a hint of true crime with fiery females protagonists. This was a chunker of a thriller but McDaniel writes toxic family dynamics like no other.

A dark twisted and fun, rapid one-sitting read. Kept me up all night, really twisty and unexpected In wonderful ways.

Beautiful writing. Poetic on a sentence level. Based on the true story of women killed in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Twins, born to addict parents, living in poverty their life was hard growing up. So there is a reason this book had to be written. The stories that are told b but the way the author told it is Poetic and carefully thought out. Some what bizarre but definitely a page turner for sure. I recommend this book if you are traveling or just to cozy up in the bed on a fall night.

On the Savage Side is such a harrowing and beautiful story. It is harrowing in much the same way that Betty (hyperlink for that review) was. But it is also very, very different. McDaniel has taken something already very, very sad and personalized it. Which feels awful, but also much needed.

I had zero knowledge of the Chillicothe Six, and I don’t live but a few states over. I feel like that should have been more newsworthy – and still should be as they still have no idea who is responsible for the deaths of the women. But we all know the criminal justice system cares very little for women who are not white, at least middle class, and either in “respectable” fields, or homemakers. If you “fail” at any one of those requirements, it’s pretty much game over. Nobody gives a shit.
Probable Cause of Death: Being a Woman

On the Savage Side gives voice to the terrors felt by all of us outside of those very narrow parameters. See, Arc and Daf are the children of a drug addicted sex worker. Their mom and their aunt are well known by local law enforcement. And adulthood changes nothing. They continue around the cycle into which they were born – drug addiction, sex work, and extreme poverty.

There is no escape. The only hope they have is in the friends they have made – other drug addicted sex workers. And one by one their friends begin to disappear, only to turn up later in a fashion that will begin to feel very familiar if you’ve read up on the Chillicothe Six. And the police rule them suicides, accidents, etc. Despite the fact that each woman was clearly the victim of a killer. Because we know the police in reality don’t give a single shit about the safety of sex workers, and the world McDaniels has built is no different.
“We belong to grief until the engine goes out. Then we belong to the dirt, our bodies identical to other fallen things.”

I don’t want to say much, in order to mitigate the risk of spoilers, but…On the Savage Side is really incredible. It is incredibly sad, and it is incredibly poignant. If you want to see what life is like at the intersection of extreme poverty, drug addiction, sex work and gender I strongly suggest this book. It explores a very common reality for a shockingly large number of Americans in a way that is as unflinching as it is terrifying.

We like to believe that we are some modern Utopia here in America, but frankly that is only true for a small number of people. For most, yes, it is a mostly okay situation on the day to day, but for the remainder the world is a constant battle. A living nightmare, and a fight for their very lives every single day. And McDaniel has consistently done what she can to bring that to light.
My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.

This isn’t really going to be a fun read. But it is going to be an important and impactful one.

*This review will go live on my website 8/16 at 10:30 AM.

I'm an outlier for this one. I did not enjoy On the Savage Side.

I was hoping for a different type of book. This was a dark novel without hope.

On the Savage Side was inspired by the murders of the Chillicothe Six. I was hoping to see more justice for these women in the novel since in real life the actual women who were murdered have not had it since two of the missing women are still missing, presumed dead but no body has been recovered.

What rang true was the lack of worry the police felt about trying to find who was killing the prostitutes and drug addicts.

The main character is Arc Doggs. She has a twin named Daffy. They live with their mother and aunt. Both prostitutes and heroin drug addicts. The twins experience child and sexual abuse. They grow up poor and without anyone helping them after their grandmother is killed. So as teenagers, they succumb to drugs and to be able to afford their addiction they become prostitutes themselves.

As I said earlier this book was not for me. The prose was slow and the novel was full of imagery, symbolism, and constant metaphors. Too much for my taste.

Cliffhanger: No

2/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Knopf via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a truly jarring novel based on the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six. . Dad has died from an overdose, mom is a junkie, her mom is a junkie and Dad’s mom tries to help the girls, but she is battling their environment every step of the way. The twins live in a truly horrific situation and the disappearance of girls who have similar circumstances follows them everywhere. Young girls bodies wash up on the shore of the river and the authorities aren’t really interested in finding the person. Racism, drugs, poverty, prostitution are just some of the themes. The twins stick close to each other, but every time they get a break they just can’t hold onto it. Read closely so that you gain even more perspective about the twins because appearances are deceiving.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. I give very few books a 5. This is a solid 4.

