Well, that was quite some read – excoriating and visceral , a dystopian world where even in a ‘religious’ order, humanity and compassion are stripped away, where jealousies and rivalries abound as the noviates seek to become Enlightened and encounter the order’s leader – only ever described as ‘He’ . With the arrival of a new novice, memories surface, signs of the plague recede, flowers bloom, and the secret diary is concealed in the hope that those from a kinder life will learn the truth of those incarcerated in the shrouded Sisterhood. Scratch the surface and you will find humans are feral … but hope always lurks, and Agustina Bazterrica captures both to perfection.

If you loved Tender Is the Flesh, but Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird sadly wasn’t your thing, then you’ll absolutely love The Unworthy.

I went into The Unworthy not knowing much about it — I just knew I enjoyed Agustina Bazterrica’s previous two releases in english and that I was desperate to read this.

I wasn’t completely hooked at first, mostly because religious aspects never really work for me, but damn if it didn’t fully consume me by the end of it. It’s dystopian fiction at its finest. You’re blindly thrown into the story of a post apocalyptic world in which the main character, and other young women, are living in a cultish convent — trying to survive the dangers of the new world, of the leaders of the convent, and of each other. The narrative unfolds through the main character’s diary entries and through that you see the cruelty that’s seeping through the convent, but also the slight shimmers of hope, and of the world before.

These diary entries captivates you, especially when the past is revealed, and it’s the moments of past and new revelations that really brings the story to life — and makes it worth reading. The main character isn’t easy to love, but I think she’s easy to feel a lot of love and hurt for. Her stories of the Tarantula Kids, Circe and Helena really stuck with me. All what is said, but also all that is unsaid. It’s honestly a masterpiece in storytelling in my opinion.

It’s also, most importantly (to me), a queer story as well — it’s clear from the start and it’s even clearer by the end. Yes, it’s about the dangers of wars, technology and the destruction that comes from climate change due to mankind’s choices. But it’s also survival in a cruel world when you’re queer and it reminded me a hell of a lot of Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White. I know people have compared it to The Handmaid's Tale as well, but I’ll say the above is definitely also a case of comparison.

Anyway, TL;DR this was definitely worth reading and Bazterrica is a phenomenal storyteller. The translation of this was also phenomenally done by Sarah Moses (who translated the previous two books by Bazterrica). It’s a book that’ll stick with me for a while after I’ve finished it.

// Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

In the House of the Sacred Sisterhood, the unworthy live in fear of punishment from the Superior Sister, hoping to ascend to the level of the Enlightened. One of the unworthy keeps a diary in secret and, as she puts her experiences to paper, memories begin to surface of her time before the Sisterhood, before the world collapsed.

This book is very weird, very mysterious and, I thought, very good. The introduction to the convent (cult) of the Sisterhood and wider global situation is very vague; I wasn’t entirely sure what was actually going on for much of the book. There had clearly been some kind of global apocalyptic decline (although we are not given details as to what actually happened), and the Sacred Sisterhood was a group of survivors. What was not clear at all was why any of the women chose to stay there, or how they had become so thoroughly indoctrinated into this cult, where they were being so blatantly and so extremely mistreated. I understand that sometimes people will choose to remain in a place simply because they have nowhere else to go, but probably not somewhere they get mutilated and abused from the second they arrive? I don’t know, I just felt that could have used a bit more context.

Besides that, The Unworthy was an excellently uncomfortable and disturbing novel. Two unusual adjectives to be used as praise, but there you have it.

This is the first book of Augustine Bazterricas but I think it’s safe to assume she is a master at building suspense and tension.

Set in a dystopian, convent where the women are separated as unworthy or sacred. Those who don’t behave are punished, quite severely and cruelly.

I will say although the tension building was impeccable, and the mystery surrounding how the characters got there had a choke hold over me, I kind of wish we got a bit of backstory or insight into the main character sooner than we did and I found it started to get a bit repetitive up until that point.

Brutal in places, Agustina Bazterrica creates a universe where the world is ravaged, and an unknown woman writes her story from within the walls of the House of the Sacred Sisterhood.

Surreal and strange, this book is exactly what I'd expect from this author after reading her previous novel, 'Tender is the flesh'.

Graphic depictions of mutilated bodies, one-upmanship, and abuse litter the pages of this book to tell a tale of a world in which I would not wish to inhabit.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

Following the cult following of Tender is the Flesh, I was excited to sink my teeth into Bazterrica’s new novel.

