Las indignas

Las Indignas (The Unworthy) is a dystopian novel that could very well exist in the same universe as Bazterrica's Tender Is the Flesh (2020), where humans are scraping by in a world decimated by natural catastrophes, pollution, and insidious AI. This story is told by an unnamed narrator who lives in a former monastery that only accepts females and is managed by the fearsome Sister Superior, who shares power with the sole male, simply called Him. The unsettling makeup of the settlement easily calls to mind a hierarchical religious cult, in which the narrator is among those at the bottom. They're the all-around servants, the Unworthy, who keep the place running. Those at the top are called the Chosen Ones; deliberately disfigured, they are seers and mystics. There's no shortage of graphic and horrific aspects of life in this micromanaged commune, which the narrator clandestinely documents. Throughout the book, the adage, "No faith, no protection," affirms the oppression of the Unworthy in this hellish hideout. Petty rivalries and pranks provide a semblance of normalcy until a mysterious and enchanting newcomer reawakens the numbed narrator to the blatant abuse she endures, pushing her to a breaking point.