Based on a string of serial murders of six women in Chillicothe, Ohio, this book is narrated by Arc, a young woman who along with her twin sister, Daffy is raised by her mother and aunt, both addicts and prostitutes after their Mamaw Milkweed is killed in an accident. The twins face a life of neglect and sexual abuse and unfortunately, grow up to follow in their mother’s footsteps. They befriend 4 other young women who have the same lifestyle and one by one each woman is found floating in the river, murdered by the River Man. The women spend time in rehab and attempt to support one another but seemed doomed never to escape addiction, abuse and prostitution except through death.
I recently read Betty by the same author and was excited to obtain an ARC of this book. I will start by noting that Tiffany McDaniel is a truly gifted writer and I thoroughly enjoyed her lyrical and metaphorical writing style in both books. In this book, the sayings and stories told by Mamaw Milkweed and the meaningful metaphors used by all the young women are beautiful and impactful. I just feel like I have to bring my rating down because I absolutely did not enjoy the book. The descriptive violence was overwhelming. If I had not had an ARC, I would not have finished the book because of this. And I have to add that the pictures of spiders was also disturbing to me. I totally understand the symbolism but just did not like it! I was surprised by the twist around Daffy’s story at the end of the book and I do really enjoy these types of surprises but this was just not the book for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the Advanced Reader Copy.

I find this a very difficult book to review. I was distinctly uncomfortable reading parts of it. There's so much brutality, sexual abuse, drug use, prostitution, and the list goes on. I'm not normally bothered by fictional atrocities but this book really disturbed me. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad reflection on the author but be very cautious before picking this one up. It's dark with barely a glimmer of hope.

The story is of twins Arcade (Arc) and Daffodil (Daffy) and the bleak life they experience, told from Arc's point of view partly in the past starting when the twins are about 6 and partly in the present when Arc and Daffy are 20-21 years old. Really well-written; in fact some of it seemed like it belonged in another book. I realize addicts and sex workers are people too but some of these ladies are so philosophical and knowledgeable that I felt like they should be lecturing at university. Much of the language in the book is extremely flowery and poetic and there's a ton of imagery and symbolism, so much so that I found myself skimming huge chunks. I was misled by the book blurb and expected more of a mystery but not only do the events take place in a totally different time period from the Chillicothe Six but also the murders are not the focus of the book.

There are lots of 4 and 5 star reviews so I have to assume that this book wasn't for me.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: February 14, 2023

I thought this book was phenomenal.

The book follows twin sisters Arc and Daffy throughout their childhood and young adult lives, detailing the trauma suffered by them at the hands of every adult in their life as children, and the continued trauma that they suffer as adults.

The book is a brutal, unflinching and oftentimes bleak coming-of-age story which was inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six.

Whilst the story is oftentimes bleak and brutal, it also has its moments of beauty, much of that being found in the writing itself. The writing in this book is lyrical, poetic, detailed and metaphorical. Tiffany has a beautiful way of writing and does a fantastic job building a world and setting a scene that feels incredibly real.

Even though I was gifted an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, I have also preordered a physical copy and would not hesitate to recommend this book to others.

Between the spring of 2014 and the summer of 2015, six women disappeared from Chillicothe, Ohio. Four were later found dead, with marks of violence upon their bodies. Two women are still missing.

I live just an hour from Chillicothe, and the disappearances and deaths of these women, dubbed the Chillicothe Six, dominated our local news cycles for more than a year. The unsolved murders have since garnered wider attention as the subject of a docuseries and a podcast, and it is from the Chillicothe Six that Tiffany McDaniel, an Ohio native herself, draws her inspiration for On the Savage Side.

While On the Savage Side is not true crime or a fictionalized retelling of actual events, McDaniel more than does the Chillicothe Six justice by painting a picture of the women they could have been. This brutally beautiful story follows the lives of twin sisters, Arc and Daffy, from 1979 through the mid-1990s, as they grow up in an environment of poverty, addiction, abuse, violence, neglect, and devastating loss. As they themselves turn to addiction and their friends begin disappearing around them, Arc and Daffy must decide if they are going to give in to the generational pull of the savage side.

On the Savage Side is a dark, unflinching, unrelenting character study, told in a devastatingly beautiful way. With prose that brims with empathy, compassion, and magic, McDaniel humanizes the women that are disparaged, judged, or flat-out ignored by society. She shows that they are more than choices made out of desperation; she reveals them as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends: people with hopes and dreams who deserved more from the world. The story she tells is one of despair and hope, sorrow and wonder, loneliness and fellowship. It's profound and devastating, filled with tension and intention.

