• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Challenges
  • Reviews
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Books of Amber

Latest Posts

Debut Author Interview: Amy McCaw, Mina and the Undead

Book Review: The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

Book Review: Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Savages by Matt Whyman

13/07/2014      3 Comments

The Savages by Matt WhymanThe Savages by Matt Whyman
Genre: Horror
Release Date: March 6, 2014
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

They'd love to have you for dinner . . .

Sasha Savage is in love with Jack - a handsome, charming ... vegetarian. Which wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that Sasha's family are very much 'carnivorous'. Behind the family facade all is not as it seems. Sasha's father rules his clan with an iron fist and her mother's culinary skills are getting more adventurous by the day. When a too-curious private detective starts to dig for truths, the tight-knit family starts to unravel - as does their sinister taste in human beings . . .

With the popularity of the show Hannibal, are publishers going to release more and more stories about cannibals? I hope so. I do love a good, creepy story, even if it does make me feel physically sick.

I have mixed feelings about The Savages. On the one hand, I thought it was a funny story, and was intrigued by it. On the other, I was disgusted by the family. Am I supposed to like them? Or maybe I’m meant to be conflicted.

The Savages reminded me a lot of The Addam’s family , with the same patented creep factor. The two siblings, Sasha and Ivan, especially reminded me of Wednesday and Pugsley, as Ivan was always setting out to injure Sasha regardless of the consequences. Such things were normal in that household.

I liked The Savages because it was a quick and easy read, although it lacked a bit of substance. I didn’t feel a connection with any of the family, probably because they’re CANNIBALS and they don’t think their diet is wrong.

The Savages also provided an interesting narrative about vegetarianism, and vegan extremists. I thought it was hilarious that – in the eyes of the Savage family – vegetarianism was wrong. There were also some extremists, and they were painted as crazy and terrible people. The complete switch around was brilliant, and I really enjoyed the fact that the extremists were included because there really are people who protest against the consumption of meat.

I had a lot of fun waiting to see what the Savage family would do next. I had no idea where the story was going, and when the ending happened I thought it was brilliant. I hadn’t been expecting it to go that way at all.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book, although I won’t be rushing out to buy it. I want to see the Savages as they try to tackle America!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Librarian Lavender says

    13/07/2014 at 2:24 pm

    I love the cover of the book and the idea behind it sounds really great!

    Reply
  2. Rinn says

    13/07/2014 at 3:22 pm

    I quite like the cover for this one. Some elements look like a perfectly normal family, and others… well there’s something not quite right. They certainly look a little like the Addams family (or at least Wednesday and Morticia) like you said!

    Certainly sounds intriguing. I wonder if this is a response to the popularity of Hannibal or just co-incidence 😮

    Reply
  3. Judith says

    02/08/2014 at 11:01 am

    I’m not a horror fan and I’m not sure if I could handle the cannibalism in this one but it just sounds so quirky and fun. Too bad the family wasn’t developed better but I would love to give this one a try, because it sounds pretty cool. Horror though.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe via Email

Join 4,577 other subscribers

Current Giveaways

None

Currently Reading

Currently Reading

Upcoming Reviews

    Blogroll

    • All About Books
    • Artsy Musings of a Bibliophile
    • I Should Read That
    • Lisa is Busy Nerding
    • My Friends Are Fiction
    • Recaptains
    • The Daily Prophecy
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

    Hello!

    Hello!

    My name is Amber, I'm 27 years old, and I've been a book blogger, reviewer, and Tuber for ten years. When I'm not reading, I love gaming, exercising, cinema trips, hiking, and exploring.

    Welcome to my blog!

    Subscribe!

    Blog Archive

    Categories

    Follow us on Instagram

    I'm currently rereading Good Girl Bad Blood so I c I'm currently rereading Good Girl Bad Blood so I can recap it in preparation for the final book in the series! I love these books so much.

#books #bookstagram #book #booklover #bookstagrammer #iloveya #yalit #youngadult #agggtm #agoodgirlsguidetomurder #hollyjackson
    I'm currently reading The 100 Year Old Man as part I'm currently reading The 100 Year Old Man as part of Linguathon, and I'm finding myself constantly shocked about how nimble this guy is 😂

🔹️ Have you read this?
🔹️ What are some of your favourite translated books?

