I wanted so much more from this. Tender the Flesh was disgusting and horrifying and I couldn’t look away. This was kind of… ordinary, and sort of boring. I think maybe I came in with too high expectations, and that’s on me.

5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley, Agustina Bazterrica, and Simon and Schuster for this ARC!

The Unworthy by Augustina Bazterrica is an apocolyptic/dystopian horror. One of the places to seek shelter is a covenant of nuns but it comes with a cost in order to shift to a worthy status within to become Enlightened. The plot of this book was interesting and I always felt an urge to know more about this religious cult. Augustina's ability to turn even grotesque and disturbing things lyrical with her writing style is just the whole cake every time!

TW: The Unworthy deals in Sexual abuse, sexual scenes, discriptive violence (including torture, and death). PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CHECK FULL LIST OF TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!

<i>The Unworthy</i> builds on Agustina Bazterrica’s previous work, particularly <i>Tender Is the Flesh</i>, in its ability to construct an all-encompassing, eerie atmosphere that lingers long after the final page. This time, she turns her unflinching gaze toward a world undone by environmental collapse, where faith has metastasized into something brutal and inescapable. <i>The Unworthy</i> unspools with suffocating intensity, blurring the line between devotion and indoctrination, safety and captivity. As the narrator’s belief system begins to fracture, the novel forces readers to interrogate the cost of survival in a world where power thrives on submission. Bazterrica masterfully unearths the psychological toll of repression, making every revelation feel like both a liberation and a horror. The novel doesn’t just ask what happens when the truth is uncovered—it demands we consider the consequences of seeing it too late. Bazterrica’s signature is her ability to make horror feel intimate, inescapable. <i>The Unworthy</i> is a claustrophobic fever dream where devotion and violence are indistinguishable, and where faith—like flesh—is something to be sacrificed. It pulses with dread, but also with aching humanity, exploring the fine line between belief and brainwashing, survival and complicity. Unsettling and deeply thought-provoking, this novel solidifies Bazterrica as a master of feminist dystopian horror.

<i>Thank you to the publishers and author for this e-arc!!</i>

"The truth is a sphere. We never see it whole, in its entirety. It slips down our throats, through our thoughts. The truth is changeable, it contracts, implodes, it’s powerful like a bullet. And it can be lethal."

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book is out now in the US.

Agustina Bazterrica’s The Unworthy is a fever dream of religious horror, a novella that burns with lyrical brutality. Told through the secret writings of an unnamed narrator, it unspools a world where faith is both refuge and terror, where women are categorized and mutilated in pursuit of divine purity, and where memory itself is a battleground. The House of the Sacred Sisterhood, ostensibly a sanctuary in the wake of an apocalyptic event, functions as a site of rigid religious hierarchy and grotesque violence. The narrator, desperate to be deemed worthy, documents her existence in stolen moments of defiance, her words pulsing with urgency, loss, and a fragile hope.

Bazterrica’s prose is hypnotic, swinging between fragmented recollection and poetic horror. The novel cultivates a suffocating, cult-like atmosphere, where belief is survival and doubt is a death sentence. The mantra—“Without faith, there is no refuge”—reverberates throughout, a chilling encapsulation of the Sisterhood’s philosophy. The narrator, classified as Unworthy, longs to ascend to the status of the Enlightened, fearing the disfigurement imposed on the Chosen. But as she uncovers the Sisterhood’s horrors, her faith fractures, and love becomes the catalyst for her ultimate act of rebellion.

The novella’s thematic weight is staggering, grappling with religious trauma, authoritarianism, and the erasure of self under oppression. Women’s bodies are controlled and punished, their autonomy sacrificed to an unnamed man’s divine decree and the Superior Sister’s ruthless enforcement. Language and memory are wielded as tools of both control and resistance; in writing, the narrator reclaims what has been stolen from her. The text pulses with questions of truth—what is real, what is myth, and how does faith warp perception?

Despite its bleakness, The Unworthy is not without tenderness. The narrator’s growing attachment to Lucía, a woman who enters the Sisterhood and quickly becomes a source of fascination and longing, injects the story with a quiet, aching intimacy. Their relationship is fleeting yet profound, an ember of humanity in an otherwise barren landscape. In the end, the narrator’s sacrifice is not just for Lucía’s survival but for the preservation of truth, her words a final act of defiance against oblivion.

This novella is eerie, reflective, and beautifully sapphic. Not everything makes sense, nor does it need to—its power lies in its atmosphere, its language, its ability to unsettle. Read it in one sitting, if you can, and let it haunt you.

📖 Read this if you love: religious horror, cult narratives, and feminist dystopias; I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman.

🔑 Key Themes: Religious Trauma and Control, Memory and Identity, Faith as Manipulation, Queerness and Forbidden Desire.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Blood (severe), Gore (severe), Torture (severe), Self Harm (minor), Confinement (minor), Murder (minor), Fire (minor), Misogyny (severe), Animal Death (moderate), Death of Parent (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Sexual Assault (moderate), Grief (moderate), Violence (severe).

Thanks to Scribner and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica. The plot deals with an unnamed protagonist living in a dystopian world where they are trapped in a brutal religious sect. The writing places the reader into the mindset of the protagonist via very erratic, very descriptive, and dark passages that narrate what goes on behind the walls of the sect. It allows for an easy and propulsive read as you race through the protagonist's quest for freedom from the sect. I absolutely loved the novel and think its timely message/warning should resonate with modern society.

A dystopian tale featuring a mysterious convent…yeah I didn’t need to hear much more to decide this one was a must read. This one was strange, which I mean as a compliment for the book. This one is gritty and dark, but in a way that readers can’t look away from. I was fully invested in understanding this world and what was going to happen in the end.

Generally speaking this book was beautiful and haunting, and i really loved the writing style of the author, but i also think this is my least favorite read for her. Even after the ending of the book, i really don't think i was as connected or had any emotional stakes as i did with "Tender is the Felsh" but none the less i sitll really enjoyed it. I wIll definitely recommend to others who enjoy religious horror.

3.75 ⭐️

This is a brutal, relentless dive into a dystopian world that feels all too real.

The story follows an unnamed female protagonist whose whole existence is one of survival and loss in a grim dystopian world. The writing is fragmented and sharp, mirroring the FMC’s fractured psyche, and her raw, chaotic life.

There is no mercy in this book. Every page is filled with suffering, violence, and degradation. And yet, it’s impossible to look away. The story forces us to confront systemic oppression and the arbitrary nature of who is deemed “worthy” in a broken and violent religious order. It’s unsettling and thought-provoking in the best (and worst) ways.

That being said, this is not a book for everyone. It is dark, uncomfortable, and offers no easy resolutions. The story will definitely linger with me long after the final page. Would I recommend it? Yes—but mostly to those who love a great disturbing dystopian story. It’s brutal, it’s devastating, and it’s great.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for the gift of this ARC.

I've read Agustina Bazterrica's novel Tender Is the Flesh, her short story collection Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, and now also her latest novel, The Unworthy, and it's clear that Bazterrica is a queen of vibe. Her worlds are unsettling, often downright disturbing, and that's the point. She's very deft at atmosphere and aesthetic. However, vibes along can't make up for a story that doesn't quite manage to stand on its own two feet. The routine spectable of shocking and sadistic atrocities committed against young women (often by other young women) in the name of religion throughout this book somewhat overshadows the fact that you don't really get anything of substance out of the narrative. This could have been a lot more fleshed out, and the characters more thoughtfully developed. Really, really love the vibe though!

As a huge fan of Tender Is the Flesh and several stories in Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, this was one of my most anticipated reads of this year.

While I love a short book, I think this one would have benefited from… more. I loved some elements such as the haunting atmosphere and the visceral flashbacks, but the story lacked a strong through line to give those elements more meaning.

I also struggled with the fragmented arc of the main character. Her change from cold and detached to magnanimous and noble, though obviously affected by Lucía, felt rushed.

That being said, the strongest part of this book is by far the relationship between the main character and Lucía. I would have liked to see more of it.

Though this wasn’t the slam dunk I thought it would be, I am looking forward to reading more from Bazterrica in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the eARC

Thank you the NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Writing a review for a book like this is extremely challenging. Overall, I don't have any solid complaints or enjoyments. The story is well written, it's just very dry and I think that's the authors point/ style. The book has a lot to say and shows the consequences of society not listening to one another and not believing the consequences of how we are living aka climate change and treatment of animals. I am glad I read this book, I don't think it will stick with me in a way I hoped it would. I am looking forward to hearing what others think of it, I think it would make a great group read which may enrich some conversation that may be difficult to dig up as a solo reader. In summary, this book will benefit from discussion because there is a lot there it just requires you to think on your own and explore meaning outside of the novel.

This book was exactly what I thought it would be like achingly beautiful yet disturbing. Just like tender of the flesh if you like to be disturbed but have beautiful writing at the same time I would definitely recommend this book. 10 out of 10 stars from me.

Thank you NetGalley for an early advanced copy of this book I loved every second of it!

My Selling Pitch:
Dystopian nunnery. I’d warn you that it’s a sex cult, but I didn’t wanna be redundant.

Pre-reading:
I liked Tender is the Flesh, but I wasn’t gagged over it.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
No, because ever since The Mummy bugs crawling into my head is one of my greatest fears in the entire world.

I didn’t know this was another dystopian book. Although to be fair, I didn't know anything about this book because I never read blurbs.

Why is it always cults? Why is it always a dude?

Oh shit, is this gay? (Very.)

I’m assuming it’s just whoever he wants as his sex slaves like-

Do you think the weird religious preoccupation with self flagellation is just because some sadist was the preacher and wanted to jizz his pants at how far he could convince people to go? Or do you think it’s some self harm devotee? Like which came first? Chicken and the egg and all that.

lugubrious

lucubration

cilice

You are hungry and I respect hunger. (Ninth House, the chokehold you have on me with this quote.)

Oh, she knows she’s a woman because they’ve fucked.

Kinda bored tbh

Oop there it is. This is just one big sex cult. The murdered girls are pregnant, no?

It’s very Manhunt.

Is Circe a cat or a person? (Cat)

Mutilated pussy by stabbing with a sorceress's name is JUST A BIT HEAVY HANDED THERE. But also fuck men. Fuck the patriarchy.

This book is such a rapey bummer, and I'm tired, grandpa.

I like how this book sidestepped the Catholic Church by being like no no, it’s a new religion while also sending a big fuck you to the Catholic Church.

Post-reading:
I love femme horror, but jesus christ, does it always have to be such a rapey bummer? Yes. Yes, it does. Maybe if it wasn’t so pervasive and such a universal experience we could do silly little ghost books like boys club horror.

I don’t know, man. It’s well written, but I think you open this book and can immediately guess what’s going on. The violence never feels gratuitous exactly. You’re just kind of resigned to it. Like oh, we’re doing one of those books. It doesn’t have much commentary to offer. It’s kind of like climate change is bad, men suck, religion is evil. And my problem always with these books is you are preaching that message to the choir. No one who doesn’t already believe that is picking up this book.

I do appreciate how this book sidestepped being canceled for railing against a certain poisonous religion, while also blatantly being like fuck your faith, you're enabling predatory men. I respect the audacity.

I don’t think it pushes the envelope enough. There’s one or two juicy quotes, but it needed something gripping to make this little novella memorable. It never made me wince, and I think both Manhunt and American Rapture do a better job with the same sort of themes. If you want the dystopian examination of gender and sexuality, you pick up Manhunt and try to survive it. If you want to grapple with religious hypocrisy, you pick up American Rapture. I don’t know if this book adds anything to the genre that I didn't already get in a better form from those two books.

It just felt a little rushed. We meandered around with nature descriptions a little too much. It got a little trauma bingo-y. It’s good. It’s not great, and I think if you wanna tackle something weighty, you really have to bring it.

Who should read this:
Religious commentary fans
Queer horror fans
Manhunt fans

Ideal reading time:
Spring

Do I want to reread this:
I think I'll just remember it.

Would I buy this:
Yes? It’s not a you should rush out and buy this full price, but if you see it on sale, it’s worth picking up.

Similar books:
* Manhunt by Gretchen Felker Martin-same book, different font dystopian queer horror
* American Rapture by C. J. Leede-dystopian horror, religious commentary
* Private Rites by Julia Armfield-dystopian horror, queer, cults, religious commentary


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another marvelously dark offering from Bazterrica. A dystopian horror set in a convent in the near-future, this short novel probably raises more questions than it answers, but the story is compelling, the narrator not entirely likeable and the writing is top notch.