Emotionally resonant and compelling, and told with an artistry only Tiffany McDaniel could pull off, On the Savage Side is a powerful, melancholic love letter to the downtrodden. This is not an easy read, but it is so incredibly important and impactful. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for the advanced reading opportunity.

Not sure I will ever get over this book. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I read BETTY and this one back-to-back, but let's just say I have massive book hangover and need a few romance novels to recover.

As with BETTY, this book is devastating. Raw. Horrific. Ruthless. All the adjectives. McDaniel slowly builds the trauma and then it is relentless throughout-which connects to the lifestyles of the characters. To have such an up-close view of drug addiction was very uncomfortable and harrowing. The writing was suberb. The flow was perfect. There was a slow build that had my heart racing. I knew something was coming, but I couldn't guess what. Let's just say, the ending was perfect, just like the rest of the book.

It feels weird to say that I "loved" a book with such sensitive subject matter, but I really did love it. The way Tiffany McDaniel created this story and weaved in the real tragedy/murders of the "Chillicothe Six" was suberb. I honestly don't know how McDaniel writes these stories because just reading them is difficult.

Although beautifully written, I had trouble getting through this story. Thematically, it's very troubling. It's hard to read about young people, especially children, neglected and put through the ringer only to grow up and become just as downtrodden and addicted as their mother. The one person the girls had who took good care of them, their MawMaw, was killed in a senseless accident; so that it seems that the twins never really had a shot at getting out of Chillicothe and becoming something better. It is a really good story it was just really difficult for me, personally, to get through.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this e-arc.*

The Savage Side a haunting and powerful novel that tells the story of Arcade and Daffodil, twin sisters who share an unbreakable bond. The sisters are born into a family haunted by generational ghosts and grow up in a rural Ohio town. The book explores the sisters' desire for escape and the impact of their early life on Arcade's memories. The novel draws from true events and serves as a fearless elegy for missing women. McDaniel's writing is moving and beautifully rendered. However, this book is NOT for the faint of heart.

I love McDaniel's poetic writing. and found myself going back to re read sentences because they were so beautiful. This book is tragic and horrible too though. I didn't particularly care for how the timelines were presented in this book and found it took more mental work than I wanted to have to recall each year. I will read anything Tiffany McDaniel writes!

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the chance to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This book is not for the faint of heart! This may be one of the darkest books I've ever read. I've never read a book with addiction shown so honestly and raw. I loved how this was inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six in Ohio. McDaniel is clearly talented and her writing is so strong, engaging and heartbreaking. The pacing of this one brought it down a notch for me as it was hard to get into. The ending though? Oh man. I promise if you stick this one out you will be stunned. This one will definitely stick with me.

On the Savage Side may be one of the bleakest books I’ve ever read. It may also be one of the most beautiful. Tiffany McDaniel’s lyrical writing is absolutely superb. Aside from the writing, the nonlinear timeline and first-person narration work wonderfully, which is not always the case in some books. However, the characters and the societal commentary were the stars of the story. Arc and the other “Chillicothe Queens” were complex and sympathetic characters I rooted for the entire time. Additionally, the book does a fantastic job touching on hard hitting topics, such as addiction, gender, class, law enforcement, the military, violence, and family. Unfortunately, the multi-genre aspect didn’t really work for me in this story; however, I do think that’s because I was reading an ebook and assume a physical copy would be much better. Finally, I did not love the ending and the many unanswered questions it left upon the reader. Overall, On the Savage Side is a hard read, but also a must-read!

Absolutely amazing and heartbreaking. This isn one of those books that will stick with me for a very long time. I loved it. I cried. So good. There are a lot of trigger warnings with this one.

Genre: Literary/Mystery

Format: Audio

Pub date: February 14th, 2023

5 stars - I loved it!

Thank you @aaknopf for the finished copy and @prhaudio for the complimentary audiobook!

Say hello to one of my new all time fav books and my favorite book of the year so far! Tiffany’s writing is so special, and she is absolutely one of my favorite authors. I’ve never read books quite like Tiffany’s, and she is undoubtedly a gifted literary voice that deserves all the recognition and praise.

Everything about this book was incredibly haunting, atmospheric, heartbreaking, poignant, raw, and gruesome. This book holds such deep emotion while sustaining a gripping and propulsive storyline.

This book is incredibly heavy, but I wanted to simultaneously devour and savor every word. There is just something so compelling about her storytelling. Knowing that this novel was based on a true missing girls case where the author is from, added even more depth and meaning to this story.

I was lucky enough to receive an early copy from Tiffany, and she send along name plates for all her books. Not only are her books amazing, but she is so lovely!

Overall, a gut-wrenching, compelling literary mystery, coming-of-age story with stunning prose that is a new favorite!

