This is not an easy world to get consumed in, but you won’t be able to stop yourself. And you won’t stop thinking about it long after finishing.⁣
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Six women gone missing. A vicious generational cycle in a town that makes people disappear. Mothers. Daughters. Sisters.⁣
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"Life is a beautiful war.”⁣
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After being emotionally gutted but the astonishing story of Betty, I find myself struggling to find the words to describe how my heart feels after reading another Tiffany McDaniel novel. How can anything I say illuminate the grace and beauty between these pages? Every word is carefully and thoughtfully placed on the pages with resounding purpose, to honor the heartbreaking story of these women.⁣
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On the Savage Side is inspired by the Chillicothe Six and the mystery of their unsolved murders in Appalachian Ohio. It follows twins Arcade and Daffodil who are born into circumstance that in short - swallows them whole. They cling to as many things on the beautiful side as they can - love, friendships, each other, and Mamaw, as they wrestle with the savage side of drugs and abusive men. And they try like hell to remember that they matter, but for all their efforts, they are only someones in this sometimes life that has those two heavy and conflicting sides. Two sisters, fending for themselves in a world of addiction, and how it latches on and doesn’t let go.⁣
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Reading this was a devastating collision of so many emotions. Laden with the perils of trauma, addiction, and the dangerous affliction of being a woman, it’s a gorgeous tribute to the spirit and value of the six souls who deserve justice and to never be forgotten.

Do you ever see an addict, prostitute, or homeless person and wonder what event(s) led them there?

Do you ever wonder what their lives otherwise could have been? What their dreams were?

On the Savage Side introduces us to a group of unforgettable women. These women show us how a life unravels, how dreams are stomped on by predatory or apathetic adults, how intelligent little girls fall through life's cracks.

I love stories like this because, by forcing us to look at the reality, they build empathy. I don't think you can read this book and not look at a disheveled woman on the street a little differently.

The writing is brilliant.

The story is bleak and real and it hurts.

Words have power, and Tiffany McDaniel uses hers with precision and grace.

“See? They don’t talk to her friends. Don’t try to find any witnesses. To them, she doesn’t matter. A rock. A stick. A pile of dirt. What do they all have in common, Arc? I’ll tell you what they have in common. The police don’t look for them when they go missing.“

Drawing from the true story of the Chillicothe Six, On the Savage Side follows Arcade and Daffodil- twin sisters with fiery red hair, tied together by an inseparable bond and their grandmother’s stories. As readers, we spend our time with Arc as she learns to navigate life and love, coming of age while fighting generational ghosts and men who are spiders. Left on their own in the shadow of their rural Ohio town, Daffy and Arc remain tied together through their lives, making their bond a focal point of the story. The story really picks up and becomes hard to put down when a local woman is discovered in the river, and as more bodies turn up, Arc’s fight to keep herself and her sister safe becomes a desperate fight for survival.

I appreciated that this story spends time shedding light on the lives of these women, painting them as entire human identities with deep roots of love, laughter, and desires. Women with friends, lovers, mothers, and daughters. Women with names. I love that the author took her time in developing everyone’s story. Every woman has one, and McDaniel demonstrates that to us through her beautifully crafted storytelling and wholly dynamic character depth.

Overall, a stunning story with gorgeous prose that offered me with a more empathetic perspective on my world and the people that I inhabit it with. Much love to the author for the care that she took in writing this work of art.

“I wish they knew how hard it is to love a child you can’t find. You love her for everything she was. Everything she wasn’t. Everything she might never get to be.”

You know when you read a book that manages to completely stun you and no review can really do it justice? On The Savage Side is that book!

All I will say is that this is beautifully written book that shows us such ugliness. Loosely based on the Chillicothe Six, the women who disappeared or were found dead in Ohio. This is a story of addiction, mental health, poverty, abuse, neglect and social prejudice. The author did an amazing job retelling the true life horrors through fictional characters who could be the next victims. It’s a tough but powerful read that was gut wrenching and sadly very real.

“They’ll say our true killer was addiction itself. Addiction. Defined as giving in to something that is known to be harmful. Books will be written about it. Important voices will go on TV, documentaries will be filmed, and someone will win a Pulitzer Prize for humanizing what was already human. Who we were as women will be lost to a whole conversation about addiction itself.”

I think this will definitely be one of my memorable/top reads this year.

A little too brutal and depressing for my taste. The writing was great, but I couldn't keep reading about the horrible life these kids were living.

