Tender

Title: Tender
Author: Beth Hetland
First Published: March 12, 2024
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Pages: 162
Genre: Horror, Psychological, Psychological Thriller, Thriller
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:


Synopsis:

A psychological thriller about a woman obsessed with her vision for a picture-perfect, curated life.

Carolanne wanted a perfect wedding, a perfect husband, a perfect family. She carefully performs her own roles (gal pal, bestie, girlfriend, wife, and expectant mother) and manipulates those around her to try and get the results she wants. Her desire to control the uncontrollable ultimately becomes her undoing. When things don't go her way, she exerts dominance over the one thing she does have total control over: her body; until that "betrays" her. After suffering a horrible loss, Carolanne spirals into a literal, all-consuming delusion causing her body to produce symptoms of a hysterical pregnancy ― as a result of her slicing off bits of her own flesh and eating them.

Chicago cartoonist and educator Beth Hetland’s graphic novel debut is a brilliant psychological thriller that tears down the wall of a genre ― body horror ― so often identified with male creators. Heady and visceral, Tender uses horrific tropes to confront women’s societal expectations of self-sacrifice despite those traditional roles often coming at the expense of female sexuality and empowerment.

Buy the Book: Amazon

---

Review

Tender is an unnerving story of societal expectations of women, jealousy, control, and madness. I was completely engrossed in reading the story and flew through it in one sitting. The ending sent chills up my spine, and I haven’t had a physical reaction to a book in a long time. I chuckled at how absolutely insane the main character Carolanne, acted; I felt sad and angry at other points and cringed every time she picked and pulled at her body.

The illustrations of picking were upsetting to look at; I had to pause and stop myself mid-pull, realizing how awful my own anxious picking and biting habits really are (my husband points it out and encourages me to stop all the time). I’m not squeamish at all when it comes to gore, but there is something about the way that Carolanne’s self-mutilation felt intensely uncomfortable to read. Hetland makes fantastic use of color and lines to illustrate Carolanne’s shifting state of mind.

Equally effective was that the story centered on performative femininity. Carolanne is single-minded in achieving all the hallmarks of womanhood: building a circle of gal pals, finding a boyfriend, having a dream wedding, getting pregnant, and quitting her job to become a perfect housewife. Every step feels forced and unnatural. This book was positively ghastly, and I ate it up.

Quote

Content Warnings

About the Author