The premise of the novel is similarly set in a near future dystopian world of humanities making, but instead of a functioning society struggling to satiate tastes for meat, The Unworthy begins following total societal collapse - dissipation of technology, trade, food, religion, and law. Religious tyranny is at the forefront of the novel’s narrative, not definitively defined, or compared to today’s understanding of religion. Instead, we only know the religion through the difference to the far gone concepts of Christianity - with inversion of the holy trinity referred to as ‘the erroneous God, the false son, the negative mother,’ which formulates faith through negation in Bazterrica’s dystopian world. The landscape of the novel presents a kind of paradox, within the cult there’s the threat of violence and mutilation which mirrors the bleak world outside of it, but the main character doesn’t adhere completely to the spiritual teachings of the cult she is a part of, evidenced in her confessional writings that compromise the text, and are constantly regarded as a source of intense punishment or worse, if discovered. Additionally, her motives for remaining prior to Lucía’s arrival are shaky at best, unless divine revelation - however this was not overtly stated in the protagonist’s writings.

Bazterrica’s craft and imagination remains stellar, but purely on a narrative level, having encountered several texts that I believe to be inspirations for this one it did fall short compared to Tender is the Flesh. The novel explores ideas ranging from Justine (1791) by Marquis de Sade, The Last Man (1896) by Mary Shelley, and The Doloriad (2022) by Missouri Williams thematically, and as such being well read within the genre may see repetitive symbols, themes, and bleak ideas with less space to fully develop or expand in The Unworthy.

In this fictional diary we are transported to a (not so) dystopian future where climate change resulted in the devastation and almost complete eradication of all life on Earth, with the seemingly miraculous exception of a blessed piece of land where a religious sisterhood is based.

Introspective and heart-wrenching, this short novel explores an incredibly interesting speculative fiction concept with the tact typical of the literary genre. Although I'm not entirely sure I agree with the horror categorisation as a main genre.

Bazterrica managed to make me emotional with less than 200 sublime pages, but by the last one I was left with a unsatisfied feeling of yearning for more. I understand the stylistic choice and I usually appreciate when most if not all is realistically left unknown to the reader, but I feel in this case the story suffered a bit from how contained it was in its main idea and explored only inside its limits. Still definitely worth reading.


Rated 3.5 stars.

Thank you Pushkin for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

Is this book groundbreaking? No. Does it need to be? Absolutely not. Providing a fresh voice and perspective on topics as old as time, The Unworthy shines a light on the dark side of humanity.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, we hear from an unnamed survivor who is living in a convent of sorts run by an abusive and violent woman. The convent is broken into factions ranging from the tainted servants to the elite (and mutilated) Enlightened - all serving the very real “God”, He. As our narrator shares her story through an illegal diary, we learn of the catastrophic environmental disasters that have led to an almost uninhabitable world where the vulnerable are prayed upon.

I read this in one sitting. Bazterrica’s writing is beautiful and her imagery is dark, gruelling and razor sharp. Everything about this was sinister, and the unease felt throughout kept me going.

With similarities to The Handmaid’s tale and other post-apocalyptic novels like The Road, this isn’t the most original book I’ve ever read. But when you’re dealing with social issues and the way women and the vulnerable are treated, it doesn’t need to be unique to hit home.

This book is packed with gruesome images and disturbing thoughts. It builds a world where the needy are saved and taught to be grateful for their poor treatment, thankful for the abuse they will receive. A concept all too real.

As well as touching upon environmental concerns, abuse of power, and a hard-fisted government, organised religion and cultish societies are brought into question.

Just like Tender Is the Flesh, we see how easily society conforms when it suits. We see a section of society so focused on self, it manipulates the narrative to suit their needs.

The book is not without faults. The main character comes to life about a quarter of the way through and it’s only when we start to learn about her past and the world outside of the convent that a true voice comes to life.

That being said, I adored it and will be thinking about it for a very long time.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐳𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟑𝐭𝐡

First of all - how beautiful is this cover?!

It took me 25% to get into this book, I felt like I wasn’t clever enough to read this as I was so easily confused to what and how it was written, but as it was such a short book I wanted to carry on and I started to enjoy it.

Recommend if you like:
*Augstina Bazterericca’s writing style
*Post Apocalyptic World
*Cult Vibes
*Character Driven
*Descriptive Torture
𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑 ⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley & Pushkin Press for this arc!

#bookstagram #books #bookstagrammer #netgalley #netgalleyuk #netgalleyreads #bookstagramuk #bookblog #horror #bookish #bookstaghouls #booksandboots #booksandskulls

“Someone is screaming in the dark. I hope it’s Lourdes. I put cockroaches in her pillow and sewed up the slip.”

