Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

85 reviews

kristins3's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

A very difficult read. Contains a lot of very intense themes, but it gave an interesting perspective on the wide variety of causes and consequences of addiction without excusing the harmful actions of those caught in its throes (especially Arc’s mother)

Based on this and The Summer That Melted Everything, I feel like Tiffany McDaniel has her own genre that’s sort of like magical realism, but with far-fetched happenings or terrible actions taking the place of magic in that genre. I’m not totally sure what I think about the twist yet and I’ll have to think more on it

Tiffany McDaniel does have a tendency to write characters that constantly give very deep-sounding statements in a way that defies reality, but they also often mean nothing so I’m not sure what to think

The cover does kind of annoy me because it doesn’t match the bottom/top half lipstick used throughout the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty

aude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty

hailsreads's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

thaell's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Une histoire très sombre, ça transpire le désespoir, ça suinte de perversion. Le tout écrit de manière poétique, avec une bonne dose de contes et légendes locales.

Le roman est présenté comme une histoire à propos de femmes assassinées retrouvées dans une rivière. Eh bien… non. Cette partie est anecdotique. Elle ne sert le livre que pour souligner l’indifférence générale face à la mort de ces femmes. Chaque corps retrouvé est d’ailleurs suivi d’un rapport de police qui a l’air d’avoir été écrit par Arc (la narratrice) elle-même, comme si elle seule se préoccupait de leurs sorts.

La véritable histoire, c’est celle d’Arc et Daffy Doggs, deux jumelles nées au mauvais endroit, au mauvais moment, de mauvais parents. C’est celle de leurs difficultés à grandir dans un monde où toutes les personnes sur qui elles devraient pouvoir compter leur font défaut d’une manière ou d’une autre. J’ai apprécié ce livre parce j’ai vraiment partagé avec Arc l’impuissance, le désespoir, l’abandon qu’elle ressent. Il met en lumière la nécessité du refuge que les jumelles doivent se créer de toute pièce pour fuir ce qu’elles appellent “Le côté sauvage”.

On est révoltés par le comportement de certains personnages, l’absence de réaction de certains, la perversion malsaine des autres. 

Bref, si vous voulez lire quelque chose de léger et rafraîchissant, passez votre chemin.

Mais ce roman ne laisse pas indifférent. Le décalage entre la poésie, la beauté de l’écriture et la laideur et la brutalité des thèmes abordés, c’est ce qui fait que ce livre est au final une réussite.

Note : J’ai malheureusement vu le twist final venir à des kilomètres et je pense que ça a perturbé mon immersion. Difficile d’en faire abstraction, j’avais presque l’impression de faire une seconde lecture par moments. Je n’ai pas vraiment pu me laisser porter par l’histoire.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Abandonment

aisya_'s review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

jnnkdl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, and Abandonment

danielasubraya's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Violence

magicofthepages's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

carrrrme's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Tiffany McDaniel nos lleva en este libro a Chillicothe (Ohio), inspirándose en la historia real de un grupo de mujeres que aparecieron muertas en el río.
Estos crímenes no se investigaron lo suficiente debido a la condición de drogodependientes de las víctimas y la autora les da voz a ellas en este libro. Para ello, nos cuenta la vida de las mujeres con todo lujo de detalles, por lo que creo que no es un libro que vaya a gustar a quienes busquen un thriller al uso de los que se centran en buscar al asesino.

Las protagonistas son dos hermanas, Arc y Daffy, a las que vamos a conocer desde bien pequeñas. En un principio intentando sobrevivir a su sórdido ambiente doméstico y después, a la vida en el exterior, en un contexto plagado de adicciones, violencia y prostitución. El resto de personajes también están marcados por el sufrimiento y la violencia, aunque alguno es un rayito de luz entre tanta oscuridad. 
Pese a ser un libro tan duro, es cierto que el lenguaje tan lírico de Tiffany McDaniel consiguió que realmente disfrutara de esta lectura, está escrito de una forma bellísima, incluyendo muchas metáforas y rituales relacionadas con la naturaleza que provienen del folclore de la zona. 

Es un libro duro, con escenas que se me hicieron muy difíciles de leer y de procesar. No creo que sea para todo el mundo, sería buena idea que leyeras los trigger warnings si algunos temas son demasiado delicados para ti, porque en este libro pasa de TODO.  

Con todo ello, a pesar de que fue una lectura con la que sufrí mucho, para mí es un libro redondo. Creo que la historia de estas mujeres permanecerá conmigo mucho tiempo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood

patiolinguist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder