Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Where the Crawdads Sing

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

151 reviews

christinaj1021's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Let me preface by saying that I'm writing this review while keeping my opinion of the author out of it. A quick google search can lead you to the speculation behind why Delia Owens is less than an outstanding individual.

All this aside, I absolutely fell in love with this book. I haven't been this emotionally moved in quite some time. The prose, the pacing, the characters, the storyline... all of it felt akin to the marsh and swamp that Owens so avidly describes in this novel. I felt constantly lulled and yet on edge, similarly to how one might feel if they, too, found themselves alone in a marshland that still themed with natural life.

It's a slow read- and as a mood reader, if I'd been looking for something else, I never would've finished this book- but I needed this. I needed to slow down, to look for details, to see life through nature's eyes- we've just come out of the holiday season, so busy and full of material goods. Owens delivers all this and more, with the edge of a mystery tucked between the story of a lonely girl trying her best to become less alone.

My only real criticism is one that I've seen echoed across the internet- Owens' portrayal of Black characters is essentially a caricature. Every Black character (3 of them) has the same speech patterns (as opposed to white characters, who all speak differently), and serves essentially the same purpose- to bring joy to Kya's life through their happy-go-lucky attitudes. Dont get me wrong- Kya needed that in her life... but they are 2D characters that I wish had been 3D, with Kya understanding and supporting them through their own struggles.

Kya sees Black characters face hardships- being banned from areas of town or portions of buildings, having rocks thrown at them, being called the N word- but never brings it up, never apologizes on behalf of others, and never really sees those as hardships for her Black friends. She sees it and it just *is*. As a reader, you wish she would acknowledge the wrongness, given how much other injustice she sees and comments on, externally or internally.

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hanniee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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entropyre's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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cdt96's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Fantastic book, the only issue is how the black characters have been portrayed as stereotypical archetypes. This added with the controversy surrounding the author makes it lose some score for me. Ultimately though, the book is good.

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stevia333k's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

So it should first be said that evolutionary psychology "evopsych" was developed as enslavement propaganda/apologia as well as (war) rape culture apologia. Like these discussions of instinct & connection are important for unpacking some political implications. I haven't done that yet. This is important because this book had a lot of listen to nature & communing with nature vibes so to know there is definitely discourses for that even if the histiographies are racist bourgeois patriarchal is helpful. Like that's been something I've been trying to learn by recently reading about famines. Point being, if this is going to be some people's introduction to listening to nature then I'll need to figure out where the starting point is at.

This book gave me Katniss Everdeen vibes, and that was definitely a thing I would think about as I read this book. I liked the setting a lot, communing with the other life forms etc. Like doing prayers at parks instead of schools is more my vibe so.

I was told this book was very feminist & that was helpful. I thought the book might've been poly but it wasn't. Like one of the boyfriends ended up being a self-centered rapist.

Anyways, I actually thought she was black until I thought about the school scene & was like wait a minute the schools were segregated back then. The discussion of desegregation if business towards the end was awkward because that's not desegregation of homes, but whatever.

Anyway, she's white. The title for this book in Spanish calls her "savaje", a savage. Thankfully there's no cultural appropriation of native/indigenous Americans, but still keep an eye on that in discussions about this book because that would end up putting a bunch of racist stereotypes on people. But that would be more the fault of the readers I think.

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joleen2000's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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suneaters's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow, what a read! I loved all the descriptions of the marsh. Kya was a great character and a really interesting case study in isolation and abandonment.
I also understand

why she did what she did. Chase Andrews would have retaliated for how Kya avoided his attempted rape and attacked him. It was either her or him in her view. Still, I was really shocked! To be honest, I was expecting Tate to be revealed as the one who did it since he was so angered by Kya’s facial injury and it was clear he knew Chase was unfaithful and suspected he had hurt the woman he loved. Still, I think it was the right decision that wasn’t too obvious, but it also made sense in hindsight. I was still sad when she passed and thought her being the poet was a great twist as well!
Knowing the background of the author, it does make you wonder what really happened the day ABC aired a snuff film.

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