The Kind of Disturbing Content You’d Expect (and Want) from This Horror Author

If you’re into horror novels at all—and let’s face it, if you clicked on this, you probably are—then you’re already aware of who Argentine author Agustina Bazterrica is. You’ve read the wildly BookTok-famous Tender is the Flesh and are probably still thinking about it. You probably also checked out Bazterrica’s short story collection Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird. The author’s latest novel has been translated into English thanks to Sarah Moses, who translated Bazterrica’s other novels. The newest book is just as disturbing as you’d expect.

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica The world as we know it has fallen apart due to climate change and extremism. Whole cities are submerged underwater. Electricity and the internet are things of the past. The Earth itself has become a toxic wasteland. Our unnamed narrator spent years trying to survive on her own on the outside. But then she found refuge as a member of the Sacred Sisterhood. Now, as one of the “Unworthy,” the lowest members of the Sacred Sisterhood, our narrator spends her days hidden away in her convent cell, secretly writing her story down on whatever scraps of paper she can find. She lives a life of pain and punishment, hoping to one day work her way up the ranks of the sisterhood to become one of the Enlightened. She’s not sure what that would mean, but she knows it must be better than the life of daily starvation, self-flagellation, and torture she currently experiences.

But everything changes for the convent members when a stranger enters their safe space. Lucía is unlike any other person our narrator has ever met. The more time they spend together, the more our narrator begins to question the systems at work in the Sacred Sisterhood. Sure, the outside world is terrible, but is life here much better? Is there a life of pleasure and love out there somewhere?

The Unworthy is a tight and effective 175 pages of relentless post-apocalyptic horror. I read the entire book in one sitting. I cried multiple times. And by the final page, I felt completely shattered and unsettled. This is a book that I have had to sit with to really consider my feelings, and the more I think about it, the more I love it. The prose is poetic, but the plot also moves quickly. This one will not let you catch your breath until you reach the last page.

If you’ve loved Bazterrica’s other works, you’ll find the same kind of disturbing imagery and thought-provoking commentary on classism and environmental issues that you’ve come to expect from this author. If you’re new to Bazterrica, this short but impactful novel perfectly exemplifies what this horror subgenre can achieve when done impeccably well.

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