Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - On the Savage Side

Her is a blur. She is who we were. -Daffodil Poet

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.

Content Warnings

trvshbvt's review against another edition

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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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siriface's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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frmeden's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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ember_is_gay's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

onmalsshelf's review against another edition

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Thanks to the publisher for this review copy. Obviously this one is working for a lot of people, but it is not for me at this time. I may consider picking it up at a different time.

DNF @ 60%

When I say I tried, I TRIED.

I’ve been reading this since June 10th (today is September 10th) and I only got to 60%.

I don’t mind dark books, but this is DARK and bleak - making for a combination that had me putting down my kindle after each chapter. I tried this on Kindle via eGalley as well as audio from Libby.

While I know that it’s important for authors to inform readers of things that often get forgotten by using fiction, I get concerned when they started using overly descriptive language that seems like it would fit more in a romance novel.

I wish that she had used the River aspect more because once that was gone, there was no flow.

I finally set it down once animal neglect was added in because of course the author just has to pile on more dark things.

I will say, the narrator for this is fantastic. Without the audio, I’m not sure I would have gotten to 60%.

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