Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

70 reviews

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I had put off reading this because I tend to be let down by the books that have a lot of hype around them, but this was an enjoyable read.

Slow start but picked up pace around half way through.  The author really brought out the pain caused by abandonment and also the prejudices Kya was subject to.

The connection Kya had with the natural world around her was lovely to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

jodar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The novel was an enjoyable and easy read. The MC, Kya, is engaging, albeit a bit unbelievable in terms of practical plausibility and psychology. The ending had a melodramatic twist to resolve the mystery – for a while before that I had up to four characters I had suspicions about. At least I was right about one of them!

The novel focuses quite a bit on the beauty of the natural world, which weaves in well with the plot line. I thought the pacing of the plot was good, though more use of foreshadowing would have worked more powerfully. Also, the musings by the MC on evolutionary biology and human behaviour struck me as quite reductionist, and seemed to be a way of explaining away the characters’ actions without psychological depth or ambiguity. The interweaved poetry occasionally worked well, but more often felt a bit jarring.

Overall, if you don’t expect too much, it is a great “airport read”.

CW: Extramarital sex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

schneidero's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The protagonist and setting draws you in from the very beginning and with short chapters it feels like a quick read. Although the story jumps back and forth between two different time periods it never felt confusing and got more and more suspensful when they started to connect. I had read somewhere that the author is a zoologist which is very apparent as a lot of the book focuses on describing the wildlife and fauna but it wasn't distracting but instead invited you into the point of view of the main character. While the overall pace felt rather slow it definitely picked up towards the end and while I was worried of being left with many questions, the last handful of pages answered a lot of them and left me just sitting in silence for a moment once I had finished the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment

lottie1803's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

shyleek's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.75

I sat on this for 24 hours before writing the review. I don't have a lot of triggers, I can process things like a healthy adult, however this did bring up a lot of stuff. So to write a fair review I had to give my head some space. 

Growing up with Kya was a beautiful and sad journey all at the same time. She was so strong and overcame everything thrown at her but you couldn't help but think that she shouldn't have those things thrown at her to begin with.

Honestly the ending wrecked me. Because while I fully expected it, I didn't want to believe it.

I wanted to hold on to Kyas innocence.

This book will take you on an emotional roller coaster. If you can handle the content, I strongly recommend this read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Self harm

sienna1508's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

This book was unforgettable! I really loved the writing style and the beautiful details of nature descriptions. When the plot did get slow, the imagery of the marsh brought Kya’s world to life. I would definitely recommend and re-read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent

moonbasket's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I did not know what to expect from this book when I started it. Honestly, it was beyond my expectations from the very beginning and it just kept going. I did not know how it was going to end.

I was pretty sure Kaya wouldn't go to jail, but I honestly did think that she had killed Tate. It made the most logical sense, but it just didn't seem like she had done it. It was definitely a surprise to have that twist at the end, but it all makes sense and it brings a sense of mildly juvenile wonder which I think really matches Kaya's personality because she was neglected for so long and stayed agoraphobic for her who life.

I laughed and cried reading this and it may be one of the best literary novels I have ever read. I am definitely interested in more books like this, with a focus on ecology and personhood. It is extremely good and I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Infertility, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, and War

Kaya, the main character of this book is subject to extreme childhood neglect from and absent mother and alcoholic father. The book focuses on her abandonment and loneliness as it follows her story.

As a teenager she has a relationship with an older boy who is technically an adult for the later part of their relationship. As a young adult, she has a relationship with an emotionally manipulative young man where he is cheating on her and lying to her regularly. After breaking it off with him, he later chases her down and attempts to rape her. She defends herself and is able to escape him.

There are also graphic flashbacks to her father beating her mother and siblings and discussion of how her town is segregated with black people living in "colored town" separate from the white people. There is mild discussion of the racism of the era, but mostly it is simply treated as matter of fact as it is viewed through the eyes of a child.

aelin_morgenstern's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, and War

The book is set in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore, the society is segregated and racial slurs are mentioned.

sparklyodin's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I feel like the ending is forced in order to have a "twist" and was not believable. If I could chop off the last 4 pages it would be the oerfect book.

They spend the whole book telling you not to assume the undereducated woman is a murderer, defending her character, and then in the last 10 seconds they say "just kidding she is totally the filthy character you all thought. Judge poor people forever, they nasty."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, and Classism

kathlamtran's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.5

This book had me in tears right in the middle. The author does a fantastic job of making you feel all of the pain that the main character does, and it provides great insight into discrimination based on lifestyle as well as our connection with nature. Interpersonal relationships are always tricky, and this book delves into that quite nicely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Racism, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Sexual assault