*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

The Unworthy is a strange and unnerving read about a woman cloistered in a secretive religious order, against the backdrop of a catastrophic dystopian world. It’s dark, mysterious, brutal and bleak, with frequent descriptions of torture and violence making this very intense throughout. Bazterrica provides insightful commentary around power structures, gender, climate crises and humanity, through shocking horror that pulls no punches.

Although I enjoyed the themes, I feel like too much was left unsaid, and I wanted more context to fully engage with what was happening. The narrative was confusing at times and also slightly detached, which was brilliant for creating a believably isolating dystopian atmosphere, but did make me less engaged with the action. The creation of a world of depraved humanity and desolation was skilfully executed, however, but I just wanted a bit more characterisation.

That being said, it was just as messed up as Tender is the Flesh, so if you’re here for the “wtf” vibes then you need to add this to your list asap. It’s horrific, bleak and utterly memorable, perfect for anyone who loves weird and unnerving dystopian horror.

Thank you to Pushkin Press for the NetGalley arc!

I really had to force myself to finish this. The world building leaves a lot to be desired, with several different roles in the cult but not really any purpose for them. Full auras and diaphonous saints, servants and unworthy and superior sisters and virtually no explanation for any of the cult workings. Just a lot of cruel bitchy women ruled by one other and a single male character that they never see.
If you've ever read a cult novel you can guess the entire plot, only this time you can be confused and slightly bored for just under 200 pages. Oh but also this is a post apocalyptic cult. What happened to the world? Just pick your poison from the paragraph of vague possibilities tossed in.

Unfortunately I could not get into this at all. I love horror/literary fiction however the writing in The Unworthy is muddled and at times unreadable due to the wandering narrative.

LES INDIGNES de AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA

🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳/5
____ On est dans ce roman dans un monde dystopique ou celles qu'on nomme les indignes vivent sous la menace de leur soeur supérieure et espèrent rejoindre les illuminées sans savoir ce que ce nouveau rang va leur apporter. Les choses vont évoluer lorsque arrive une nouvelle : Lucia. Et j'ai absolument adoré ce livre. J'ai pensé a la servante écarlate sur certains points. Cette histoire m'a complètement transporté, j'étais HYPER attachée aux personnages que ce soit la personnage principale qui nous conte son recit ou Lucia. Et j'ai adoré l'histoire d'amour qui est dépeinte dans ce récit, je l'ai trouvé très belle. Attention, je vous préviens, ce récit n'est pas pour les âmes sensibles. La encore, Agustina Bazterrica n'a pas fait dans la dentelle, on y trouve des scènes très très dures et des thématiques difficiles. Et qui plus est, on est dans un univers où il y'a vraiment tres peu d'espoir. Je ne sais pas si j'peux le conseiller a tout le monde parce que je sais qu'il y'a beaucoup de personnes l'ayant lu qui reprochent a ce livre le fait qu'il n'y ait pas assez d'explications données sur le contexte. Mais moi j'ai adoré ce roman.

“The Unworthy” by Agustina Bazterrica is an absolutely haunting read that left me reeling. The writing is sharp and unflinching, drawing you into a world that’s as thought provoking as it is unsettling. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, challenging your perspective on power, morality, and survival. Brutal, brilliant, and completely unforgettable.

I loved Tender is the Flesh and enjoyed the short story collection that this author put out, but unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I couldn’t get into it at all and kept getting lost in regards to what was going on.

The Unworthy is about a post-apocalyptic cult called the Sacred Sisterhood, led by an unnamed (male, of course) leader. The lowest ranked members of this cult, the unworthy, spent their time jostling — often quite cruelly and violently — for advantages in the hopes it’ll raise them up. You can probably already guess at the reveal that comes in the last few pages of the book, but, in the book itself, we’re in the mind of an indoctrinated young girl, so let us forgive the obviousness of that one.

Generally, this is a book I enjoyed and, as is usually the case with 3 star reads, I don’t have a huge amount to say about it. The storyline, despite being predictable, was compelling enough that I didn’t want to put the book down, and I was pleasantly surprised by the lesbian relationship. It was, also, pretty neat to be reading a character who was, shall we say, Not Good. She could be sadistic and cruel and she revelled in it. She was memorable, to say the least.

This isn’t horror in the scare-your-pants-off sense. I would say, on a sliding scale, it’s more gothic than outright horrifying. When the stranger arrives at the convent, only then does the protagonist start to become aware of the twistedness of her world and memories of her previous life begin to return. That’s the horror of this one, the ease with which these characters topple into a sadistic power struggle.

So, while I merely liked this one, I think it’s still one I’d recommend for everyone to pick up. It’s a short read, but one that will leave you with a chill running down your spine.

