Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

28 reviews

djgroupi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

BEST BOOK I'VE READ ALL YEAR!!!

Based on the unsolved murders of six women in Chillicothe, Ohio known as the Chillicothe Six.

This book tore my heart to pieces. Such beautiful, haunting and poetic writing to describe the story of identical twins named Arc and Daffy who are born into a life of addiction and prostitution and suffer one tragedy after another amidst a small town where girls are being murdered and dumped in the local river. Despite their bleak lives Arc makes the most of it by looking at the world through rose colored glasses to make life bearable for her sister and friends despite their grim reality.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. While it's heartbreaking and sad with no good ending in sight, I loved every moment spent with Arc and Daffy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Rape, Death of parent, and Murder

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

maggiemcfly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lisaadam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

twentythreeandahalf's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

-1 star because of the length (struggled to keep going in the middle) but amazing plot twist at the end, which in turn could have been longer...
Nearly all the trigger warnings are applied, and is thus not an enjoyable read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I found ON THE SAVAGE SIDE difficult to read, so unflinching in its depiction of poverty and addiction that I read with a clenched stomach, gripped in empathetic pain. But without this level of violence and trauma, this book would be lying to itself, and for that reason, I consider it a winner.

The novel only fell apart for me (and only slightly!) in the repetition of its lyricism. Sometimes I felt like McDaniel was being intentionally opaque, and while it was always beautiful, I occasionally lost interest. But that is just one picky complaint of an otherwise stirring novel. I'm glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional slow-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? Yes

4.0

McDaniel has a gift for writing a heartbreaking story that manages to keep you guessing. I was on the edge of whether or not to give this 4* and then the ending came and I was truly shocked and that was impressive enough to keep it at a 4* rating, despite being a bit too long at times. As always, McDaniel creates a story that is absolutely devastating, while feeling true to life. I really appreciate her style, even though it can be a challenge to read at points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

fredrikamarias's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Death of parent

glitteringeyes418's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy