Tender

English language

Published 2024 by Fantagraphics Books.

ISBN:
978-1-68396-935-8
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

(1 review)

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 …

1 edition

reviewed Tender by Beth Hetland

A Quick Read with Some Strange and Gruesome Visuals

This book isn't anything special. There's plenty of modern feminist themes, most of which have been overdone in various other works in the last decade. I picked it up because it was nominated for a Bram Stoker award. I'll admit I don't fully understand the appeal.