Reviews tagging 'Death'

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

43 reviews

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

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

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is beautifully written, but so sad. I was really hoping it would have a happy ending, but no such luck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Murder

trvshbvt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I read Betty right before this which was my first introduction to Tiffany McDaniel. I loved Betty so much that I pushed On the Savage Side to the top of my to read list and once again, I am left in awe of Tiffany McDaniel’s storytelling.

This is another book that will stay with me forever. I feel like I know every single character as if I’ve met them in real life. I had no idea addiction played such a large part in this book, which is something that hits close to home. I appreciated the way McDaniel gave these women such detailed and moving backstories, showing that they were so much more than their addictions.

I thought I had a good idea of how the story would end but the actual ending had me audibly say “WHAT” to myself more than once.

An easy 5/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Miscarriage

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

ember_is_gay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

this was hauntingly beautiful and i want to read it all over again. i am stunned and i don’t think i have the words to describe how i feel about this book. i think this is genuinely one of the best books i have read in a while.

the last few chapters had me so thrown and i just was not expecting that twist. and i was so hopeful for the end, i was so hopeful for arc getting out. but i know that’s not what life is like, i was just wishing and hoping it would be different for her, but of course it couldn’t be.

to all the lost women, i will remember you and think of you often. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

keirahelena_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Sexual assault