica has such a rich mastery at balancing darkness and beauty. This story was moving and incredibly page turning. In my opinion this was even better than Tender Is the Flesh and I personally loved Tender Is the Flesh.

I can't say I've ever read a book like this. The closest comparison I have is "At Night All Blood is Black"

This is a stream of consciousness told from a nameless woman's journal. She's in some sort of convent with other women and a "God" no one ever sees, only hears. There are hints throughout the text that some end of the world events has happened and the world is in chaos. These women believe that through sacrifice and obedience they can become "Enlightened" and keep their little chunk of the world safe. Boy oh boy is there some real messed up stuff going on. It's very obvious to the reader that these women are in a cult, they're being manipulated. But there's also hints of mystical things that could mean maybe there's something to the miracles. (Honestly I don't believe that particular narrative)

Overall this is just bleak and messed up and sad and gross. And hesrt breaking, it went where I was suspecting it to go and it wasn't a satisfying "ah-ha I knew it!" moment. But after all that I didn't hate it. It's a good commentary on effects of climate change, the power religious zealotry can have on people and how women are used every damn day.