Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

20 reviews

motleybooksandtea's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

This book. Oof. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fantastic. So hard to recommend because of heavy trigger warnings.  I want to go back and reread because of the twist but not sure I can?  I borrowed it from the library but will probably buy a copy just in case I can get the nerve to read again.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Addiction, Drug use, Murder, Body horror, Child abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death

briwithabook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Bullying, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Gun violence

So many content warnings for this book. If you have any triggers at all, I’d recommend researching content warnings before reading it.

lost_luna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

5.0

This book has broken me repeatedly 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Car accident, Alcoholism, Addiction, Rape, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual content, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Animal death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, and Cursing

Moderate: Self harm

thebphiles's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, and Death

diannasbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Addiction, Death, and Blood

Minor: Child death and Pregnancy

pomoevareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Not for the faint of heart, On the Savage Side, Tiffany McDaniel’s upcoming book is affecting and important.

Loosely based on the Chillicothe Six, an unsolved case of missing and murdered women in Chillicothe, Ohio, this book is narrated by Arcade Doggs, who goes by Arc. Arc and her twin sister Daffodil (Daffy) spend their earliest years with their grandmother who gives them all the love they need that their parents can’t give them because of poverty and addiction. When Adelyn and Flood Doggs convince Mamaw that they are sober and ready to show their daughters a wonderful life, the girls go to live with them. But addiction is a mean thing. It is not long before the girls are being raised in an environment of sadness, addiction and sex work. A police officer who comes to the house at one point makes a comment on his way out to his partner that in a few years they will be returning to arrest these young girls for the same things their parents have been doing. Talk about being set up for failure…

The story moves between time periods and focusses its lens on the girls. When we come back to see the young women in early adulthood, they are living the same tragic life that their mother and their aunt live. Going to the river with their friends is a past time, sitting in an old half buried car, getting high. The women call themselves the Chillicothe Queens. Each of the women in this story have a very distinctive character and we see their most human side. They deal with bad johns, family, children and pregnancy in addition to having hope, creativity and strength of character. 

When a woman is found floating in the river, a new era in this small Appalachian town has begun. Soon one of the group disappears and turns up in the river and the group fears for their safety from the River Man. Reports to police are not taken seriously. Police comment on the risky lifestyles that the women lead as reasons to not assume they are missing. 

This is not a whodunit, although there will be many suspects. This story is to show that the women who have gone missing or found murdered were human beings. They were mothers, sisters, and daughters. 

I would recommend this book for people that understand hurt, enjoy Appalachian stories, true crime stories, detailed characters, great writing, and have good self-care practices as this one could be triggering for many. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @aaknopf for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. On the Savage Side comes out February 14, 2023. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Death, Pregnancy, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Self harm, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal cruelty