A very interesting read. I couldn’t help but but rather finish it in the single sitting as it was that good. I enjoyed it

This author’s books always intrigue me, but leave me devastated and desiring to pull away from reading for quite a bit because of heavy they are. Don’t get me wrong- her subject matter is important and she weaves her stories well! It’s just HEAVY. Also her continued trend of animal cruelty rubs me the wrong way, so I am not sure if I will ever reach for her books again.

If I had picked this one up, thinking it was a raw story about addiction, family, pain and how missing prostitutes don't get investigated in rural America, I might have hesitated but still grabbed this one. But this one was listed as a mystery. I thought there would be mystery, maybe even a little police procedural. Instead, there was just sadness. There is violence, abuse, animal cruelty, drug use, prostitution. There is definitely someone out there killing these women and the police are not looking for them, but that's it. I didn't learn anything about the true crime this is loosely based on. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. On top of all that, there is odd writing. Daffy, Thursday, Mamaw, and Arc all talk like they are writing poetry. Every single interaction with the aunt had "spittle, spittle spider, where you gonna hide her?" The words felt overly-flowery to moments that were dark and I found it distracting instead of adding an additional depth to any character. It was until Arc was mad and fighting back that she started to communicate and talk in ways that were clear.

I started this with my book club and only 2 of us continued reading because the childhood abuse was just too much. I wish we'd be warned how graphic it would be and that IT would be the focus and not a mystery at all.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This book was great! I couldn't put it down! The premise was fresh and new, which is hard for me to say as I read so much each year! Sometimes it feels as though I keep reading similar stories, but this was a so original!

Wow. Its so hard for me to put into words exactly how I'm feeling after just finishing On the Savage Side. The storytelling by McDaniel was top notch, it will be hard to find another book that flowed so nicely as this one did. The story is SAD and DARK. Definitely be prepared for that but my goodness this is my first 5 star read of 2023. Captivating.

Way to much sex violence and vulgar language. Most of it added nothing to the book and was totally unnecessary.

Made it very hard to read the book. Found myself skipping through whole chapters just to get by the vulgarity.

Just can not recommend.

Not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Can not recommend.

What a wonderful book. I have never read this author before and i was hooked from the first few pages. The writing was excellent and the twist at the end was even better. Highly recommend this book!

A Most Brutal And Heartrendering Story!

Arcade (Arc) and Daffodil (Daffy) are beautiful spirited, identical twin sisters born into poverty while also the product of their mother and father being drug addicts. The book follows the girls from the age of six until the ripe old age of twenty-one where the crux of the story centers around a fictional account of the unsolved absolutely, horrific true crime murders known as "The Chillicothe Six". The one constant in their lives was their grandmother (Mamaw) who tried to give them the best in life that she could with morals, faith and knowledge to keep them on the straight and narrow that can always veer off the road at a moments notice when struggling against a family living in addiction and alcoholism. Unfortunately the lives of these precious innocents will take a devastating turn with the sudden death of their father and then of Mamaw when their young lives rapidly keep them fighting for survival without any guidance, support or supervision.

Many years later, the twins are still struggling for survival but always having each other as a security belt they have now become the opposite of any dreams of living a wholesome or good life. They don't dream of a future anymore only tired of being hungry and downtrodden, just sorely needing money for their next fix to keep them from the sickness of withdrawal. They have several friends all fighting the day to day death switch of surviving also but now a cunning and faceless killer is in their midst of Chillicothe and eventually one by one of their friends disappear without a trace until their bodies turn up weeks or months later in the river where all the young women had once found solace. Who cares about prostitutes and drug addicts? The town police don't seem to care until too many bodies begin to surface but these murders don't seem to take any form of priority in this dark underworld. Could the vicious killer be one of their own on the police force? Could it be the janitor at the local rehab center? How about the crazy, evil tattoo artist in town who is know for his violence to men as well as women? What about the local hourly beaten down and dirty creepy motel service cleaner who knows all the girls and is never without the single red glove he always wears? What about the many men who service all the women in more ways than one? How about a dark and dirty detective known for his perverted taste in little underage girls who would kill to keep his filthy secrets from being known? After Arcade finds two of the bodies on separate occasions she makes it a priority to find the murderer because she knows that Daffy and herself are now on the killer's agenda since he is well aware that Arc may figure all all the keys that fit the lock to bring him down but not before more murders occur and he is creeping closer and closer to the sisters and there isn't anyone Arc can turn to help save their lives so will this be their foretold future that was their unspoken destiny even before their birth? Is there anyone left who can help Arc find a different future instead of just surviving in this jungle world of tears and pain?

