I am a huge fan of Bazterrica's work and was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read this via netgalley.

As expected, this book is bleak, disturbing and hauntingly beautiful and will not be easily forgotten.

Much more subtle than Tender is the flesh but still as disturbing. It's a dystopian vision with similarities to the handmaids tale.
The world has been ravaged due to climate change and our unnamed narrator has found shelter in a convent. There are strict rules and they are governed by a truly evil sister, who delights in carrying out horrendous punishments on the girls.

The story is presented as being written by one of the unworthy, she writes with stolen ink, blood or dirt.
Because of how it is written, none of the characters feel like they have any depth and whilst reading about the horrors inflicted on these girls is disturbing it's hard to feel anything more than that. I understand the way it's written portrays how the narrator has detached any feelings to what is happening and is documenting what she sees. However it made me feel far less empathetic and I felt the events in the later part of the book had less affect.

This is an extremely beautifully written, bleak look at the future. It will stay with me for a long time but it falls short of the masterpiece that is Tender Is The Flesh.

Wow, what a whirlwind. This little book contains so much and is quite hard to define. It’s dark, very much so, but weirdly beautiful and intensely readable. The language is gorgeous and the world is cruelly seductive. Not for the faint of heart but I really, really enjoyed it. A recommendation for those wanting to be a little disturbed, but want a book that keeps them asking questions. Daring, tragic, and stunning to the last word.

Obssessed! As I knew I would be! Deliciously dark and almost seductive I will never get over this authors writing style. Jaw dropping!

A dystopian read with a cult like feel and overtones of religion. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand it is dark and tense and certainly creepy in places, but also not very much develops and the ending is frustratingly open too.

Dystopian and post-apocalyptic, we read the diaries of one unworthy in a brutal world.
How much of it is fantastic? I am unsure.
My reading experience went as follows: I enjoyed the gripping writing in the opening, but was afraid that the themes and plot would be similar to a couple of books I had read. Then the next chapterish started to establish a new and fresh world and I stayed up to read more. Then when I came to the middle, I felt a bit disappointed, misled and confused. Also, the writing style that sustained my attention earlier started to feel repetitive.
i wish there were more plot and worldbuilding/lore. I cared little about the narrator after the middle, and rather wanted to know more about the past and her future.

WOW—I really enjoyed this book. The concept, albeit not wholly original, gripped me from start to finish. The format is very unique, however. Knowing that chapters could finish mid-sentence and the idea that the protagonist was rushing to get her words down came across well. The unravelling of the story also had me questioning what was real, especially the idea that the world was in a post-apocalyptic state. At times, I didn't know whether I could fully trust the protagonist and I couldn't put the book down for this reason. The ending of the book felt a little rushed to me, but it left me wanting more, which I don't see as a negative thing.

Since reading Tender Is The Flesh, I have wanted something to scratch the itch it left me with. Despite the concept in this book lacking the same originality TITF had, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I connected with the characters and could envision the world and location in which the story is set. I am really looking forward to any future publications made by Agustina Bazterrica. The Unworthy was certainly a four-star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for providing me with an ARC copy of this book.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Pushkin Press for granting me access to their English version of this book. As a huge fan of Agustina's works, I usually read her writings in Spanish, so when the opportunity arose to enjoy this English version, I seized it without hesitation. Her writing is undeniably brutal, gory, and raw, appealing to those with a strong constitution. This book did not disappoint; I absolutely loved it, and it was definitely worth the read.

I'll read anything by Agustina Bazterrica and Tender Is the Flesh is one of the best books I've ever read. The Unworthy, similarly, is a dark, bleak and interesting read, but not as good. It starts very slowly and I wish there was more world-building and character development. We know the story is set in an convent, in a futuristic and dystopian world, but otherwise we're not told much - and there was so much potential! I love Bazterrica's writing / Sarah Moses's translation, and I still enjoyed parts of it, but ultimately there's not that much to the story apart from bleak and disturbing scenes written in an almost poetic way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for providing me with an ARC!

3 stars!


The main reason I have given this 3 stars is for the writing. Truly again was just something that I really liked but for the story and plot I just could not get in to the way I thought I would. I don't mind being kept in the dark in what is happening at first and then it gradually builds up more context as we go but sometimes more context with this would truly have helped. But again, the writing is great!

This was a fantastically immersive, propulsive and chilling book. I absolutely love Bazterrica’s writing style and found the plot unsettling but very addictive. Following a cult-like community in the aftermath of an apocalyptic climate catastrophe, the novel questions human interactions, desperation, love, faith and violence in the face of a world crumbling apart. I can only recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I didn't really enjoy 'Tender is the Flesh' by this author, but I absolutely loved 'The Unworthy'.

The writing style is very similar, being quite punchy and blunt, but this feels a bit more rambly which gave more depth to the narrator.

This book spirals more and more out of control, with some elements of magical realism and horror, and by the end the story is so bleak.

I would highly recommend this book, especially if you did not necessarily enjoy the authors previous work.

*4.25

If I believed that Bazterrica had already pushed the boundaries of dystopian horror with Tender is The Flesh , The Unworthy elevates it even further. Here, Bazterrica plunges us into a bizarre dystopian realm governed by religious authoritarianism. It’s gory, dark, and utterly addictive.

