Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

39 reviews

magicofthepages's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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

bookscoffeehayley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

I adore Tiffany McDaniel’s writing. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and intense.

This book was not an easy book to read but had me totally shocked at the end. It lost half a star due to pacing in the middle. It dragged a wee bit but not too badly that it distracted much from the story. 

McDaniel is an auto-read author for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

ventellina's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

emmasdil3mmas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

a devastatingly emotional read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

estellegodard's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

the writing style in this book was far too lyrical and poetic for my taste. I found the metaphorical language unrealistic and cringey and it consistently took me out of the story. thus, reading it wasn’t very enjoyable and I was disappointed. the story overall was quite good, though I felt like I never got to know the characters very well due to how repetitive it was. I also found that I lacked the emotional connection with the peripheral characters, so the deaths never felt very impactful. I think this book would have benefited from being shorter and more concise. I thought the last 50 pages were very strong and there were certain standout passages throughout. I also really enjoyed the perspective of the river in the early parts of the book as well as the inclusions of drawings. I thought these were unique additions that broke up the monotonous pace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Rape

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

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

fates_fables_golem's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Rape