As she has become known for, there are some wonderful passages in The Unworthy. Haunting, dark and mysterious, they are enough to give life to a story that feels, unfortunately, decidedly formulaic. While it was engaging, Bazterrica's unique style and prose, the dystopian convent angle is somewhat tired, and there is nothing in the narrative to really set this apart. A skilled author, but a plot lacking substance.

I have a soft spot for dystopian thrillers that drip feeds information to their readers slowly. I have not read Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, but I have heard good things so I was excited to read The Worthy.

Set in a dystopian world, the convent of the Sacred Sisterhood, a woman writes in her cell at night. She is torn between wanting to become Enlightened but worried at the price that this will cost as she sees her sisters mutilated and punished around her.

Although a relatively short book, The Unworthy takes its time to unveil its secrets to the readers. We have to hold our disbelief about this convent and its many rules and its grim and disturbing punishments, until truths about the outside world are slowly revealed to us. The book does get quite gory and gruesome in places, but it makes for an interesting and different read.

This book is translated into English by Sarah Moses, who also translated Tender is the Flesh. The translation feels really well done - the prose flows well and the imagery is beautiful. It didn’t actually feel like it had been translated, which is the highest compliment!

I think the ending might divide readers, but it did tie everything together. There are messages in here about the patriarchy and the environment and a possible path that humanity could slide down, given the smallest of pushes. It also shows a darker side to the sisterhood, with women competing against each other to gain favour with the men, as well as what people will do with smallest amount of power. Although I haven’t read Tender is the Flesh, I have now added it to my TBR!

Overall, The Unworthy is a powerful and gruesome read but it’s beautiful, flowing prose will have you hooked. Thank you to NetGalley & Pushkin Press for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a book! ‘Tender is the Flesh’ was such a sucker-punch in all the best ways, I really wasn’t sure how (or even if) you’d follow that up. But ‘The Unworthy’ is haunting and horrific in a whole different way. A dystopian world, not too dissimilar to where we find ourselves in Tender, where there’s a climate crisis, the animals are dying, we’ve tumbled into lawlessness.

‘The Unworthy’ slowly reveals this world to you piece by piece. It requires you to put in work to weave it all together. It moves relatively quickly, but has this feeling of slowness due to how much work you’re putting in yourself.

There’s a lot I still don’t understand about this book. We find ourselves in a convent - but it’s unlike any conventional religion. A man, a physical human man (presumably), is god and only women are allowed to stay in the convent. Alarm bells ringing yet?

I really enjoyed seeing the sapphic representation in this one. And alongside this, seeing Lucia become more human and more relatable throughout the story. So much is stuffed into this short novel.

I’ll almost definitely read this again to get more out of it. On the first take, it feels like a commentary on femininity, false news, controlled states and how hierarchical structures impose violence on ‘lower’ individuals. At it’s heart is the power love can grant you - the desire to look beyond the curtain and bring down systems put in place to control us.

The vibe here is "what If Jean Rollin had directed an adaptation of A Canticle For Leibovitz?", which to be fair is a brilliant idea, but the execution is a bit too ploddy and uninteresting for me. It's a short book, but nonetheless it feels a bit like walking through treacle and became an endurance test to finish. Great as a way to exemplify the limited and constrained lives of these women, not so much fun to read. I really loved Tender Is The Flesh, but this one missed the mark for me.

Yet another incredible book from Agustina Bazterrica! We follow an unnamed woman as she finds herself trapped in a convent that calls themselves the Sacred Sisterhood. I say trapped because it is quite clear this is a cult that rules through fear - fear of punishment from the Sister Superior and each other, and fear of the outside world which has been decimated due to environmental disaster.

No men are allowed, except for the man they called He, a self-proclaimed God who has banned all worship of the Christian God and associated prayers, saints etc.

When a strange woman arrives and is nursed back to health by our protagonist, a sequence of events is unleashed that makes her begin to question everything she's been led to believe by those who run this cult.

The whole book was bleak, soulless and left me feeling utter despair in the pit of my stomach, but in the best possible way. It is definitely meant to leave you feeling this way!

I gave this book 4 stars purely because I was left feeling unsatisfied with the flashbacks to our protagonists past. The past she was living in this post-apocalyptic world before she joined the Sacred Sisterhood. I wanted MORE of this, I needed some more meat on those bones because I'm nosy and love a good origin story.

However, this is an immaculate story of despair, fear, hopelessness and the light that one person can shine for another when it feels like all is lost.

I loved this book, and my colleagues are already sick of me talking about how much I loved it. Bazterrica has such a wonderful style, and creates these lush, grim dystopias that feel both completely realistic and fantastically mythical.

This book was written in a wonderful way, and I really enjoyed reading it as diary entries. The beginning was a little bit slow for me, and it was a bit hard for me to get into at the first 50 pages. After that came a turning point, where I couldn't even put it down. I loved when it became a little bit more action packed and that I could get a lot more immersed in this story.

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.