The Next Book Club Read
"Unflinching, uncompromising and unforgettable"
We finished and discussed the Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo and it’s time to announce the next book club read! It’s The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica
Why We Chose The Unworthy
We realized that so far none of our book club picks were dystopian! And tbh, we were in a dystopian mood. Why not escape into a book described as “unflinching, uncompromising, unforgettable and fearsomely dark”. Plus a violent religious order? Count us in!
The Synopsis
From her cell in a mysterious convent, a woman writes the story of her life in whatever she can find—discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood. A lower member of the Sacred Sisterhood, deemed an unworthy, she dreams of ascending to the ranks of the Enlightened at the center of the convent and of pleasing the foreboding Superior Sister. Outside, the world is plagued by catastrophe—cities are submerged underwater, electricity and the internet are nonexistent, and bands of survivors fight and forage in a cruel, barren landscape. Inside, the narrator is controlled, punished, but safe.
But when a stranger makes her way past the convent walls, joining the ranks of the unworthy, she forces the narrator to consider her long-buried past—and what she may be overlooking about the Enlightened. As the two women grow closer, the narrator is increasingly haunted by questions about her own past, the environmental future, and her present life inside the convent. How did she get to the Sacred Sisterhood? Why can’t she remember her life before? And what really happens when a woman is chosen as one of the Enlightened?
A searing, dystopian tale about climate crisis, ideological extremism, and the tidal pull of our most violent, exploitative instincts, this is another unforgettable novel from a master of feminist horror.
Don’t Have the Book Yet?
Feel free to use the Espooky Tales Bookshop affiliate link to get it or places your library holds ASAP! Jk, take your time because we take so long to read.
https://bookshop.org/lists/espooky-book-club-list?
Happy Reading!
If you missed the last book club episode/discussion on the Witches of El Paso? It’s up on it’s up everywhere, Spotify, Apple, any podcast app and YouTube too.
and yes, I (cristina) did not notice that I was holding the book upside down when we took the picture lol.
Oh you can also find all the books in one challenge together on Storygraph!
Click the link to follow the challenge on Storygraph
We’re looking forward to reading the Unworthy together!