Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for gifting me a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review of On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel - 5 stars!
Inspired by the still unsolved mystery of the Chillicothe Six, Arc (short for Arcade) and Daffy (short for Daffodil) are twins born one minute apart into a family full of addiction, abuse, neglect, poverty, and mental illness. Their grandmother helps keep them on track and stable, but when she is killed, things fall apart farther and the girls escape into their fantasy worlds. As young adults, Arc does her best to keep her sister on the right track, but they soon follow their parents' tracks. The river always calls and one by one her friends disappear.
This book left me gutted. It is full of pain and horror but the writing is so beautiful that you can't put it down. I loved Chillicothe's issues mirror so many small towns, the jobs dry up, poverty is generational, and prostitution and drugs are there for escape. It's a commentary on how disposable society feels the underprivileged and addicted are, not worthy of police time or investigation when they disappear. The girls' grandma tried so hard to keep the girls safe, to show how to make the savage side beautiful - a good lesson to all of us how we can be a force in others' lives. This is a must read book.
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