Tea Time

Working at a local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans — though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marco’s tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then the governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat — “special meat” — is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost — and what might still be saved.

Review and Rate:

This book depicts graphic scenes of procurement and harvesting of human meat. The contents of this book might be upsetting to some readers. If you are not okay with reading about the death of children, pregnant women, or people in general I would not recommend reading this book.

Tender Is The Flesh follows Marcos Tejo, a processing plant employee who recently lost his child, and is currently separated from his wife. Marcos is navigating his life while he deals with the grief of losing his child, which forces him to view his life with “Pre-Transition” eyes. Which just means that things everyone else views as normal now seem strange or even grating to him. Tasks that he use to be able to preform for his job now seem monumentally difficult, the foods they all eat seem disgusting, and he doesn’t have the will power to keep doing the same things over and over again.

While the main theme of the book is not the struggle of grief I would say it’s a very important driving power for Marcos. Without his grief he would not be the person he is at the end of the book. Without his grief he would not do the things he does. The grief of loosing his child is not the only grief he suffers under. Marcos also grieves the world there was before the “Transition”. A world where it was okay to have pets. A world where humans filled the streets. A world where you didn’t have to think about the meat you were eating. That world weighs on his shoulders because he believe the absence of it took his father away from him. Marcos is a man full of grief and his choices reflect that.

The main theme of the book is corrupt governments, and the willingness to follow them. To adapt to the new world order because it’s easier to follow instructions than to think for yourself. The Government tells the people that animals have a virus and eating their meat, being bitten or scratched by them, will kill you. Even though some scientists have come out to disprove this, and wound up dead as a result. Even if many people didn’t believe them, they still killed and burned as many animals as they could because it was easier to believe than ask questions. The Government tells the people that vegetables aren’t enough to keep them healthy, that they need meat, and that they have a solution. People meat — “special meat” — is government sanctioned. It’s the solution. It’s not a means to control populations, to control people. Curfews are in place to keep them safe, to keep them healthy. People aren’t really people if you don’t give them a first and last name.

That being said I found the writing style very interesting. It’s obviously a very intentional aspect by the author to refer to the main character (mc) as “he” the entire time. It creates a distance between the reader and the mc which I really enjoyed. The only time we hear his name is when another person chooses to use it. While he is a person with a first and last name, we as the reader do not see him as that. He is simply him. Not Marco, not Tejo, just him. Another nameless cog in the processing plant. I think this helps to normalize the things happening in the book, just like the government normalized cannibalism. 

I usually have a favorite quote from the book by the time that I finish, but I didn’t for this one. I was waiting for some profound sentence to help explain away the human experience, but one never came. There was no need to understand why the things in this book were happening, because they were happening simply because the people in the book allowed and wanted them to happen. I kept waiting for the moment I would understand why this story was written but what I have come up with is that at the end of the day, humans are capable of great evils and when give the chance, they will willingly do them.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecific office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn's most infamous Villain results in a job offer -- naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don't find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she's getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat.. and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain -- and his entire nefarious empire -- out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work.. and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

Review and Rate:

Honestly, I had a hard time putting this down. Evie's unwavering optimism in the face of multiple horrible encounters made me, (and the Villain) fall in love with her. The book follows Evie as she quiet literally stumbles upon the villain and worms her way into his employment, (and heart). She is always armed with a smile and her wit, which seems to endear her to all others around, even if they say they hate her. Cough cough Becky.

Evie has her fair share of challenges in this book, some easier to overcome than others, but she never allows anything to disarm her smile. It would be easy to say that I loved this book and leave it at that but truly, I loved it. Multiple times I caught myself laughing out loud at some of Evie's inner most thoughts, and outer ones too. It's easy to understand where she is coming from, her boss is hot, so what if he's evil to boot? (Unless you're like me and him being evil is way more of a plus than a negative.)

Personally I tend to predict the ending of a book before I get there, which always leaves me wanting more from the book. Something shocking or at the very least interesting. The ending of this book had me angry. I was, and still am as I type this, so angry for the characters because they deserve better. Which is how I know you will be too. While most the tone of the book is very light and funny, some of the topics that it broached are not. (I mean come on he literally murders people, duh.) That being said, there is an implication of attempted (but not successful) sexual assault, which might be upsetting to some readers. While it is not a main point of the book it is mentioned a few times, and I wish for everyone to be safe in their readings. While I would hate to dissuade anyone from reading this book, because it is truly a funny and wonderful book, please stay safe.