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! This is a book that I won't ever forget. My heart is in such pain after reading this book and the tears were ready to flow so many times while I was reading this captivating yet raw, painful story. Beautifully although savagely told by the author " Tiffany McDaniel" who captured the pure love of twin sisters through the horrendous, ugly downfall into the insidious and seedy life of prostitution and addiction where they become less than human beings in the eyes of most of the public who are mostly repulsed by these poor women instead of feeling sympathy or compassion. I must admit I had to get used to the lyrical and poetic writing in the beginning although it didn't take long for me to get accustomed and found myself totally immersed in this author's quality of writing style. This book was truly a WOW! I have not read a book this moving of my heart and soul since the book ''Odd Man Out" by James Newman which I read a couple of years ago and found completely unforgettable and now this novel has captured my heart and shredded it in so many ways! I should think this book will be on the best seller list for many weeks and I hope that everyone will get the opportunity to read and feel all the subtle and blatantly loud emotions that vividly poured from this author's hand.

Highly, highly recommend!

Forewarning: Abuse, Sexual abuse, Child sexual and physical abuse, Graphic drug use, Violence, Explicit language, Descriptive murder scenes!
Do not let any of these warnings keep you from reading this book as they are a realistic view of living a degrading and demoralizing life as a woman in this devastating story.

I want to thank the author "Tiffany McDaniel" for writing this HEARTBREAKING novel and the publisher "Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this fantastic book and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 5 BRILLIANTLY UNFORGETTABLE AND SAVAGELY BRUTAL 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

Wow. Incredible storytelling. The intro says that it’s a book that’s meant to be read twice. I thought it was odd at the time, but I absolutely understand it now. This is one that I very likely will go back to…. To pick up on the hints that I may have missed.

My heart broke a million times while reading this. Absolutely a book that is worth a read.

This was such a raw and emotional read. I was drawn in by the synopsis and the fact that it was inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, but after getting to know these incredibly dynamic characters, I couldn’t put the book down.

Throughout this story I found myself rooting for Arcade and Daffodil, hoping that somehow they would turn their lives around, but the generational turmoil surrounding their family had its hooks in too deep. The twist at the end was what really blew my mind, but at the same time my heart ached even more.

This was a well written and heart-wrenching story, and I can’t recommend it enough!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for providing a copy of this book to review.*

Before I start this review, I would like to mention that there are quite a few TWs for this story. Please take care while reading.

This book is one of those books that has a story so powerful it immediately grabs your attention and has you fully immersed the whole time. The story of Arcade (Arc) and Daffodil (Daffy), narrated by Arcade, is heartbreaking and tragic, telling the story of generational trauma, sisterhood, abuse, and addiction. It is also the story of how women are treated in a world that deems them to be less than. This story is inspired the still unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six.

This book is written absolutely beautifully. Some of the passages are so poetic, that I had to read them again. The stories Arc and Daffy were raised on and the stories they make up with their imaginations are truly amazing and were woven in together really well. It took me a while to read this book because of the heavy subject matter, but I'm glad I took my time with it. This story is definitely unforgettable and will stick with me for a while. I would definitely recommend it.

I had to DNF this one. The writing was so beautiful but it was just way too depressing. I thought this was going to be more of a murder mystery but over 20% in there was still no mystery elements and the drug addiction and child rape was too much to handle.

McDaniel has such a way of bringing up the most traumatic situations and still being able to tell a story beautifully. I’ve been waiting for something new since Betty comes out and cannot wait for the next.

This book tells the story of 2 sisters dealing with trauma, grief and bad memories in a small Ohio town. This book was very dark but tells an important, interesting story. It's not a typical book I would read, and while I didn't always enjoy this book, it was very well done.