From my blog: Always With a Book

A couple years ago, Tiffany McDaniel reached out to me asking if I would read her sophomore novel, Betty. I did and it’s a book that has stayed with me ever since I finished reading the last page. As soon as I heard she had another book coming out, I knew I had to read it…but I also knew it would not be an easy read and while that was certainly true, I found myself glued to the pages and know it is a story that will also be staying with me.

This book is dark…and when I say dark, I mean it may be one of the darkest books I’ve ever read and I read a lot of dark books. This is definitely not for everyone, but on the other hand, it is also one of the most beautifully written, compelling stories I’ve read in a while that deals with generational trauma, poverty, addiction and abuse. This literary thriller is loosely based on the true story of the Chillicothe murders, and in McDaniel’s hands we have one unsettling story about twin sisters who are brimming with potential, yet have the deck stacked against them through no fault of their own.

This book is hard to read but at the same time I could not take my eyes off the pages. I was drawn to the beautiful way that the author has of telling this story and the way I became so invested in Arc and Daffy’s lives. They are so vividly drawn that they felt like real people to me, despite knowing they are made up. The emotions this book evokes is unlike anything else I have read before. Never have I wanted to protect characters like I wanted to protect these girls we meet in this story, no matter what their circumstances were. Knowing that those that should have been protecting them couldn’t and those that could wouldn’t. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating at all the same time.

This was a much anticipated read for 2023, and as much as I knew it would break me, which it did, it absolutely lived up to every expectation I had for it and then some. This powerful, heartbreaking story is not to be missed. Tiffany McDaniel is a masterful storyteller and has become one of my favorite authors. I still need to read her debut novel, The Summer That Melted Everyone, which I will be getting ASAP, but if you have not added her books to your reading list yet, I highly recommend you do so.

Beautifully written, heartbreaking - I feel like Tiffany McDaniel improves with each novel. I find myself impressed every time I read her.

4.5
What is the "Savage Side"? It's the side of life that two young girls are forced to live on where their childhood is wild, uncontrolled and fierce because of the adult choices made around them.

Daffodil and Arcade are twins, born to two drug addicts. Because of the addiction in their mothers life they are faced with the horrors that no child should see. They are neglected, abused, and stolen from, but among that there is a beautiful side where the sisters love and support one another. They have a kind Mamaw who loves, teaches and protects them, for as long as she can. Their mother tries at times, but the addiction has a greater grip on her than her two children.

The book is fluid in the timeline as we alternate between the girls as children and then as young adults. We know where these girls end up, and it's not in a good place. Many of the women in town turn to prostitution amongst the drug life. It is quite a savage life to live.

The backdrop of the book is based on true events in Chillicothe, Ohio, during a time when women went missing and were later found dead in the local river. It is unknown the reason for these women's deaths, whether it was the doing of a serial killer, the result of drug addicts and abuse, or other reasons. Using this backdrop gave the book great power in truth and reality and fear.

This book has all the triggers and all the content warnings. While the story was disturbing at times, I never felt that it was overly graphic or gratuitous in the telling. McDaniel is bringing a voice to women that face these problems of addiction, abuse, and hopelessness today as we speak. I applaud her in the telling of this savage story that makes me the reader feel deep emotion for these lost girls and women.

Thank you toNetGalley and Knopf for the advance e-copy of this book.

You ought to be in the right headspace before you dive into this one, which is high praise to the atmosphere that McDaniel sets out to, and succeeds in, creating. A tense and gripping title, I feel a hard analysis is best left to someone who reads the genre more or is at least familiar with the inspiring event. All I can say is that I will look it up now that I am aware of it... but maybe when I'm a little less close to this read. Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity with this title.

Wow... This book was TOUGH, and not just in some places, but from start to finish. It is violent and brutal and hard and DARK. That being said, it is very difficult to look away and it does keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what happens next.

Telling the story of twins Arc and Daffy from childhood through early adulthood (though not moving through time in order), it shows the effects of drug addiction and poverty on their Ohio community and especially their family. It does not hold back, and is very bleak and sad. It is also extremely literary and character-driven, which often does feel overdone.

To me, it was too long and over often repetitive, however it is extremely compelling and unique. Not easily forgotten, but ONLY for readers willing to be immersed in darkness. Check trigger warnings for specifics.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read and review this book by Tiffany McDaniel!