After reading the first page of this book, I felt so creeped out that I wanted to throw it against the wall. But that’s the charm of Queen Agustina, patron of Horror.

The writer, whose novel Tender Is The Flesh and its literal cruelty provide insight into the horror of the human animal that hides within us all, chose a different setting for The Unworthy.

Imagine the most twisted cult that can arise when the world’s population is decimated by a real apocalypse. Imagine the cataclysm that caused it and the monsters that emerge from it. I’m talking about humans, of course.

The story is told by one of the Unworthy, because of course everyone is ranked in this 'wonderful' religious community. The punishments are cruel, the hierarchy is sometimes absurd.

I started reading the book in a kind of health-fog of my life and at the beginning I completely understood what I was reading, but I couldn't comprehend what it was telling me. Until a spark entered the story. That small, tiny, barely noticeable spark that slowly comes into our lives in such a way that we don't even know where it came from. Love.
I know, it sounds crazy but ... bear with me.

That's when I realized that the first part, which annoyed me with its horror and made me bang my head against the wall, had exactly this purpose. Even the narrator doesn't really understand what, how and why, but she follows because that's what you do in a cult. And the book wants us to not understand anything, so that we can then 'see through' it.

Tender is the Flesh talked about what a person would do to be comfortable, to not have to sacrifice a single bit. The Unworthy is about what happens when we lose all humanity, and compassion and mercy are just rotten apples on the table.

I don't know when I've ever read a book that made me feel like something is crawling all over me, and yet warm-hearted at the same time. It made me angry, I wanted to throw it out the window, but I wanted to know what the hell she was going to do with these characters. Whom I hated! ALL of them! Agustina keeps the feeling that you don't know everything yet, she's hiding a little bit from you, witholding something just out of reach and she slowly gets on the reader's nerves.

I'm still thinking about this book and I'll never stop. That's the charm of really good books for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to Netgalley, Pushkin press and La Reina Agustina herself for this amazing gift of reading before publication. 🖤 My heart is forever black for you.

This was so brilliant! for being so short it really does pack a punch. I knew l'd love this because l've loved this authors previous works, and this definitely did not let me down. A thrilling dystopian queer horror that I would recommend to anyone who's interested. The pacing in this book was so well done, and the writing (and the translation of course since I'm reading the English version) was truly fantastic. Touching on intimate bonds and climate crisis, this isn't a book l'd want to miss.

Beautifully written dystopian novel - the type that provides few answers and little active plot but is a sad meditation on a post apocalyptic world. Obviously will garner comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale and I Who Have Never Known Men but also reminded me of The Road (in vibe) and Louise O'Neill's Only Ever Yours (in the set up of the convent and intense female relationships). Found it quite moving and appreciated how short it is, I think it provided just the right amount of world building and never dragged. The prose is beautiful despite being presented as a diary written by the protagonist. Would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this title!

As someone that LOVED Tender is the Flesh I was so excited to be offered an early copy of this title, and I was not disappointed.

We are immediately thrown into the story, we follow our narrator as she navigates life in a dystopian quasi religious cult, wanting to work her way up the ranks. The way the characters are portrayed and their lives are very dark and sadistic wanting others to feel pain and be the one inflicting punishment.

The story really picked up for me in the second half where we get both some background from the narrators life before she entered the cult, and also her progression once Lucia enters the cult. There are a few connections to women from different histories eg Circe and Saint Lucy.

A dark, sadistic, Sapphic story I would recommend to anyone that likes a darker read.

I started off very unsure about this book. I had read mixed reviews, and you were dropped as a reader into a very confusing world with a very unlikable narrator. However, as the story went on, the narrator seemed to "wake up," and I really loved her by the end. Her back story really developed her as a character and brought more understanding to the world.

Trying to understand the cult itself and the members in it such as the enlightened, diaphanous Spirits, full aura and minor spirits was difficult but not vital to the story becasue it was a cult and that's all I needed to know really.

As with any post-apocalyptic book, people aren't the best, and there are several trigger warnings. I will list as many as I can think of at the end. But there was a glimmer of humanity and love once Lucía arrived, and that's what I loved about this book.

Agustina Bazterrica's The Unworthy is a chilling dystopian novel set in a rigid convent ruled by an oppressive system. The protagonist, deemed "unworthy," secretly records her experiences, questioning the convent’s harsh doctrines and her own past. When a new girl, Lucía, arrives, she begins to unravel the sinister truth of her world. With themes of control, survival, and societal decay, Bazterrica crafts a gripping, thought-provoking tale that examines the consequences of ideological extremism and human resilience.

I was one of the few people who did not love Tender is The Flesh, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this going in, but I was pleasantly surprised.
We are presented with a world that has been decimated by some kind of environmental collapse. Tucked away there is a monastery with a religious order who have food and water and some semblance of society. Our protagonist lives there, having undergone extreme hardship in the outside world. The women who reside there face violence and degradation on a daily basis, in exchange for the relative safety within these walls.
We are thrust into this bleak existence with very little explanation and have to figure out some of what's happening as we go along, but I feel that mirrors the journey our main character takes in the story so it really worked for me.
This book explores the darker side of human nature and the dangers of religious extremism, it's short and punchy, and it's one I'll be thinking on for a while.

The Unworthy takes place in the Sacred Sisterhood where the unworthy live in fear of the Superior Sister’s Whip. Some will face punishment and others will rise to enlightenment. One of the unworthy keeps a diary which is a risky thing to do but another unworthy arrives: Lucia who brings hope.

This was okay. Personally, I found it to be a bit derivative of other things and I have read these themes before. It was fine but I didn’t really get a lot out of this and I think Tender is the Flesh is the stronger work. That said I’ve not had the best luck with this author so I’d recommend giving it a read if you are interested.

Thank you so much Pushkin Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book!

I tend to go into books blind however I was so confused while reading this that I did actually read the blurb. This gave me more clarification and I continued on reading, being confused until I DNF’d it around the 25% mark.

The book is written in a diary format including some of the text being crossed out like it could have been in a real diary entry which was pretty cool. However, I think that’s the only positive thing I have to say about the book!

When you read around the crossings out, the text doesn’t actually make sense and it was so difficult to read!

I appreciate I have a pretty average vocabulary but the story is filled with more complex language compared to other books I usually read so I was constantly having to look up the meanings of words and it really broke the reading flow. I don’t know if this is a book issue or a translation issue.

I was going to push through with this book as it’s less than 200 pages but I had a cheeky look at the reviews and they weren’t glowing so I am confident I made the right decision.

It was a real shame as this was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025 but hey, you can’t love them all!

I'm honestly a little stumped as to how to sum this one up. I both liked and disliked it, would flick from loving parts to being incredibly frustrated...but I read to the end and was satisfied when I did.

Obviously, given the success of Bazterrica's previous release Tender is the Flesh, there is hype and expectations galore around this book. And, obviously, that is probably going to disappoint a lot of people. As for me, Tender... didn't really click, so I was just curious to see what she did next.

The setting here is fascinating; a dark, looming convent for women who have survived an ecological crisis that has basically ruined civilization and put large parts of the world underwater. there is a hierarchy at The Sacred Sisterhood and our narrator doesn't really remember her life before getting there. She is part of the unworthy, which doesn't sound great but *does* mean she gets to keep her own tongue, which is something I guess.

At this sort-of refuge, the women eat bread baked using flour made of crushed crickets, they constantly have to offer personal sacrifices, and it generally seems awful. then a new woman arrives and things get even less comfortable.

The writing style here is one that requires getting used to. it's basically a stream of consciousness, but presented as hidden/found papers. Sentences sometimes stop midway through because the author has been interrupted, some parts are crossed out, and the story will move days ahead without even so much as a line break. I admire the dedication, but would have appreciated something at least resembling chapters!

When this is good, it is really good. Some nasty descriptions here - one scene involving a rat will haunt me forever - and some just devious...the opening of the book has the narrator telling us how she has hidden cockroaches in the pillow of her enemy and it is a lot of fun.

I also enjoyed how it is hinted that the climate catastrophe was brought on my AI, which basically took over all of our lives and systems and then let nature do the rest. More people could do with bearing that in mind right now.

And I did largely enjoy the story, even if the main plot beats felt like something I'd read before. The quality of the prose here really elevates it...it's certainly a lush read.

I'm still not sold on this author, but can see plenty of folk enjoying this book. And I'd certainly be keen to try her next one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This is dark, well-paced and beautifully written as you would expect from Agustina Bazterrica. Despite, at times, feeling like I was a little lost in the story I couldn’t stop myself coming back to it.
Vivid imagery, short punchy sentences, along with stark descriptions of religious fervour, lend this story pace and depth which draw you deeper and deeper into the narrators journey.
This is dystopian and believable which makes it feel all the more bleak and horrific.