Hear me when I say this. ON THE SAVAGE SIDE is not the book for everyone. It is one of the darkest yet most beautifully written stories I have read.

Based on the true story of the Chillicothe murders, the novel follows twin sisters Daffy and Arc and their life in a small Ohio town crippled by opioid addiction. While local authorities turned a blind eye, many women with addiction and involved in prostitution went missing or were found dead in the river. No major investigations took place because of who the victims were.

The rawness and heartbreak of addiction is highlighted as we follow Daffy & Arc through childhood and emerging adulthood. I became deeply invested in their struggles and couldn’t tear myself away from the brokenness they experienced. Tiffany McDaniel makes a searing point that these girls were somebody’s beloved daughter and worthy of not only a proper investigation, but love and compassion.

As with her debut novel BETTY, McDaniel creates a stark juxtaposition of deeply disturbing content paired with the most lyrical prose. I was simultaneously in awe of the poetic writing and unsettled by so many aspects of this story. Name a trigger warning and you’ll likely find it within these pages. It’s important to know that the book is not not traumatic or gratuitous for the sake of shock value; McDaniel has a clear purpose and thoughtful message.

ON THE SAVAGE SIDE raises important questions about those who our society values and the vulnerable people that are overlooked. Brimming with symbolism and bleakness, your heart will break and you should go ahead and let it shatter. This is a story I won’t soon forget.

RATING: 5/5
PUB DATE: February 14, 2023

Many thanks to Knopf for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Review will be posted to www.instagram.com/kellyhook.readsbooks in advance of publication date.

“In life, there is a savage side and a beautiful side.”

Wow. This is one of those books that punches you in the heart and then embeds itself there to stay.

Eerie, foreboding, unsettling, frank, and powerful, On The Savage Side is an up close and personal look into the lives of twin sisters, Daffy and Arc, their childhood and upbringing, their trauma and loss, their grief and pain. It's inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six. This story was poignant, thoughtful, raw and profound in many ways. As beautiful as it was hard to read. The writing was abstract, haunting, and incredibly impactful.

While there is a thriller element, it’s definitely secondary. Even when the plot twist leaves you questioning everything and also nothing, this story is much more a focus on the lives of the girls who have gone missing, their hopes, their dreams, their struggles and suffering. Their survival. It's an ode to remembering them. To remembering them as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and just...people... despite the hardships of their lives and how each of them inevitably ended up.

There were difficult and darker themes of addiction, poverty, abuse/child abuse, neglect, assault/sexual assault of a minor, death/murder, and miscarriage that were unabashedly explored.

But there were also those lighter, more heartfelt themes of found family, friendship, bonds of sisterhood, turning the hard things beautiful, the love of a grandmother, the power of imagination and affirmations, hope, dreams, and new life.

This is a story that will not easily be forgotten.

Thank you to the author for providing me with an early copy for review.

On the Savage Side is the third novel by Tiffany McDaniel. I’ve read her previous two works and was so excited to have the opportunity to read her latest. The author’s bio lists her as a poet as well and it certainly shows in her writing. On the Savage Side is beautifully written however so many aspects of the subject matter are difficult to read. Multiple trigger warnings.

Inspired by the true story of the murder/disappearance of six women in Ohio, the novel is part mystery, part primer on heroin addiction. At times grim, but always beautifully written with gorgeous dialogue, On the Savage Side is a compelling read. If you’ve read McDaniel’s previous works, this is as good as you’ve come to expect. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and get this novel and her back catalogue

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and the publisher Alfred A Knopf for the chance to read this outstanding novel.

“In life, there is a savage side and a beautiful side”

When I heard Tiffany McDaniel had a new novel coming out I was thrilled. I read Betty back in 2021 and it was one of my stand out novels of the year.

Similar to Betty, McDaniel has fictionalised a real life event, this time she pays tribute to 6 woman who went missing in Chillicothe, Ohiho.

On the Savage Side is a brutal, heartbreaking book which follows twin sisters Arc and Daffy Doggs as they grow up trying to find the beautiful in the savage. McDaniel flicks the reader between the past and present to explore how Arc and Daffys childhood tragedies impact their adult life, exploring their friendships with incredible detail whilst simultaneously writing a compelling plot. McDaniels writing is poetic and atmospheric. The characters within her pages are ones you won’t forget for a really long time. From Arc and Daffy, to their friends - the Chillicothe queens, Mamaw Milkweed, and John Theresa.

The content is so heavy yet I didn’t want to part from Arc and Daffy. There is A LOT of trigger warnings in this one (child sexual abuse, neglect, abuse, substance use, the list goes on), but despite this I really loved this novel. I loved the personification of the river, I loved her and felt apart of her. From the characters to the environment, it was so easy to picture because of the meticulous detail.

