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glitteringeyes418's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Child death, Pedophilia, Drug use, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder
artemisg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It has been said many times, but Tiffany McDaniel can write. Every sentence in this book was just beautiful and spoke to my soul.
My mother, aunt, and grandmother were women of hot skin who seemed to sweat even in the middle of a blizzard. Women who always put on mascara to the radio, talking with pride about our centuries-dead mamaw who was hung as a witch, not once, but twice. She was burned when the noose broke.
"It is from her that we get our hot skin," Mamaw Milkweed would say, telling my sister and me that we had a touch of the witch in us.
"You can't put a woman to fire and expect the flesh of the women after her not to feel that very heat. It is also from her that we dream of the future."
This novel is inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six and follows twins Arcade (Arc) and Daffodil (Daffy) as they discover bodies in the river, and their loved ones become bodies in the river. These bodies are of women who are not the “perfect victims”, they are women who, due to the circumstances of their lives, turned to drugs and prostitution. This makes them unimportant in the eyes of law enformecment and the eyes of the locals. But, they are important to their friends, their families, and themselves. This is a harrowing examination of girlhood and womanhood in poverty, of generational trauma, and drug addiction and abuse. It is heartbreaking and beautifully written and captivating and intense.
We fell silent with the chill, studying the woman on the ground before us, trying to find her story. We weren't sure if that story was in the new cuts up and down her arms, or in the old ones, scarred over. … Maybe she'd carved her name into a tree and picked her teeth when watched by the men with knives in their eyes. I couldn't stop imagining her life. In the winter, her pulling her coat tight against herself and pretending to smoke the cold air. I didn't know her enough to imagine the big moments of her life. I could only envision the small
ones.
McDaniel thrives when writing about complex and nuanced characters, and the characters we meet in this novel are that. The girls we meet have complex inner lives and are treated with incredible kindness by McDaniel and each other and incredible, violent abuse from other characters in the novel. They navigate some of the worst things that can happen to a person and somehow still treat one another with gentle love and kindness, even when they have not been shown any kindness in decades.
“Years from now," she said, "an archaeologist like you, Arc, will dig my tooth up and I'lI matter because I'll be from the past. They'll wonder who I was and they'll give me a better story than my truth."
The incorporation of nature into this book was an incredible narrative choice, as were the fictionalised autopsy reports. Reading them made me overwhelmingly emotional. Reading this book as a whole made me overwhelmingly emotional, it was devastating.
"But it's not a fire taking the women," she said. "It's a river."
"Drowning is just another way to burn us," I said.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse and Pregnancy
ember_is_gay's review
- 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
5.0
to all the lost women, i will remember you and think of you often.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, Child death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Torture, Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Death, Miscarriage, and Murder
cclardo's review against another edition
5.0
This book is not for everyone. Check content warnings and know that portions of this book are like a gut punch.
I also want to note that I have seen this marketed in the mystery/thriller category and that is a misrepresentation of the book. If you are looking for a heartbreaking exploration of self and survival, read this book. If you are looking for a mystery/thriller about a serial killer and a potential victim, this will not scratch that itch.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Child abuse
Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
kirstym25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Murder
motleybooksandtea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Stunning writing. SO LYRICAL. Passages and sentences is love to highlight and keep with me. But the content is brutal. REAL, and brutal. There were many times I thought I’d stop reading because it was so much to handle. But I’m glad I finished.
The topics are so hard but also so important. And she writes about them with honesty.
This is the most trigger warnings I’ve ever attached to a book, so please look them up. For someone without many triggers this was still a highly difficult read.
I don’t think it would be fair to give this a star rating as it was BEAUTIFULLY written, and any issues I would have are my own. This novel is loosely based on true events as well.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Car accident, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
wildflowergirl11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Misogyny, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, and Addiction
shelbybowers20's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug use, Addiction, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
marisasabino's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Sexism, Rape, Infertility, Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Murder, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Child abuse
eenie816's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Addiction, Drug use, Murder, Body horror, Child abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death