Bazterrica offers no explanations; she places her trust in us to piece together the unfolding drama, giving just enough fragments to construct our understanding. The world as we know it has vanished: Notre Dame has burned down, Chartres Cathedral has been ravaged in countless wars, Westminster Abbey and the entire United Kingdom lie submerged, and oral history recounts that "in some countries, electricity was cut to halt the advance of artificial intelligence, its burgeoning power, independence, and desire to dominate its creator. After the final blackout, the world never recovered, rebuilt, or restarted, as nature delivered a new wave of devastation."

Amid this chaos, our nameless protagonist is born. In her struggle for survival, she finds refuge within a zealous religious community—“without faith, there is no refuge”—populated by Diaphanous Spirits, the Enlightened, and Minor Saints. They engage in rituals in the Chapel of Ascension and are punished in the Tower of Silence. The story unfolds through our nameless main character’s perspective, expressed in whatever materials she can find: discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood - many of the words appeared crossed out on the page, a detail that I loved it. As a lower-tier member of the Sacred Sisterhood, labeled “unworthy,” she longs to ascend to the ranks of the Enlightened within this hierarchical enclave, where only a select few endure.

As our main character navigates this bizarre, seemingly female-dominated community—immersed in their sadomasochistic practices—the arrival of Lucía sparks a moment of hope for them. Through their romantic relationship, we catch glimpses of humanity and possibility.

Bazterrica has crafted a world that eerily mirrors what our reality could become if we neglect our planet and each other. There’s a chilling sense that this could be our future if we fail to take action and allow totalitarianism to take root. Curiously, the novel took me back to Pasolini’s film Sodoma e Gomorra. It’s definitely a worthwhile read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the arc.

Anyone who read Tender is the Flesh knows that reading book by Agustina Bazterrica is an undertaking not to be underestimated - and is therefore, I would hope, going into reading this knowing the dark and dusty door they've crowbarred open..

The Unworthy is no exception. I love a post apocalyptic book, I really do. I love the grim lack of hope, the dark helplessness of new beginnings from the ashes - but wow, does this book NOT hold back. The loss of any glimmer of hope in this book is tantamount to claustrophobic and set within a strange convent that offers an uneasy respite from broken world outside.

The story is a covert one, written in the blood of a woman who is a member of the Sacred Sisterhood. It extolls horror and cruelty as well as religious hysteria and almost occultist themes.

Too much more than that would be a spoiler of one of the many layers of this book, that when peeled back uncovers the next rotten layer.

Read this book to be challenged, emotionially and lexicologically. It is not a stroll in the park, unless that park is in darkness and strewn with barbed wire and broken glass. And you are blindfolded. My mind is blown and my hopes dashed after reading The Unworthy - in all the write ways! Bravo!

3.5 This book is absolutely terrifying. But I really hated the format. The stream of consciousness, journaling was really hard for me to follow or get in to. HOWEVER! This book is definitely scary so if you can get down with the format, I think you’ll love it.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
This was an enchanting, eerie reading that somehow reminded me of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, mostly because of how lost the reader feels. The narrator was amazing, the way the chapters were suddenly cut made it very easy for the reader to understand the fear the main character was feeling and the story was presented with the perfect rhythm and mystery.
I understand that it could become kind of repetitive for some readers, but I found that the ‘routine’ in the protagonist’s life was necessary to understand her surroundings. I must confess, however, that I found the body horror and trauma scenes quite triggering, and they are a big part of the narrative. The hopelessness can (and possibly will) bleed through the pages, so I would not recommend the book if you’re looking for some kind of escapism.
To sum up, a very good reading but not a ‘pleasant’ one, something that could be expected from the writer of Tender is the Flesh.

After finding tender is the flesh to be a 5 star I had set this author to my insta buy authors list and I was really disappointed in this one. I felt like I didn't know what was going on through a lot of this and just found myself not wanting to pick it up.

The Unworthy is about a religious order of cloistered women - a sort of pyramid scheme of self-sacrifice in the hope of becoming “enlightened”. As a reader, we pry into the disturbed thoughts of a low ranking “unworthy” woman, reading her diary written in … well whatever she can get her hands on. The outside world has fallen to ruin, but inside the walls, the women are "safe". Unfortunately, their idea of safety has been skewed by a lifetime of horrors, and the women are quite used to the abhorrent rituals demanded by "Him". That's just how things are. Until a new "unworthy" arrives and jars their reality.

This book has one of the best villains I've read in a while - The Superior Sister. She’s the absolute WORST ❤️‍🔥

p.s. The body horror and trauma is A LOT in this book. It is v dark. Please check the CWs.

I will obviously be purchasing this book when it come out in March - I loved it.

While I loved how the author handled the theme of religious abuse in this book, I wish the book had been longer as the revelations towards the end felt kind of rushed to me.

Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy.

This book was unlike anything I've ever ready. Dystopian, sapphic, horrifying and compelling. I couldn't really put it down!

The world is in dying, a religious sect are trying to appease their God through sacrifice and flagellation but all is not as it seems.

A terrifying look into violence against women at the hands of the cult learder and Superior Sister.

Soul destroying and hopeless. Do not read if you're in a dark place but do read when you're up to it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. 4.5 stars.

what an exciting read! really enjoyed reading this one— was just in the right mood for it. thank you so much for this e-arc!