I think I’ve found another 5 star read for 2023. Thanks to @hachetteau for the copy and @netgalley for the digital copy.

I would like to start by stating that this book will not be for everyone - heck, it won’t even be for A LOT of readers. This story presents with the entire spectrum of triggers, and therefore will be a turn-off for many.
My thoughts on the story: I can’t breathe enough life into each time I was thankful that the life I have been born into was not at all the same as Arc and Daffy’s. As stated in the first few pages of the book, this story is loosely based on the murders of six women from the small town of Chillicothe, Ohio. Although the story is lyrical, metaphorical, and poetic, it gave the sense of validating the existence of not only the six murdered women, but of women anywhere that may live in small town, rural America. Born into poverty, into existing family addiction and drug use, not many opportunities for education or employment, these heart-breaking characters bring to life the grim, depressing, and hopeless lives that often turn to and become dependent on prostitution and drug use. The story touches on how women like this are often thought of as the lowest members of society. Therefore, when crimes are committed against women who live this type of lifestyle, the crimes are often ignored and no justice is brought against the men that possess a savage power over them. Brutal, yet beautiful story.
Thank you to Knopf Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loosely based on the true crime mystery dubbed the "Chillicothe Six", On the Savage Side follows two twin girls, Arc and Daffodil, as they grow up in a home and town riddled with addiction. As the girls grow up, they form a circle of close friends who all share the same struggle of addiction and sometimes the need to turn to sex work. Throughout the story, the girls are picked off one by one by the "River Man", an unknown killer who drops their victims in the nearby river to be found later.

I’m not a squeamish person, especially when it comes to reading. But this one did it. This has to be the first book I’ve ever read that had me squirming in my seat and wondering if I could go on.

As with all of Tiffany McDaniel’s work, On the Savage Side is incredible. McDaniel has solidified her place in my library as an auto buy/read. She has to be one of the greatest present day writers.

Read this book for the ending. That’s it, that my review.

Okay, just kidding, I have more to say. But honestly, this book had one of the best endings I’ve read in a while. It was shocking in parts, and heartbreaking in others, and just wrapped the story up perfectly. It’s *chefs kiss*

In general, this book is DARK. It does not shy away from the hardships of addiction, living in poverty, and being a woman. Some of the sections are not for the faint of heart, so I encourage you to be cautious of that going in (and I’m happy to provide specific trigger warnings if you’re worried). However, because it fully embraces the darkness, this story is just so powerful. I worried deeply about each of the characters and viscerally felt pain when things happened to them.

My only (small) issue is that, while I really enjoyed the writing when it came to the action and character descriptions, I had a hard time getting into this style of dialogue. It took me quite awhile into the book to get into a rhythm reading it, and even then I didn’t love the dialogue because it felt slightly over the top. But again, the rest of the book was so good that it was truly a minor personal issue.

Despite my slight complaint about this story, I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend you check it out. Thank you to Knopf Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC!

4.5/5 stars

Wow, this was a very, very tough (but also moving) read, a mystery a very different kind. Inspired by a real unsolved true crime case in Chillicothe, Ohio, the book focuses on twin sisters, Arcade and Daffodil (Arc and Daffy).

Just a heads-up that the book includes sexual abuse, domestic violence, and drug abuse. It's a dark book that doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of poverty, abuse, trauma, and human suffering.

This was my first book by Tiffany McDaniel. She is a writer and poet and her writing is definitely on the poetic side. I loved how nature and the river tied in to the story. In this sense the book reminded me somewhat of The Paper Palace, which had a similar style and some similar themes. It also felt a bit like The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey, which also was inspired by a true crime case and was very focused on humanizing the victims.

I could see part of the ending coming, but it still packed a huge emotional punch.

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel is a brutal, heartbreaking and beautiful lyrically written novel. McDaniel's previous novel, Betty, is among my favorite books of all time.

On the Savage side tell the story of Arc (Arcade) and Daffy (Daffodil), twins born to drug addicted parents and set against the backdrop of the Chillicothe Ohio Murders.

The positive light in the twins' lives is their grandmother Mawmaw Milkweed. Mawmaw teaches the girls life lessons.

"A witch is not a pointy hat or a broom or warts. A witch is merely a woman who is punished for being wiser than a man. That's why they burned her. They tried to burn away her power because a woman who says more than she's supposed to say and does more than she's supposed to do, is a woman they'll try to silence and destroy."

This was such a stunning novel. The beauty of the prose was exceptional. The characters Daffy and Arc glimmered with creativity, magical thinking and potential, all while surrounded by corruption and neglect, it
was gut-wrenching.

This was a hauntingly beautiful novel; the characters will stay with me a long time. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this novel.