This book is VERY heavy, it wasn't at all what I was expecting.
Please check the trigger warnings for this book before reading, it is NOT for everyone and I do NOT recommend this book if you actively avoid certain triggers as this book has a lot of them... And I mean A LOT.
I had to take breaks from this book due to the graphic, dark, heavy themes, but I found myself wanting to continue and read more and more.
McDaniel is an amazing author, so well written and this book made me feel so many emotions and opened my eyes to an actual case of the Chillicothe six.
I don't think this book will EVER leave my brain like ever.

Thank you to Knopf Publishing and NetGalley for gifting me with an ARC of Tiffany McDaniel’s newest novel, On the Savage Side. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

After reading and loving Betty, I was thrilled to discover the author had a new book coming out. Betty nearly broke me in pieces and this book was no different. On the Savage Side is not an easy or light read. It’s dark and bleak and filled with terrible truths and traumas. Identical twin sisters are born into a shattered existence, having addicts for parents and a mother & aunt who support their addiction by prostitution. The girls beloved Mamaw Milkweed fills their lives with stories of hope and resilience, painting an alternate life of beauty and escape. And while the girls struggle to remain innocent and independent the cruel realities of addiction and neglect lead them to repeat the mistakes that their own mother and aunt have made.
Tiffany McDaniel writes evocatively and vividly. Her sentences are gorgeous as they are painful and terrifying. There were several instances when I thought I’d have to abandon this book, but I was too emotionally invested to stop reading. I’m glad to have taken this journey with Daffy and Arc and the other young women who are often overlooked, abandoned and forgotten. It’s heartbreaking to know this book was inspired by real events that took place in Chillicothe, Ohio in the mid 1990’s, an area familiar and close to the author.
This book contains several trigger warnings so please be aware before you venture too close.

Tiffany McDaniel can write like nobody's business! I am in awe at the beauty of her writing. I could feel her words as I read them. Talk about a book that evokes emotion. Whew! On the Savage Side is so beautifully written that it needs to be said more than once. There are so many sentences which moved me in this heartbreaking book loosely based on the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six. I became a fan of Tiffany McDaniel after reading The Summer that Melted Everything. I was so excited when I saw this book was available. It blew me away and broke my heart all at the same time.

This book focuses on twin sisters, Arcade (Arc) and Daffodil (Duffy) who have a tight bond and whose grandmother, Mamaw Milkweed made their bleak and sad childhood bearable until she is killed in an accident when they are 9 years old. Their father is dead, and their mother and aunt are addicts. They are left to fend for themselves and suffer sexual abuse and neglect.

Sadly, their lives are full of tragedy, and they continue the cycle of abuse, drug use, prostitution and violence. Can it get worse for them? Sadly, it can.

This was such an exquisitely written heartbreaking book. I could not get enough of it. The book is told through the past and the present. This is not an easy book to read, it has many triggers such as neglect, sexual abuse of children, drug use, death of women, violence against women, to name a few.

If you have not read a book by Tiffany McDaniel, you need to put her on your radar.

Wowza! I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Gripping, evoking emotion, heartbreaking and brilliantly told.


#OntheSavageSide #NetGalley #Knopf #TiffanyMcDaniel.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the chance to read and review 'On the Savage Side' by Tiffany McDaniel.

There was a TV commercial in the UK and Ireland back in the 90s where the catchphrase was 'it does what it says on the tin.' Well, 'On the Savage Side' does exactly what it says on the tin - it throws you deep into the savage side of life. The only other book I've read that is as unremittingly brutal and savage (but with equally transcendent writing) as this one is Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridien.'

Based on real events in Chillicothe, Ohio (and the reality of the unsolved and uncared about disappearances of women all over this country) this is a tough read, make absolutely no mistake, but holey moley the language is outstanding. For me I really had to work hard to set aside the constant refrain in my mind that real people do not converse like these characters do - the language is bordering on (but stays this side of) purple prose. If you keep that thought at bay and jump on the horse (narrative allusion there) and go with the flow it's hard not to be blown away by Tiffany McDaniel's way with the English language. I read and loved 'Betty' and this novel is more lyrical and more heartbreaking by multiple magnitudes.

Twins Arc and Daffy see their circle of heroin-addicted female friends disappear one-by-one and we're introduced to a number of men who could be the killer. Their home life is a shambles, their beloved Mamaw who was their anchor with the world no longer there. All of the men save maybe the father of one of the women are vile, disturbed, and brutal creatures. As a man that rubbed me up the wrong way a little until I returned to the realization that that's how life is for many women in general but especially in these contexts - that's just the horrible reality.

