Very gruesome and gory (what did I expect from this author) thought this was a powerful compelling story, however i didn't enjoy the animal abuse but that's my only complaint and it's not really a complaint just my preference! Overall this was another gut punch horror that had heavy themes

The Unworthy - Agustina Bazterrica
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Okay, Tender Is The Flesh & Nineteen Claws & a Black Bird were fabulous! This one fell flat to me.

Started off really strong, religion / cults
I liked that I was kind of confused while reading & didn’t really know what was going on.
I did not like how anticlimactic the ending was. ☹️

I love this author & I will read everything she publishes. 🖤

Blurb:
“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.”

Thank you @Netgalley, @agustina & @scribner for this ARC. I was over the moon when I was approved for this one! 🖤

Publication date: March 04 2025

#review #bookreview #arc #arcreview #netgalley #bookish #readmore #readmorebooks #cults #dystopia

I'm sorry I found this book to be incredibly boring. For such a short read it took way to long to get through. It didn't reel me in at all.

I've read Tender is the Flesh so I was hoping that this would be on that level and it fell flat.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars--

This is some truly disturbing feminist horror. I still haven't gotten around to reading Tender Is the Flesh, but it's been on my to-read list for ages. So I was very excited to get an ARC of the author's newest book, The Unworthy. And it was just as fucked-up as I'd hoped. In the best possible way.

The Unworthy takes place in a violent, fanatical cult secluded from a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by environmental and societal collapse. The unworthy are all women. They are given refuge and enough food to live, but are subjected to intense violence and control. Only by being Chosen or Enlightened will they gain greater comforts within the community. However, the Enlightened and the mysterious "He," who leads the cult, are never seen by the Unworthy. Violating the rules, our nameless narrator writes down her thoughts and experiences, sometimes in her own blood. The reader gradually learns more about this gruesome religious order, as well as the narrator's recollections of the world beyond, and it's all stomach-twisting.

Unsettling and grotesque, The Unworthy is a short but intense read.

Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

HOLY MOTHER OF *#^%*. And when I say Holy Mother, of course I’m referring to Agustina Bazterrica Patron Saint of Horror. Tender is the Flesh is a unique and horrifying story blessed upon us from Bazterrica and The Unworthy is truly worthy of standing right next to Tender in the hall of fame of fucked up-ness.

The Unworthy takes us on a journey of total cataclysms and what can stem from that complete destruction. Think, the worst religious cult that stems from a decimated world, a true apocalypse and you just start to scratch the story of The Unworthy.

I don’t want to delve too deeply into the plot but surprisingly this was a story of love. If you read this you may be thinking I’m completely batshit by saying that, but stay with me. What happens when you lose complete hope in everything including humanity? The full rot and desolation of humanity is on full, sickening display here but is also the thing that may well save us all.

We get a disturbing display of events written in the blood of one of our “unworthy” and while there’s about one singular character who is likeable, the desperation and total destruction has you begging for any glimmer of hope. Bazterrica withholds and withholds, but I do have to say it felt like relief finishing this short novel. There are certain authours that change your DNA with their writing and just like Tender is the Flesh, this story will stick with me, whether I like it or not, forever.

“Without faith, there is no refuge.”
I knew from the moment I picked this up I was going to love it. Haunting and absolutely perfect. One of the best dystopian horror I have read.

I wanted to love this book as much as I loved Tender is the Flesh but it just didn’t get there for me. Im not saying it was bad because it wasn’t. It just didn’t grab my attention and keep it like her other book. I can definitely see this being an amazing book for other people but it wasn’t for me

This one was such a wild ride and I absolutely devoured it. I have yet to read Bazterrica’s other books but they are now at the top of my list.

The Unworthy is perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Handmaid’s Tale. The world has devolved into chaos and just about everyone remaining is feral from their struggle to survive. Our narrator lives “safely” in a women’s convent, serving some vague higher powers.

This one is gruesome and perfect. Preorder now if you love body horror, cults, and dystopian worlds!!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the eARC of this unhinged title!**

4 stars--I really liked it. Content warnings for sexual and animal violence.

Wow. Bazterrica doesn't have much hope for the earth's future, does she? First cannibalism, now complete ecological catastrophe and water wars. (She's probably right.)

I liked this better than her first famous book, Tender Is the Flesh, though there are similarities (mostly the despairing tone). This was brief and intense, all the horror concentrated into a few scenes. The world is nightmarish, with relationships and nature being the only glimpses of hope.

Truly upsetting, in the best way.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

Imagine if The Handmaid's Tale happened during the apocalypse. You'd have "The Unworthy," which features strong female characters who'll do anything to survive.


I was instantly hooked by the premise of this book — an apocalyptic book involving a secretive cult surviving the end of days? Sign me up.

