I put off writing this review for a few days because I wanted to reflect on it, so that my review could be as thorough as possible. 

The subject matter of this book is bone chilling, the writing is cold and concise which paired with the brutality of the imagery leave you in shock. If body horror is not your thing, this book is NOT for you, that is for certain. However I'm a fan or horror especially that written to reflect on society we live in. I think the author executed this idea excellently, and given the subject matter that was no easy feat.

The book is split into two halves, this first half is focused on explaining how the world has changed after what the book calls "the transition" when humanity legalises cannibalism after a deadly pandemic destroys the food supply. It answers many horrifying questions on how commercialised cannibalism could exist, there is almost no stone left unturned. Some of the imagery left me feeling queasy but what made it worse was it was so realistic. The way human meat or "head" is treated in this book is exactly how we treat animals. It made me question even more how we justify our actions in meat and dairy consumption to meet our needs. The second half does the same but we also follow the main character make some difficult decisions around the care of his ailing father and a female "head" he is gifted. I enjoyed the first half a bit more but the second part still made for an interesting read. 

I think ultimately my take away message the ability of mankind to be extremely self centered and the extremes it'll go to have it wants met. Not needs but wants. Within the book there is mentions of the impact the media has on shaping public narrative around the pandemic and public opinion as a whole. This is mirrored in reality. Similarly as a reader you could understand why meat and dairy maybe needed, but what of leather making and hunting for sport. 

While the events of the book seem extreme, in our capitalist society and recent pandemic on our minds, is this reality completely unfeasible? I leave this book rather terrifyingly thinking no. 

A masterful piece of writing.