I really enjoyed this book. Throughout most of it I found it so tantalizing and I wanted more-- more details about what had happened to the world, more information about the strange belief system ("religion?") in the convent. However once I finished the novel I realized it was perfect. The narrator didn't have language to explain all that had happened to her, and the strange rituals are far more powerful when they are hinted at and your have to use your imagination. I found this book riveting, dreamlike, and heartbreaking. It was great!

I have been thinking about "Tender is the Flesh" since I read it, so I was excited to pick this up. This one didn't compel me as much as the former, but there were moments of beautiful prose. Ultimately, I found it so bleak that I didn't want to reach for it, but I was curious to see where it would go. I wish there were more romance or human connection or action, but the setting and world was extremely well-realized.

First, I’d like to give thanks for receiving a digital copy of this book. This is the second book I’ve read by Agustin’s Bazterrica, and there’s some parallels of my experience between reading The Unworthy and Tender is the Flesh. Although I enjoyed it, as it was a quick read with disturbing elements, I can’t help to think that I’m reading an outline of ideas that were not fleshed out to its maximum capacity. Bazterrica’s writing has an excellent way of expressing dystopian futures filled with desecration, isolation, and violence only to leave the reader wanting more. I wish the story would take its time exploring its timeline and elaborating on its concepts instead of springing between future/present/past scenes.
Some disturbing scenes would carry more meaning and be more impactful if it would take its time developing its climax, there’s so many parts where the writing was moving so fast that disturbing scenes didn’t affect me as much as I thought.
I appreciate short books but I think some stories just need to take its time and consequently be longer. This is exactly how I felt about Tender is the Flesh.
Sidenote: at this point, where the amount of media we are exposed to throughout the years is infinite, I think It’s time all authors hang up the traumatic dead cat/dog trope.

Final thoughts: It was a good story, but the pacing is so fast there’s no time to fully savor it. I wish this could’ve been longer, expanded on the effects of AI, pollutants, social decline, all leading to the dystopian “religious” cult where our main protagonist ends up.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

In The Unworthy, we follow the life of a woman living in a convent, secretly writing her story, after the world has been ravaged by war and nature. When a mysterious newcomer shows up, our main character suddenly begins remembering her past and everything in it, and seeing her present more clearly.

I enjoyed the almost lyrical quality of the text. I thought the author did a good job presenting the mind of someone who has bought into a cult's teachings, and has joined the hive mind. I also liked seeing glimpses of the MC's humanity and rebelliousness versus the behavior and thoughts she had learned while at the House of the Sacred Sisterhood. The contempt the MC shows for the "false god" was amusing.

I enjoyed the pacing of the book and thought the point at which the MC's past was weaved in was good timing; it was far enough in that it didn't overwhelm the story but not so far that we forgot about it.

I recommend this book. It has mild horror elements, some mystery elements, and dystopian elements.

In this new short novel we go to a different location, ruined already by climate disaster “allegedly” and where we find our main character “safe” in a refuge call the Sacred Sisterhood, where you guessed it, lives a cult of women; here’s a brutal and sadistic hierarchy where they label them between Unworthy and Enlightened, and they have to endure very strict rules and punishments.

Our narrator documents all of this in a form of diary, where she reminisces about the life she had before all of this happened, while going through this a new member arrives and with her comes a new opportunity to escape from this madness.

I loved Bazterrica’s writing style in Tender is The Flesh, and this follows that same path with all the graphic violence that characterizes her, but i would’ve love to have more of it’s background story, a lot of it is not very well explained and left to the imagination but in these kind of scenarios i feel like the world building could’ve been more detailed and of course the whole book could’ve been a little bit longer, but still i enjoy it a lot.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy in exchange of an honest review. This book is out now so you can go get it and enjoy it too.

Rating: 3.5 stars

If I could rate this a 4.5 I would! The only reason why I removed the .5 was due to the fact I was left wanting more!!! I feel like this novel could eventually have a second series or a mini novella diving more into the whole Sacred Sisterhood and its true behind the scenes accounts.

I loved every second of this! As I was reading each page all I could think about was the movie "Immaculate" . Truly a mind bending horror book as we are essentially reading the recorded notes from our main character. As you continue through the story it stops and starts at different times as she needs to hid to record her life using anything as ink and hidden from view (from poisonous fruits, left over ink and even blood).

Super excited to share the short story to my friends and family! Another piece of art from Agustina! <3