Thanks #netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. This book had high reviews so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, I thought this was boring and unenjoyable. The best part was the beautifully written descriptions of the river. Otherwise, not for me. Don't recommend.

This was a beautifully written book. The author was a magnificent story teller. On the Savage Side is not for the faint heart. The family is incredibly poor, and the main girls really go through it. You follow the book through past and present timelines. This was a hard read, but enjoyable

This novel is beautifully written. There's so much authenticity to the narrator's voice, and the struggles that she endures in her early life are absolutely heartbreaking. It is a very heavy read though. While I wouldn't recommend this book for everyone, it is a stunning work.

This is a such a beautifully written book about addiction and poverty in small town America. It is based off a true story of women killed in Chillicothe, Ohio. Told from the perspective of Arc, of her life in the present and memories from growing up. It’s an emotional and powerful story filled with traumas and heartaches with a twist I did not see coming. If you can look past the difficult subject matter/trigger warnings it’s an eye-opening and thought provoking read.

This one is a hard to rate. It was extremely dark (even for me), but the writing felt like a work of art. I wanted so badly for a glimmer of hope but this book closely resembles reality.

I went into it expecting a mystery about real murders, but it reads a lot more like literary fiction. Parts of it kind of dragged on and the scenes are intense so it’s not for the sensitive.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for the ARC.

Whew, I have a complicated history with this book. I'm a huge fan of this author and was thrilled to be approved for an ARC of this ... and it is so absolutely bleak and depressing while also being beautifully written, while also being overwritten at times, and ugh, I loved and loathed it at the same time.

Twins Arcade and Daffodil grow up in a thick cloud of addiction, abuse, and trauma as they hide under their beds from the johns who come and go from the bedrooms of their mom and aunt. They've lost their addict father and their kind grandmother who gave them hope for a better future.

Unable to break the dark generational cycles, Arcade finds herself supporting an addiction with sex work as women she knows begin to disappear, bodies are found in the river, and a killer moves closer.
It's dark, the beautiful prose just keeps the deeply depressing story going further, and I wanted relief from how horrible and bleak their environment and lives were.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. On the Savage Side was released on February 14, 2023.

DNF for me.

Extremely poetic and lyrical. I get that some people really enjoy this style writing, but it kept me from connecting with the story and the characters. Everything felt flowy and metaphorical, I felt I was tripping along with the characters!

When I read this was based on the Chillicothe Six I just assumed it was going to be more mystery/thriller than a book on down trodden women. There is definitely a place for this book, just not with me, or not me today.

The most devastating novel I’ve read since A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Arcade and Daffodil are twin sisters living in Ohio who are muddling through adolescence with a myriad of hardships including drug addiction, prostitution, physical abuse, and rape. McDaniel relegates the mystery elements to the background to add a sinister tone and even more danger lurking. The lighter, hopeful moments are few and far between, but this is such an impactful, heart wrenching story with rich main and secondary characters as well as beautiful literary writing.

Netgalley and the publisher provided this book for review consideration, but all opinions are my own.

While McDaniel’s writing is captivating and her characters are multifaceted and dimensional, the bleakness of the story, mixed with some of the on page content, was too much for me.

I should have checked the explicit content warnings on Storygraph for this one. I got to about 20% and could not finish it.

I’d still recommend it for those who can handle the subject matter.

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.