You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
sheryl_macca 's review for:
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
Where The Crawdads Sing is a beautiful, mysterious tale of a whole life lived but it focusses on the 1950s to the 1970s in North Carolina. It's a poetic and dreamy book but it's not idyllic. It has a softness and a meandering, slow pace but it's not without spikes and edges.
In the absence of any real nurture Kya has been raised by nature instead but she isn't naive. She's resourceful and intuitive but she also holds onto too much hope. Kya has no need of the times tables or a calendar, she finds joy in simple things and educates herself in biology, ecology and survival.
Kya has a hollow within her that is filling up slowly with poetry, store bought cake, a man named Tait and other wonders and discoveries.
We also learn ecology alongside Kya but she is forced to use her new knowledge of the marsh creatures to directly inform her own relationships and adulthood. There's a lessons and warnings in there for the reader.
Chase's mysterious death barely touches the story until halfway through the book when it becomes a real focus. We're so connected to Kya by this point that her involvement is beyond belief despite what the community may say.
The murder of Chase, her being in a police cell and in a court room all seem to happen outside of Kya's world which is even more apparently separate from the real world. All chapters up to this point are Kya's inner monologue and the view through her eyes. In the court room, however, we experience the evidence and questions just as Kya does. When her more brief inner monologue chapters from the court or her cell come around again Kya barely thinks of her fate, of the case, of what may or may not have happened. She thinks instead of her brother, her mother, of Tait, of the gulls and the marsh and passages of poetry. She thinks of all the things that fill the hollow inside of her, the things that give her strength and happiness. Although, Kya's hopefulness is now gone.
The blending of otherness and empathy we are led to feel about and for Kya is seamless. The writing is absolute perfection. The creation of the character of Kya and her development is a complete masterclass.
Where The Crawdads Sing is soothing and surprising.
In the absence of any real nurture Kya has been raised by nature instead but she isn't naive. She's resourceful and intuitive but she also holds onto too much hope. Kya has no need of the times tables or a calendar, she finds joy in simple things and educates herself in biology, ecology and survival.
Kya has a hollow within her that is filling up slowly with poetry, store bought cake, a man named Tait and other wonders and discoveries.
We also learn ecology alongside Kya but she is forced to use her new knowledge of the marsh creatures to directly inform her own relationships and adulthood. There's a lessons and warnings in there for the reader.
Chase's mysterious death barely touches the story until halfway through the book when it becomes a real focus. We're so connected to Kya by this point that her involvement is beyond belief despite what the community may say.
The murder of Chase, her being in a police cell and in a court room all seem to happen outside of Kya's world which is even more apparently separate from the real world. All chapters up to this point are Kya's inner monologue and the view through her eyes. In the court room, however, we experience the evidence and questions just as Kya does. When her more brief inner monologue chapters from the court or her cell come around again Kya barely thinks of her fate, of the case, of what may or may not have happened. She thinks instead of her brother, her mother, of Tait, of the gulls and the marsh and passages of poetry. She thinks of all the things that fill the hollow inside of her, the things that give her strength and happiness. Although, Kya's hopefulness is now gone.
The blending of otherness and empathy we are led to feel about and for Kya is seamless. The writing is absolute perfection. The creation of the character of Kya and her development is a complete masterclass.
Where The Crawdads Sing is soothing and surprising.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder