The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica is a short literary horror novel set in a dystopian future after a climate crisis (3.5/5 stars)

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica is a short literary horror novel set in a dystopian future after a climate crisis.

After an environmental crisis, where stories of fireflies have been passed down for generations upon generations without anyone seeing them again, a group of women are sequestered up in a mysterious convent. The Sacred Sisterhood is led by the foreboding Superior Sister and a mysterious priest who tends to hide behind the chancel screen; the only ones who get to look upon him are the Chosen and Enlightened.

I listened to the audiobook while following along in my physical review copy. The narrator, Imani Jade Powers, does a great job weaving between fervency and clarity as our point-of-view character keeps a journal and attempts to remember her past. The writing has very dream-like quality to it, it’s very lyrical. I’d highly recommend listening to this one, or doing a tandem read. There are sections of journal entries that are crossed out (like the journal-writer couldn’t even bear to say those things out loud) and it was interesting to see how the narrator decided to read those segments.

We don’t learn a lot about the outside world, which makes sense since these women are essentially trapped in the convent. There are hints about exactly what environmental disasters happened in the preceding years, but nothing is fully explained. Of course the women trapped here wouldn’t know much about the outside world, they’re not allowed to go out and live in it.

However, within the small scope of the setting, there is deep character study regarding our main character. Nearly everything is taken from the women at this convent: their names are changed without their input, they are told to renounce the false Christian god, they are forced to speak a different language they will not explain to them, and so on and so forth. They are fed small rations and start to forget their lives prior to joining the convent.

If you have an insect phobia, you probably don’t want to pick up this book. There are tons of bug references: the main source of protein for the convent is bugs, and they also use them to torture and frustrate the other cloistered women.

CW: insects, SA, misogyny, exploitation, religious abuse, physical mutilation, other torture and abuse

I received a complimentary review copy from Scribner and Simon Audio. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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