On the Savage Side is a book that will haunt me for a very long time. It's an incredibly powerful, moving, and thoughtful story. It was triggering for me to read several chapters but, I'm glad I pushed through as it's a beautifully devastating story of abuse and addiction. I loved how the story alternated from past to present day effortlessly. I didn't see the big twist at the end coming, it shook me to the core!

thank you to netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a strange amazing sad book. The writing is beautiful and haunting in a way I was not prepared for. One of my top five books this year.

This is not what I was expecting from the cover or the description. However, I found this novel to be very raw and heartbreaking. And I enjoyed the little twist at the end.

Wow. This was brutal. This story has seeped into my brain. It has exhausted me. Reading about addiction just slaughters me and this book slaughtered me no less than 10000 times. Throw in that it was a story about sisters- it’s just fucking heartbreaking. The following statement is going to sound so juvenile, but god heroin enrages me. Watching generation after generation destroy themselves with little to no salvation in site. Families just watching their own histories repeat themselves. It’s kills me.

DNF at 9%. Loved the writing but literally had no idea what was going on. Felt like it was too poetic for me - wanted more plot development, especially as setting and characters are being established. Love a good metaphor but was too heavy on the poetic nuances and not enough story elements.

I had a hard time at the start of this book. If this is also your experience I urge you to stick with it and keep reading. The twins, Arcade and Daffodil, along with their mom, aunt and grandma, all speak in interesting phrases and it slowed down my reading speed, but I eventually got the hang of it and I'm glad I did. Their way of life and all they endure is heartbreaking. The story that is told is beautifully written. To say I fell hard for Arcade and her sister is an understatement. I was invested in their well-being,wanting only the best for both, and when I got to the end of the book I felt a profound sense of loss and sadness.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book! It's both incredibly bleak and unbelievably beautiful. Based on the actual Chillicothe Six murders, McDaniels shares characters that are often ignored not only in the literary world but also in real life, showing their beauty and humanity in their desperate situations. Her writing is just sublime - I highlighted so many passages while reading - and while it isn't an easy book to read, it's one you won't forget. The ending was a gut punch that made me want to go back and read the whole thing over again.

Thanks to Knopf for the copy to review.

I've actually had to stop this one. The writing is beautiful but the content is so depressing that I might not be in the right frame of mind for it at the moment, I will certainly try it again because McDaniel is a master storyteller so for that, I'm giving this a tentative 3 stars.

Unfortunately I DNFed this book at about 50% of the way through.

I'm not entirely sure what about this book didn't connect with me. I think the story being told about missing indigenous women is very important, but unfortunately I am not really someone who connects with more poetic, lyrical prose. I do read books that delve into a lot of heavy topics, but every time I read this I felt extremely sad. Everything that happened to Arc and Daff was just a bit too much for me at the time.

I still really want to read Betty by this author but I think this novel was just not for me, but may be for other people!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was sad. Real sad. Like don’t read the day you come back from vacation sad.

Complex characters. Realistic, tragic situations.

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This novel is really deep and made me feel like I was really there. The author has a way of writing and making you feel a part of this and feel like you are watching. This book was hard to read - seeing another side of life that I had no idea existed. This novel is a lot but a strong read.

Undeniably raw, quite disturbing, beautifully written.
On the Savage Side is a story inspired by the unsolved murders of 6 women in Chillicothe, Ohio. This novel carries the lyrical writing of Tiffany McDaniel, her stories might be some of the most beautiful prose written today.
Arc Doggs is the narrator, she remembers a clearly twisted childhood with her twin sistser, Daffy and her drug addicted mother. The twins grow up to be- sadly- a lot like their mother, even though Mawmaw Milkweed tries to save them.
They bond with other women, like themselves, damaged, drug addicted, trying to find a way out. One by one, the women disappear and are found near the river. McDaniel paints a dark and painful existence for the twins and the women like them. It's a story that will stick with you and made you think for a long time after you read it.
4 stars.

Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six this novel was Brutal from start to finish, its haunting and gut-wrenching,
It was really difficult to read, since it was emotionally draining.
The author did a good job, however the writing style was too poetic for my liking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc.