Reviews with content warning for Rape - On the Savage Side

This book was a very hard read for me. It’s very dark and there are so many triggers. Please be aware before you dive into it. That said, this book was so beautiful! Arc and her twin sister go through so much! I just wanted to hug them and make it all better! The way the girls handled their traumas and abuse was just so beautiful, yet sad.

It did take me awhile to read this because of the themes. The author did a very good job writing this. I will think about this story for a very long time. I really want to read more from them. I didn’t see the twist in the book, and the ending was beautiful.

Content Warnings

shelby1994's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to the team at Alfred A. Knopf for this ARC - out 14 February!

(pls check the TW for the book at the end!!)

In her latest book, Tiffany McDaniel has returned to Appalachia, where everything smells like death. The paper mills, the used needles, and the stiff girls being pulled from the river. Inspired by the true unsolved mystery of the Chilliconthe murders, McDaniels digs into the relationships forged within generations of addition and between the forgotten women who go missing every day.

First the good - ‘Betty’ was a masterclass in lyrical writing, and this is more of the same. Every sentence is a poem, and every paragraph a hymn to the natural world. Water babies - this one is for you. McDaniels obviously cares deeply about the story she’s trying to tell, and there is never once any “icky”, exploitative feeling that comes from a lot of the true-crime shows, books, and podcasts that we get.

Where this one didn’t work for me in comparison to ‘Betty,’ or in comparison to other books that center addiction, is the same reason why I’m sure so many people will love this. This book feels like series of poems and lyrics in search of characters that never fully materialize for me. Daffy and Arc spend their lives crocheting beautiful alternate realities to the hell they live in. Delusions and stories are what keep them tied to the rocks pulling them under, but they’re also the things with wings. Unfortunately, when half of a story feels like a daydream, it’s easy for the reader to lose focus too.

Read If You:

– Have a healthy fear of spiders

– Love “My Dying Spirit” by Greyson Chance

– Want more Appalachian Gothic on your bookshelf

TW: Addiction, Child abuse, rape, animal cruelty

Content Warnings

bookreviewswithkb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Tiffany McDaniel can WRITE 😳😳😳

this book took me on a rollercoaster. there were times where i was ready to give it a 3 star, a 4, a DNF. but i was wrong wrong wrong. it’s nothing less than a 5✨

absolutely soul crushing. it’s the way she strings words together that bring about the strongest version of emotions to ever exist

McDaniel brings life to the Chillicothe Six through this novel. she tells us of their humanity, of the ways our society never created space for them to have a chance. this book is weird and beautiful and profound all at once. it’s a musing on addiction, disposable women, power hungry men. read ittt

Content Warnings

hippiequeen's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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