But as soon I got into it, I realized this book was so much more than simple woe and despair. It invokes powerful, potent storytelling and fervent language to weave a world that feels alive.

The main character, who goes unnamed throughout the novel — perhaps representative of the everyday woman — pens her memoir at night in forbidden inks. She’s a member of a religious cult that only accepts female members. But this isn’t a convent full of Jesus-praising nuns. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The women are controlled with torture and pain, and the more they can inflict upon others, the more respect and honor they gain.

While this might sound less-than-ideal, it’s one of the only choices for these women in an apocalyptic world where natural resources are slim. There’s nowhere else to go. And so she feeds into this life, falling prey to the hate and the jealousy that govern everyday interactions in this place.

The moments she captures are scattered, and sometimes fleeting, but the overall effect is like a person pouring out their soul. There isn’t much in the way of plot, so if you don’t like wandering narratives, this won’t be your favorite. But if you allow yourself to buckle in and slip into our narrator’s life, then you’ll feel her pain, her sorrow, her lust. She is both physically and emotionally trapped, haunted by her memories and disgusted in her waking hours.

In this place, pleasure and happiness are forbidden. While the women have a safe and comfortable existence, it’s not really living if you can’t be your true self.

Then, everything changes. But you’ll have to read to find out what I mean.

I love the visceral, biting language that comes from a translation. Foreign authors have a unique way of turning language into colorful melodies, and translating their words creates true magic. Even though the prose in this book is English, it feels otherworldly, with combinations of words and phrases I’ve never seen before, or even thought of.

But for me, I think something that’s getting lost in translation is the meaning behind the words. I think it’s clear the author is using these women and their confinement as a metaphor for something, but the cultural disconnect made it a little hard for me to connect the dots. At least, we’ll say it’s that and not that it all went over my head.

Here’s my take. In this cult, there are different levels. As part of the unworthy, our narrator constantly strives to be chosen as one of the Chosen — or better yet, one of the Enlightened. This constant desire for more is what keeps them all under control. Their insatiable appetites to ascend keep them strictly under the thumb of Superior Sister and the mysterious He. He is never named, but I’m assuming He’s a symbol for the patriarchy — for the man who pits women against each other and laughs as they fall under his control.

Whatever the true meaning of this tale, I’m glad I read it. It was a journey of self-discovery, loss, and the struggle for genuine connection that felt like a true glimpse into the human experience.

The Unworthy was compelling and chilling. In the beginning, the reader feels unmoored, but as the story progresses details about this horrific convent in this dystopian world are slowly revealed. The Sapphic romance propels the story forward and helps flesh out the narrator. This would be a good read for fans of Margaret Atwood.

So, with the world going as it is, I probably shouldn't have read this book. However, I am glad I did, and while it was based on Argentina, it very well could have been the USA. This is a dystopian novel about a woman in a convent, considered unworthy. She doesn't remember how she got there, but the world outside is falling apart. When a stranger enters the convent, the two women talk about things, and the woman in the convent starts to make some realizations. This book was gruesome yet necessary. I devoured the book and may need therapy. Jk.

The Unworthy is so unsettling. The reader is dropped in the middle of a dystopian world with no real context of what is going on. Our narrator has found refuge in the House of the Sacred Sisterhood and is recording her story as it is happening. There are eerie context that something is happening outside that the Sisterhood is hiding and possibly also things hidden within. The atmosphere of the whole novel is very suppressive and there are never really any answers given as to what is happening and what is going to happen. If you are a fan of concrete worldbuilding, this novel is not for you. This novel is for a specific reader who loves the unknown and tries to find meaning in it. I loved this novel and found it was a great follow up to Tender is the Flesh.

{waiting to review until 2 weeks prior to pub date per publisher's request :) have already read though, so submitting this in the meantime so my feedback ratio is accurate. i don't want to be denied for additional titles due to the pub's specific request! will be back to review and update accordingly!}

Actual Rating: 2.75/5

Augustina Bazterrica’s The Unworthy dives into a grim, dystopian world that evokes strong reactions from the start. The narrative centers on a sadistic nun who documents her experiences with stolen ink—and sometimes even her own blood—hinting at a setting steeped in cruelty, ritual, and manipulation. The protagonist is surrounded by fellow nuns who display a similar level of sadism, all seemingly devoted to a mysterious “He”, whose identity and purpose are left largely ambiguous, adding to the ominous atmosphere.

Bazterrica sketches out a stratified order within this secluded compound, where only select young women are allowed to live in “safety” from the horrors of the decimated outside world. Divided by apparent divine abilities, the “Chosen” undergo mutilations as part of their spiritual journey. Each sacrifice underlines their mantra: without faith, there is no refuge. The ritualistic violence within the compound feels both harsh and evocative; though the book offers only fleeting glimpses of the broader world and its struggles, they often insinuate their walls offer a better place than the alternative.

