Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

100 reviews

joanna_banana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This starts veeeeeerrryyyy slowly and really doesn’t get going until the last third. I enjoyed the ecological details and character development to a point - it was overly detailed. I felt the stereotypes were lazy: prejudice against Kya, Jumpin’ and his wife, the sheriff, the jock, the white villagers, etc. I also found it predictable. I’m surprised it was so popular. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Classism

book_hang_o_ver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

This book will break your heart and mend it again. I’m honestly not sure why I put off reading this book for so long! I really enjoyed the faster pace, the characters and their development, the tension, and I truly wish I could visit this exact Marsh with Kya as my guide. The author’s expertise as a wildlife scientist also shines through the passages on the marsh beautifully.

Kya is such a resilient, thoughtful, and brilliant character… of course the descriptions about how beautiful she is vs the swamp trash were at times distracting but necessary to building further tension between the men, the town, and her. 

I didn’t know this was a murder mystery coming in to the book (I know, I know- how?! But I avoided all the hype and didn’t watch the movie adaptation 😅), and I genuinely enjoyed this plot line as a means to move the story forward. 

Personally- I loved the ending. It felt VERY appropriate looking back at some of the foreshadowing and earlier reflections from Kya. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infertility

lindsaywalsvick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail

annamwallace66's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

lilybarna's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

I love the marsh as a setting and almost as a character. It provided rich descriptions and a useful plot tool. The dialogue didn’t always do it for me, but I do love Kya the girl-boss she is 🌾

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity and Murder

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

kailiyahknight's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, and War

arulow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, and Murder

willow_witch's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Infertility, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sebnia_05's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Car accident