Now back to the fun stuff. Did I mention this is a slow burn? Because the burn is deliciously slow. Every interaction between the two main characters had me giggling and kicking my feet because they are both so stupid and in love and I wanted to scream. And the side characters? I love them. Well I love to hate some of them, Becky, and love to love others. Each of the side characters have depth to them, some back stories we still don’t know, and I cannot wait for the second installment of this book. All in all I think if you’re a fan of Romatasy, read this book. And while this might be a plus for some and a negative for others, it does not include smut. While there are cussing parts in the dialogue I’m not really sure what qualifies as a “clean” book nowadays I think this one is.

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars because it’s funny, the characters are lovable, and it gives amazing “touch her and die” vibes.

Favorite Quote: (ps it’s kinda a spoiler so ignore it if you want????)

He was a good kisser, but of course he was. Attractive murderers were always good kissers; she was pretty sure she heard that expression before. Or maybe she made it up in one of the many daydreams in which she’d imagined that happening.

Back Cover Blurb:

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. 

Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance. 

But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works. 

Review and Rate:

If I am going to be honest I feel as if I am biased. I went into this graphic novel knowing that I was going to love it. I watch the Netflix show and fell in love with the characters before ever meeting the original them. And I may or may not be avoiding the novel that I started before this one. I couldn't help it okay? I just saw it setting on the store bookshelf all by its self all sad and lonely. I had to buy it, and subsequently read it. Thats what I was put on this Earth to do. And I am very glad that I did. 

The reason we as the readers even get the story of Nick and Charlie is because the author, Alice Oseman (she/her and they/them), used them as side characters in her debut novel “Solitaire”. From there she kind of became obsessed with them, and I don't blame her because I am too. She wanted to expand on how they became this happy couple. To do that she gave us “Heartstopper” and I love every bit of it. Maybe I just crave actual queer representation and not thinly vailed homophobia in the shape of inclusivity. 

Charlie Spring is a very good representation of what it is like crushing on someone without knowing if they are straight or queer. He is someone that we, as the LGBTQ+ community, can look at and say, “Yeah I’ve been there and done that.” Charlie is very easy to loose yourself in. We meet Charlie as an openly gay student, which comes with it’s own hardships, and a not so open boyfriend, not boyfriend, secret closeted make out partner. Sounds awful doesn't it? It’s okay to say, Charlie would agree with us. (Not to mention I just hate Ben and you probably will too.)  The hardships he faced because he is gay and open about it, not his choice by the way, shape the future relationship he has with Nick Nelson. We as the reader know this because Mx. Oseman choses to draw Charlie’s face in a way that you can almost tell exactly what he is thinking, if she doesn't tell you. 

Nick Nelson however speaks to me on a very deep level. He is confused. He is scared. He doesn't want to hurt Charlie, but he doesn't know who he is or wants to be. Nick is in full blown gay panic and doesn't even know if he’s gay or not. All he knows is the feelings he is having are new and strange and different than anything he has ever felt before. And that terrifies him. Nick is someone trying to figure out who he is and almost everyone has been Nick at some point in their journey to figure our their sexuality. Both of these boys are just different sides to the same coin. 

The way that Mx. Oseman draws this graphic novel is cartoon like. She embellishes some of the pages with added leave doodles and only adds a light blue color to the backgrounds or when needed. Most, if not all, of the emotions going through the character's head is drawn plainly on their faces. Another thing that I noticed was the shape of the panels. If there was a specific need to indicate fear, urgency, or other contrasting emotion, the panel would be oddly shaped or torn. This allows us to see the scene as it might feel to the character in that moment. The text used seems to be handwritten unless, of course, an actual text message is happening. It makes everything feel softer. Most of the line work also seems to lean on the softer side leaving most of the sharp angles to the panel boxes. 

Over all I feel as if the novel, this volume at least, is a soft hearted, feel good, teen romance and coming-of-age story. There are just a few trigger warnings I would like to put out there. While the majority of this volume was happy and cozy and tooth rotting fluff, there is a scene of Sexual Assault. The scene is not super explicit and only goes as far a forced kissing before the victim is saved. There is also just some general run of the mill cussing and bulling. (Charlie is an openly gay kid in high school it is to be expected and hated. It would be amazing to live in a world where queer kids get to just live and be happy but this is not it. Mostly.) In bulling Charlie they do use a few slurs that include the F slur. Most of the bulling is happening in flashbacks and not in the current timeline but it influences the events of the story and Charlies actions. Those things aside the story is just cute.

Heartstopper makes me very happy. The over all plot of the story is low stakes love story. It is representation, and understanding. It is what so many people could have had for thier first love story. It is easy and soft and cute and fluffy and gay. I love this by the way if you couldn’t already tell. I can genuinely say that I giggled out loud and yelled while looking at the art. Shy short Charlie and tall rugby “lad” Nick in the ink made me scream. I actually spent most of my read smiling at the pages and squealing like a teenage girl. I am not ashamed. It was fantastic. I mean take a look, this is so freaking cute, and gay, and happy.