There’s an inescapable sense that The Unworthy—and, in fact, Bazterrica’s work as a whole—straddles a line between dystopian fiction and a genre that challenges readers’ comfort levels. As with Tender is the Flesh, the experience of reading feels less like a journey of enjoyment and more akin to self-punishment. While it’s difficult to call the book “enjoyable”, it’s undeniably reflective, leaving readers to dwell on humanity’s darker impulses and the grim possibilities of structured fanaticism and global collapse.

The Unworthy is a short book that ends abruptly, which may leave some readers feeling that the story was cut short. While there are moments of truly beautiful writing and imagery, the stark brutality and desolate tone will make it a challenging read for many, including myself. For those seeking thought-provoking and dismal fiction, Bazterrica’s work will resonate; for others, The Unworthy may feel unsettlingly bleak without enough payoff to revisit.

This ARC book was provided to me by NetGalley and Scribner, and for that I am extremely grateful.

Incredible to be so vile and bleak while written so poetically but if anyone has the ability to do it, it’s gonna be Agustina Bazterrica in all her literary genius. For the people coming to this book after enjoying Tender Is The Flesh, you are in for a very different wild ride through a post apocalyptic religious cult society. Despite these differences, let Bazterrica keep you on your toes for this one. You’ll love it!

Massive thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for the e-ARC!

It’s been a long time since a novel tackled the “reproductive apocalypse” genre in a way that I think holds a candle to handmaid’s tale. This one for sure does that. I think it adds more humanity to the characters in examining the ways they fall
into the evil of the system they’re stuck in - hurting each other and hurting themselves. Being brave comes at a price and despite what has happened, you can still do something right worth doing. Not as gory or as fleshed out as Tender is the Flesh but I think it’s hard to hold a candle to such a strong book. Absolutely worth checking out when it releases in March.

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica - A Test of Reader's Patience

While "The Unworthy" presents an intriguing premise about societal collapse and human nature within a cultish group of nuns, its execution proves challenging. Despite being only 192 pages, the novel feels significantly longer due to its meandering prose and frequent diversions from the main narrative.

Those unfamiliar with Bazterrica's "Tender is the Flesh" may find themselves particularly tested by her writing style here. The prose often feels like wandering through a linguistic maze, with paragraphs stretching into philosophical musings and tangential observations that interrupt the flow of the central story.

The narrative's momentum is constantly undermined by these stylistic choices. Just as the plot builds tension, readers are pulled away into lengthy passages that seem to exist more for their own sake than for advancing the story. For readers who prefer their dystopian fiction to maintain a clearer sense of purpose and direction, "The Unworthy" might prove to be more exhausting than enlightening.

I desperately wanted a review copy of this book because of how much I loved Tender Is the Flesh. And while I did not love The Unworthy as much as that one, it definitely stands on its own amongst its dystopian peers.

Ecological disaster has caused humanity to fall and those who have survived are seeking protection and solace anywhere they can. Our protagonist scribbles out her story using anything she can find - ink, dirt, her own blood - in the hopes that someone may find it in the future and understand what she and the other women cloistered away with her in the Sacred Sisterhood had to endure for their continued survival.

As an Unworthy, she witnesses and is sometimes forced to participate in unspeakable religious rituals that are meant to cleanse, humiliate, torture, and (when push comes to shove) unalive others under the supervision of The Superior Sister and some mysterious man they hear but never see. She does her best to fly under the radar, generally avoiding the wrath of her peers and the ultimate bodily mutilation when one is chosen to ascend into the higher ranks.

Yet when a stranger claws her way through the convent walls, our narrator willingly puts herself at risk in the face of their growing friendship, and begins to seriously question the things that are going on under the roof of the Sisterhood, most especially with what's taking place behind the locked door where the Enlightened are kept.

A bleak, bizarre, brutal, violent, cultish religious existence in which everything is worse than it first appears, The Unworthy pokes and prods at you, testing your tolerance. It starts off rather curiously, and once it has your attention, begins to dig its nails in, pinching and scratching, relentlessly picking at the sore spot, watching patiently until you begin to reach your breaking point, and then it pounces, going straight for jugular.

This novella was incredibly raw and beautiful. I loved that though it was about the social effects of a sort of apocalypse, it wasn’t the center of the plot. Instead the plot focused more on the characters, which made the character interactions more impactful. I was incredibly impressed with this book!
At first i didn’t know if the words struck out were on purpose, or because it was a “rough draft” but as the book went on i understood more. I think i would’ve been less confused had i been reading a physical copy, that the strikes would have translated better.
Highly recommend!