Reviews

“At these times, the river says, I remember you. Who you were. I will listen to what you have to say. I will return your name to you, even as you disappear.”

Tiffany McDaniel’s writing is mesmerizing in this harrowing read about the Chillicothe Six victims. This is my first time reading from McDaniel and I was enthralled by the writing and vivid descriptions of the river, the characters, the metaphors used to advance the story are like nothing I’ve ever read before.

Arcade and Daffodil are inseparable, they share everything. Their hopes, desires for their futures, their imagination, their love for their grandma and their generational misfortunes that they are struggling to get free from. Living in small Chillicothe, Ohio feeds their imaginations and their strengthens the twins’ relationships.

On the Savage Side is masterful in its depictions of fear, poverty and a child's ability to cope with their circumstances. The horror these girls are subjected to because of their mother’s own hardships and struggles with addiction is heartbreaking and a hard pill to swallow.

McDaniel expertly paints life in a small rural town into a fully immersive and captivating backdrop to a story of sisterhood in a time where women in Chillicothe are disappearing and their bodies are found in the river.

However, it would be absurd to recommend this book solely on its use of language. While the writing is beautiful, the subject matter is hard to get through and very bleak. The descriptions of hardship, addiction, child abuse and domestic violence is harrowing. My biggest issue With the book is that there seems to be very little respite from the brutal events that take place. The subject matter is vivid and McDaniel doesn’t hold back in her descriptions of these harsh events that shape Arc and Daffy.

Massive trigger warning for child neglect, addiction, drug use, domestic violence, child rape, rape, alcohol abuse, miscarriage.

3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc.

samkelly18's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

5.0

This will forever be one of my favourite books and one I think is so important for people to read.

izzyridge's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

serenereadssally's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

On The Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

What a stunning powerful book!

I honestly had no expectations going in, other than being intrigued by the synopsis and loving the beautiful copy I have,but once I started it I knew it was very special indeed.

This book is dark and harrowing, but at the same time poetic and full of love. I don’t actually believe my sub par writing skills can produce a review that this book deserves, I can only say how emotional it made me feel.

I was wrapped up in the characters and their lives (and deaths) instantly. They are written so richly, these tragic beautiful women and girls living a life that most people couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The writing style is heaven, and what amazed me was how something often so disturbing in content read like a song, a poem, a piece of art.

It is a book that will live on in my memory for a very long time I think. I highly recommend.

Of course, please read trigger warnings. As mentioned, this book contains several dark themes.

Thank you Tiffany for such an incredible story.

“No heart is safe on the savage side. But on the savage side there was love. Love for us, love from us, love between us”

5 bright shining stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

filemanager's review against another edition

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DNF @ 34%

This book is excessively dark and bleak, and when a danger noodle (that's right, I don't even like saying/typing the actual word, that's how bad my phobia is) showed up, I was like NOPE! I'm done!

At 34% in they haven't even BEGUN to think about or investigate what happened to the first murdered girl that was found.

Pet peeve: Why is the lipstick on the [US] cover not the same as the way they way their lipstick in the book? (One paints her top lip, the other the bottom lip - not halved vertically as in the cover image).

That being said, at 10% I noted that the author has a very poetic way of writing, and then just now I find out that Tiffany McDaniel is an actual poet. I guess that makes perfect sense then! Her writing style is really beautiful, but I just couldn't get into the bleak story. It's pretty brilliant juxtaposition actually, to have such beautiful writing and wording, for such a sad, dark story.

coco_read's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.75

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