#books #bookstagram #book #booklover #bookstagrammer #linguathon #igbooks #booksofig #currentlyreading #reading #translatedbooks #translatedfiction #readathon
    Does anyone remember this series? I started reread Does anyone remember this series? I started rereading it so I can recap it and it hasn't aged well, but you can't deny that Tammara Webber helped kick-start the NA genre 😉 

#books #bookstagram #book #booklover #newadult #romancebooks #bookstagrammer #igbooks #booksofig #booksbooksbooks #bookish #betweenthelines #bookrecap #bookcommunity
    (This book was sent to me by the author as a gift) (This book was sent to me by the author as a gift)

Happy release day to The Effort! I'm so excited to read this apocalyptic story about people coming together to prevent a global crisis. Like I said the other day, I'm really into disaster stories lately 😊

#books #booktube #smallyoutuber #smallyoutubercommunity #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #bookish #debutauthors #21ders #debutbooks #debutshowcase #dac21 #the21ders #reading #igbooks #booksofig #igreads #book
    * ad - book provided by publisher for free in exch * ad - book provided by publisher for free in exchange for an honest review *

I'm smashing through my physical ARCs this week, which means it's almost time for me to read This is Not the Jess Show! I'm excited for this one, if a little cautious about how similar to The Truman Show it's going to be.

#books #booktube #smallyoutuber #smallyoutubercommunity #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #yabooks #bookish #youngadultbooks #booksofig #igreads #currentlyreading #igbooks #bookstagramuk #bookstagrammer
    The first week back at work put me in an unfortuna The first week back at work put me in an unfortunate reading slump, but I'm hoping Hold Back the Stars will get me out of it! I'm going to be reading this one today and hopefully forgetting about real life.

#books #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #bookish #sff #sffbooks #holdbackthestars #bookstoread #currentlyreading #reading #igbooks #booksofig #igreads #bookstagramuk #booksbooksbooks #bookgram
    * ad - book provided by publisher for free in exch * ad - book provided by publisher for free in exchange for an honest review*

I absolutely blasted through The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe this week! I was worried I was getting slumpy from too much sff so I switched to a YA thriller and WHEW, it was excellent. 

The Girls I've Been is about a girl called Nora who is the daughter of a con artist (and also bi!). She's living her own life now away from her mother, and then someone tries to rob a bank while she's inside it.

This was so fast paced and I love that it was told in a non linear format. Trigger warnings for lots of things, though. You can find the full list on the author's website but the main one for me was domestic violence.

#books #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #yabooks #thegirlsivebeen #yathrillers #yathriller #thrillerbooks #booktube #smallyoutuber #smallyoutubercommunity #reading
    Because I like to read about other apocalypses dur Because I like to read about other apocalypses during pandemics, apparently.

 I've just started The Lightest Object in the Universe and I'm intrigued! Have you read it?

#books #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #bookstagramuk #currentlyreading #dystopia #dystopianbooks #apocalypse #sff #sffbooks #bookish #booktube #smallbookstagrammer #booksbooksbooks
    *AD - book gifted by publisher in exchange for an *AD - book gifted by publisher in exchange for an honest review* 

Siri, Who Am I? was my final read of 2020 and it was a fun one. While I didn't love how the main character treated others, particularly her attitude towards sex workers, I did like how fast paced this one was and the slight mystery element mixed with Rich People Drama kept me reading. Will I reread it? No. But I enjoyed my time with it well enough.

#books #booktube #smallyoutuber #smallyoutubercommunity #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #bookreview #smallbookstagrammer #booksbooksbooks #siriwhoami #romcom #reading
    I'm supposed to be starting The Bear and the Night I'm supposed to be starting The Bear and the Nightingale on Tuesday for my weekly buddy read, but I want to read it now! I should probably finish some of the books I've already started though.

#books #booktube #smallyoutuber #smallyoutubercommunity #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #bookstoread #tbr #tbrpile #toread #readingpile #reading #bookaddict #igbooks #booksofig #igreads #thebearandthenightingale #winternighttrilogy

    Copyright © 2021 ·