A review by jennymwoo
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

1.0

I went into this book expecting it to be a mystery, and the book jacket and early chapters certainly make it seem like it is one, but it's not. This is a coming-of-age novel that happens to feature a murder. Maybe if my expectations were different I would have enjoyed it more, but the awkward flash-forwards to the murder investigation kept reminding me of what I thought the novel was going to be, and the main narrative of Kya's life was not compelling enough to make up for it. I wish it had focused more on Kya's relationships with her family and Jumpin' instead of the weird and uncomfortable romances with Tate and Chase. Again, I think expecting it to be more of a mystery really dampened my enjoyment of the novel, so if you like orphan/coming-of-age stories you'll probably enjoy this book. It just wasn't for me.