Where the Crawdads Sing

"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens tells the story of Kya Clark, a young girl growing up alone in the marshes of North Carolina. Abandoned by her family at a young age, Kya learns to survive on her own, relying on her wits and the natural world around her. The story follows Kya's journey as she navigates the complexities of relationships, love, and loss, all while grappling with the secrets and traumas of her past.

What I loved most about this novel was the way Owens brought the marshes to life. Her descriptions of the landscape were so vivid that I felt like I was right there with Kya, wading through the marshes and feeling the mud between my toes (yuck!). Owens' writing truly transported me to another world, and I found myself show more completely immersed in Kya's story.

But what truly made this novel stand out for me was the way Owens explored themes of isolation and belonging. Kya's loneliness and struggle to connect with others was palpable throughout the novel, and I found myself rooting for her every step of the way. The way Owens delved into the intricacies of human relationships and the ways in which our pasts shape us was both poignant and thought-provoking.

I also appreciated the way Owens seamlessly wove together the different threads of the story. From Kya's coming-of-age journey to the mystery surrounding a local murder, every aspect of the novel felt like it belonged and added to the larger narrative. The twists and turns of the plot kept me glued to my Kindle’s screen, eager to see how everything would unfold.

Overall, "Where the Crawdads Sing" is a stunning novel that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and immersive read. Especially the almost-poetic descriptions of nature around Kya’s home were breathtakingly beautiful. Owens' writing is masterful, and the characters and world she has created stayed with me for a long time.

Five out of five stars.

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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam show less

A fantastic read from start to finish, the writing style makes the story feel alive putting the reader in close proximity to the three main characters Kya, Tate & Chase. This novel is a murder mystery along with the story of Kya—a girl abandoned by everyone who is left to survive at a very young age in the marshes of the North Carolina coast. The author paints the setting and characters well of a place and people all but abandoned by society. We read about the little girl, Kya who is left one-by-one by her family until she, at least, realizes that nature is her family.
The book pulls you into Kya’s life, her fears, her heart, and eventually some triumph over the numerous obstacles that she faces, poverty, uneducated, discrimination, show more and vulnerability – including a society that rejects her for being different calling her marsh trash – Marsh Girl. This story introduces Jumpin and his wife Mabel who through their kindness allows you as the reader to redeem the characters in the community who shun Kya leading you to recognize there is the purest amongst the ugly.
This book will grab you and not let you go and even at the end when you learn that Kya, now dead, did actually commit the murder you feel sad for not only her but also Tate and you just want to sit outside and ponder the beauty of nature all around you. show less

4.5 Stars

CW: Sexual content, suicidal ideation, domestic abuse, attempted rape

Well that was captivating.

The writing was sensational and the reading of the audiobook was simply mesmerising. I loved that the story was a quiet one. Readers are gently transported to Kya's marsh and there we stay as she moves through life, largely alone, carving out a meaningful existence despite being shunned by her local community. The connection she had with Jumpin' and Mabel was filled with love and I had tears in my eyes at a few points during the novel. I think this is one of those books where reviews won't quite capture the essence of the book. I'll will finish by saying that this story had a quiet kind of intensity that will stay with me for some time.

Loved it! I am a big murder mystery fan and love a good whodunit story, but this was so much more than that. I liked that while the murder was an underlying current throughout the whole thing it was not really the focal point. The story was so much deeper and more beautiful than the murder. During many chapters I totally forgot about the dead body. I think it's rare for an author to be able to move away from the "newsworthy" event and draw the reader into a more meaningful journey while that mystery lingers. Owens did it beautifully and seamlessly. It never once felt fragmented or jumpy like so many others I've read. I also loved that there were many significant issues addressed in this story, like abuse, prejudice, family ties, show more community, socioeconomics, etc. but nothing felt preachy or was overdone. The story was a fluid examination of life's inequities and challenges, some more severe than others. show less

Wow, how can so many readers rave about this book? It was just awful. It took me every free minute of the two weeks I had it on loan to get to the end. I don't know why I stuck with it as it was painful every time I picked it up; maybe I was in the mood for masochism. So what's wrong with it? Well, for one thing, every page was screaming at me, "This is sad. So sad. SO SAD!!!" I have a strong bias against books that I feel are emotionally manipulating me. As soon as I started reading about The Marsh Girl, I was reminded of 'Beasts of the Southern Wild,' a wonderful story of a little girl living alone with her sick father in the swamps when Katrina is about to hit. Mother gone, dad drinks too much and frequently disappears, both try to show more avoid the bad, bad authorities, and both love the natural environment even though it causes hardships--but that's where the similarity ends. [Where the Crawdads Sing] should hope to be a tenth as good (but it isn't). It also can't decide whether it is a coming of age story or a murder mystery; the chapters jump between telling the story of Kya's life and the investigation of a murder for which she is later tried. And those trial scenes were the absolute most hackneyed that I have ever read. Old Perry Mason scripts were better. Secondary character--with the exception of Jumpin', a black man who runs a tiny gas station/convenience store that serves boaters, and his wife Mabel, are total stereotypes. 1) Jordie, the helpful older brother who quickly disappears, leaving Kya alone with 2) the drunken, abusive dad who isn't all bad when he's sober. 3) The Good Boy, Tate, who becomes Kya's only friend, and 4) The Bad Boy, Chase, the seduce-and-abandon type. 5) The cocky police chief and 6) his cocky assistant and 7) the cocky prosecutor. As to the writing: I love nature as much as the next person, but the writing in the long, long, tedious, repetitive passages describing shells and sea gulls and bird feathers and fireflies were, in my opinion, just plain bad (but not as bad as the trial chapters).

I could go on, but just--ugh. show less

A beautifully written book that sings of poetry, loneliness, love, heartbreak, betrayal, the natural world we take for granted, judgment, survival, and determination. I re-read many sentences and passages, examining why they felt so right and letting them sink in as fully as I could. It's been a long time since a book moved me this much.

I was completely absorbed until the final two pages. I can see why it ended like that, maybe even why it had to end like that, but it took something away from the story for me. With over two million copies sold, I may be alone in that opinion.

n ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’, debut novelist Delia Owens cleverly engages with nature to provide a thematic backdrop of a young girl, Kya Clark, who is abandoned by her mother and siblings at age six, and is left in their remote home with her alcoholic father, who also disappears, leaving Kya to rely on her own instincts, and the kind, occasional gestures from a poor, African American couple to survive. This novel is so entrancing in how the author utilizes specific animal behaviors to help Kya make sense of her isolated world. It is ironic that, much like the African Americans who lived in Colored Town in the 1950’s, Kya, a White girl, is ostracized and discriminated against by other Caucasians in the community. She does not fit show more into White society, and when a murder occurs, many are quick to point the finger at her. Kya relies on her observations of nature, and she begins to journalize exquisite details of swamp wildlife, bringing her some notoriety and success. For example, she states, ‘“Female fireflies draw in strange males with dishonest signals and eat them. Female insects, Kya thought, know how to deal with their lovers.”
In addition to very specific observations of nature, Kya often finds solace in reading the poems of Amanda Hamilton, who so perfectly captures Kya’s feelings of loneliness and abandonment. As it turns out, this is no ironic coincidence because Delia Owens also wrote the poetry under the pseudonym of Amanda Hamilton. This story, in addition to portraying the main character, Kya, with precise details within the lush backdrop of the North Carolina swamp, also approaches the story as a naturalist with outstanding research about wildlife behavior. And then, she even raises the bar further, as she appeals to the reader’s emotions through heart rendering poetry. This is definitely a book well worth reading, and I was mesmerized to the very end of the story. show less