Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

74 reviews

madeline29's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Unrelentingly grim and harrowing, I had to put this down a few times to emotionally recover.  The prose is very lyrical and became a little too abstract for me, I found myself skimming paragraphs but I also think this represented well the inner life of the characters. Much of this book felt like being in a dream (or nightmare).
 
I think story is (unfortunately) very true to the lives of women in poverty in rural America and I’m glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Murder, Rape, and Drug abuse

lisaadam's review

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

ruby_mae_read's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Addiction, Sexual assault, Rape, and Murder

twentythreeandahalf's review

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

bella_cavicchi's review

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

siobhanward's review

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

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

dolores_lola's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Rape, Child abuse, and Abandonment

pbandjane_library's review

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

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

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

uliel's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Rape