🏞Book Review:
Title: On The Savage Side
Author: Tiffany McDaniel
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars

"When a woman disappears, how is she remembered?
By her beautiful smile? Her pretty face? The drugs in
her system? Or by the johns who all have dope breath
and graceless desires?"

This book was tough to read. It's loosely based on the true crime case from Chillicothe, Ohio. The Chillicothe Six is the unsolved murders of six women. It is so tragic that the women in this book were all found floating in the river.

This story revolves around twin sisters, Arcade "Arc" and Daffodil "Daffy" Doggs. They have been born and raised by their grandmother, Mamaw Milkweed, Aunt Clover and mother Adelyn. Their aunt and mother are so far into their drug addiction that they have turned a blind eye to the twins and the choices in life they themselves are starting to make. Living in these conditions these two young girls are exposed to prostitution, theft, sexual assault, physical/emotional/mental abuse, drugs, alcohol and much more.

They follow in the footsteps of their mother and aunt, after years of fighting the curiosity. They along with multiple female friends start to notice women going missing and then later being found dead in the river. They can longer deny that someone is targeting them and they soon are picked off one by one. What a nightmare.

I'm so very thankful that I've been blessed to never have been in of these situations that these young ladies were exposed to. Truly heartbreaking and so extremely disturbing.

Thank you, @netgalley and @knopfdoubleday, for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Published February 14th, 2023

In Chillicothe, Ohio, forgotten women are turning up dead. The river knows their stories, but few others, if any, bother to listen.

On the Savage Side is gut-wrenching, visceral and offers no reprieve. While the protagonist creates beautiful fables in order to make life tolerable, there is otherwise very little beauty to be found in these lives lived. Dreams are crushed, innocence stolen, bones broken. The bleakness and brutality of their circumstance is relentless.

This was a tough one and at times I really struggled (pro tip, don’t read it at night when you can’t sleep… You won’t sleep), but holy f*ck did this book make me FEEL - sadness, anxiety, fury and inevitably despair when I understood that light seldom shines in the shadows of this small Ohio town. Just as with Betty, On the Savage Side is a must-read if you are able to handle its topics.

I am broken. On The Savage Side is written so beautifully. The content is so hard but I just didn't want to stop reading. I loved it. I hate it. It's the best book I've read in such a long time. If this doesn't cause the biggest book hangover I don't know what will.

Thanks to the publisher for granting me access to an eArc via NetGalley.

Dreamlike and poetic, gutwrenching read. The author opens our minds to the ways in which sex workers and addicts are reduced to objects, and deemed disposable by painting deeply emotional portraits of lives of these women, characterizing them in ways that make the losses hit harder. Infused with lyric and magic, I found myself scribbling quotes madly as I read. Should you mistake this for a mystery you may be disappointed, but if you open your heart and mind to an emotional journey, you may be deeply rewarded.

On The Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel was a heavy drama. I went into it blind just based on the high ratings on GoodReads and the cover, which is always a gamble. I thought it would be something of a thriller. It was not. It was basically a fictional homage to a non-fiction series of murders and disappearances that happened in the author's home state. The author broke down in graphic detail how twin daughters of two addicts, the father having already died prior to the events of the book, seemed almost destined to also fall into the same path their parents took. The story took some mind bendy turns throughout that were made possible by the main characters being twins and on serious drugs. The men were universally evil in the story. Every man shown either molested, beat, tortured, or at minimum referred to women as subhuman. Every female main and supporting character was addicted to drugs and a prostitute. It was a lot. It was depressing. I also didn't see the point the author might have been trying to make. Is her assertion that children born to addicts have no options? That point would have been better illustrated if the book ever showed them with any desire to rise above their circumstances. So the strongest aspect of On The Savage Side was its realistic, gritty portrayal of addiction and poverty. Other books have done that as well. I just didn't enjoy this book even though the author did a great job of getting inside the main characters minds. I appreciate the author's efforts, though.

Dark, haunting, suspense with quite a twist in the end . The characters were realistic,honest and raw about the life they led.