There's quite the twist in the tale of this one so even though it's a tough, tough read, stick with it. McDaniel's 'Betty' has stuck with me for a long time and, like 'Blood Meridien,' so will 'On the Savage Side.'

This is my first Tiffany McDaniel and boy does she know how to write! I used to use “flowery” as a descriptor of writing I didn’t like but I’m urged to use it here in a different way. Each sentence, mostly those said by her characters, is poetic, unsettling yet charming.

McDaniel’s characters are so complex in a difficult backdrop where women are often forgotten about, with justice not sought after. You can tell the care she put into each one. Based on the real unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, McDaniel gives a voice to women all over trying to survive tragedy. It was so expertly done here.

Haunting, emotionally-driven and a rawness that will leave you breathless, ON THE SAVAGE SIDE is not a story I will forget easily. And that ending!!! McDaniel’s story telling in unmatched. This writing alone has me itching to read her backlist!

Arc and Daffy are twins. They’re two halves of one whole. Although their childhood is is nearly nonexistent—any potential for good is overshadowed by drug use and their guardians’ prostitution—they both fill the home with their dreams. One day, Arc is going to be a famous archaeologist, and Daffy is going to be an Olympic swimmer.

Their story is a part of McDaniel’s reimagined version of the murders of six women in Chilicothe, Ohio.

1️⃣ I haven’t read Betty yet, but I absolutely will be reading it soon after this. On the Savage Side is simultaneously horrifying and poetic while also an urgent read that propels the reader forward. The pages fly by.

2️⃣ The discrepancy between Arc’s whimsical storytelling and her heartbreaking reality is perfect and painful to experience.

3️⃣ McDaniel allows the people to create the reality of every object, and it’s absolutely genius. No object, regardless of its design for healing or harm, can decide its purpose. In the right hands, a knife could be a conductor’s baton. In the wrong hands, medicine can be an agent of death.

4️⃣ This is a feminist plea for a safe landing place for the women beaten down by society. A plea for the river to be a place of birth and renewal rather than the dangerous current created by the men in their lives.

5️⃣ Obviously, this is a tough read. The entire story will frustrate you as you wish for better for the women and better from the men. By the end, your heart will be broken. Is it worth it? 100%.

<i>I would like to thank Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This was a very difficult book to read, and it is a difficult review to write. I considered DNF the book since the beginning because I was just finding it too heavy for me.

I was expecting something a bit different, closer to a thriller than to what it ended to be. However, as I kept thinking I would just stop reading it, I could not. I was hooked with the twins’ stories, their friends and, despite knowing what was going to happen, I still wanted to see how it would happen.

Tiffany McDaniel writing was beautiful, even if unrelated with the way these twins and other characters would speak, and the end was absolutely brilliant.

This book is a heavy reading and not for everyone, but if you feel you can handle the trigger warnings, go for it. Read it slowly, make breaks if it becomes too much, DNF if needed, go until the end when you are ready.

TW: drugs, substance abuse, prostitution, paedophilia, death of family members, death of friends, violence, extreme poverty

This is a hands down ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read and I hope many readers will give this a try.

I raved about her previous novel, Betty, which was a fictionalized account of events that happened in her own family history.

In this novel, she fictionalizes the lives of six real girls found dead in Chillicothe, Ohio.

I’m not going to explain anything further. This story contains very difficult life circumstances that is incredibly hard to read. But the writing is so beautifully handled I could not put this down.

These main characters have been imprinted on me and made my empathy grow exponentially.

Read this to grow as a person and to better understand things you don’t necessarily see.

Thank you to #netgalley and #knopf for the advanced reader copy of this novel.

Thank you the publisher and netgalley. I don’t even know to to do this book justice with a review but it was such a well written book. However, this book is very very very dark and emotional. The way the author wrote it paints a picture of the lives of the twins and the way their upbringing impacts their future. I appreciated the book but did not enjoy it and often had to put it aside due to the graphic and violent nature.

Betty was a 5⭐️ book for me a couple of years ago and so my hopes were high for On the Savage Side.

Tiffany McDaniel writes beautifully, it’s like poetry, but in its most accessible form. Inspired by the murders of several women in Chillicothe, Ohio, this is a heavy book in terms of content (trigger warnings abound), but McDaniel’s lyrical writing dilutes it a bit, softening the punch of what she had to say without lessening the importance of her words and the story.

4.5 ⭐️ Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy. On the Savage Side released today.