THE PLOT: ‘On the Savage Side’ by Tiffany McDaniel is a literary novel about missing women. Drawing from the true story of women murdered in Chillicothe, Ohio, the story centres on twin sisters who grow up in the rural town. The sisters, Arcade and Daffy, are trapped in a cycle of generational poverty, drug abuse and sexual assault. But when their friends start turning up dead in the river, the police ignore their plights – assuming the women are prostitutes who aren’t worth investigating. Arcade and Daffy cling to each other to survive, hoping they won’t meet the same fate and fighting against the savage side of life.

SUMMARY: This is a beautiful, tragic novel. The plot will break your heart but the writing will fill your soul. This is not a book to go into lightly. There are very triggering themes and the amount of abuse suffered by the main characters is terrible. However, the author writes in such a rich, detailed, poetic style, she almost hides the medicine in the milkshake. Although it’s a brutal portrait of addiction, it highlights important social issues and questions our perceptions and judgement of certain people in society. I’d highly recommend this novel, particularly in such cruel times we’re living in.

GOOD BITS:  Ethereal and transcendent, the use of imagery and description paired with evil, ugly plot points creates a deeply moving novel. This book is generally gorgeous but the stand-out element has to be the character dynamics. I felt so intimately connected to each of the women and I wanted the best for them. As they kept making mistakes and being trapped, I wanted to reach out and give them a hug and help them. The author brings to life these characters to exemplify how so many missing women are forgotten, and I love how she gives them dignity and humanity via fiction.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: At times it felt like the novel was a little bit slow. Perhaps it’s because it’s so heavy, but it took me a long time to finish this book. However, there was plot progression and a plot twist that I didn’t see coming, which helped the pacing and momentum.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Demon Copperhead’ by Barbara Kingsolver, ‘Shuggie Bain’ by Douglas Stuart, ‘Thin Girls’ by Diana Clarke and ’10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World’ by Elif Shafak. These are all dark, emotional books that tackle difficult themes, but they’re all beautifully written explorations of character psychology and social issues. I highly recommend each one.

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