#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENONMore than 6 million copies soldA Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club PickA Business Insider Defining Book of the Decade “I can’t even express how much I love this book! I didn’t want this story to end!”–Reese Witherspoon“Painfully beautiful.”–The New York Times Book ReviewFor years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet … years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
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Nature descriptions were outstanding. Plot was definitely unrealistic.
Marvelous picture of the south and its character.
Beautifully written tragic story of how environment shapes who one becomes and can limit
Beautiful writing of a tragic life circumstance and an amazingly strong main character.
I mostly read this because I felt like I was supposed to. It was a very good story, but not the kind I usually enjoy reading. It was heavy and a little depressing. However, it wove storylines beautifully through lives that are painful to read about.
Kya’s choices are simple and twisted and you want her to make different ones but Delia Owens has done such a good job of conveying her life building moments that you completely understand why she does what she does.
I’d recommend Where the Crawdads Sing with reservations. There are a few mildly graphic coming of age scenes, but while blunt she never goes so far as to be inappropriate.
An original character caught up in a prejudicial society but who manages to find joy in her birds of the marsh. It makes me more sensitive to how others may have grown up in dire situations and know I need to befriend those who appear friendless.
A sweet, heartbreaking, delicious mystery that kept me hooked until the end. This story stayed with me long after finishing it. Was NOT expecting the big reveal on the last page. Beautiful characters with a lovely, intense focus on nature. The beginning was slow but after that, the pacing was perfect. I recommend it for readers 15+.
This was a really good book, suggested to me by my dental hygienist. Thanks
This book had been recommended many times, and I’d never chosen to read it. When I did, I couldn’t put it down. Really well written, interesting characters, great plot.
After having this book on my TBR list for quite a while, I finally got around to reading it and I am glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would have given it 4 1/2 stars but that’s not an option. I enjoyed the development of Kya’s character throughout the book. She is full of determination, resilience and resourcefulness. I love her connection with nature and how the marsh and the creatures in it save her from a world that has rejected her from a very young age. The story itself takes place in a small N. Carolina town and the marshland around it, in the late 60’s/early 70’s . Kya, a young girl, is slowly left by each of her family members to fend for herself in this seemingly sparse and unforgiving environment. She is dubbed “The Marsh Girl” by the townspeople and is basically treated like a pariah by most people. She learns to feed and care for herself with the help of the marsh, with which she has an almost spiritual connection. Along the way she meet and falls in love with two different boys, Tate and Cody, both of whom disappoint her. This is a coming of age story in the most difficult of circumstances. There are survival, grit, love, a murder and a need for belonging and connection. The only negative critic is that while some parts are extremely well developed, holes were left in a few other threads of the story. Nonetheless, I can readily recommend this book.
I loved this book…Now I find out someone is trying to make a movie of it. It deserves to be a movie. I Highly recommend this book.
“Where the Crawdads Sings” is a rich, well-written novel that, like a good southern meal, left me satisfied and content but not engrossed or astonished as the back cover promised. Maybe I’m a little burned out on young girl coming of age stories having read two others in the prior year. “All the Ugly and Wonderful Things” was more honest and rawer, and “Educated” was more emotional and more personal, being a memoir. Still, Owens’ might be the best writer of the three, and is at her best describing the flora and fauna of the North Carolina wetlands. All three of the books are touted as debut novels (which I guess technically is true), but Owens is already an award-winning and bestselling author of non-fiction wildlife books.
Let’s breakdown what I like and didn’t about this novel. Delia Owen’s and her publisher clearly knocked it out of the part with the cover and title. But more important – Owen’s writing is lush and vivid, mostly in setting, but the characters felt fully formed to me as well. The plot was rich, first with a dysfunctional family, then as a survival story, and finally as a murder whodunit. I did like how the author interspersed the beginnings of the murder mystery component in the form of flash forwards, throughout the book, increasing the conflict and intrigue earlier into the book. And while the author left me enough clues to guess the ending, it was engaging until the end.
My biggest issue was that the plot was largely predictable. The plot flowing along like a meandering river, not like the twists and turns and tributaries of a dense marsh. The pacing wasn’t bad, but it did get a bit choppy in the middle. I don’t want to leave any spoilers, but let me just say, a few plot points weren’t surprising, but they popped up, out of nowhere, making me feel like I had missed some pages. In addition to the plot, I also never became invested in the characters, maybe because I’m a little burned out on this type of story line. While the swamp and the creatures and the waterways felt real enough to me, the characters themselves, while being well described and true to their motives, didn’t quite pull me in.
Big picture, I enjoyed reading the story, never felt bored, but it was as much of the description of the setting and the major plot questions, then it was an emotional investment. A descriptively written, and interestingly plotted story that transitions from a coming of age tale to a murder mystery.
Where The Crawdads Sing is unlike many of the books I’ve read before. As a reader, you feel so deeply for Kya and every problem she encounters. You want her to find her family, be acquitted in court, and live happily ever after with Tate. Kya’s story was unpredictable and engrossing. I couldn’t put this book down!
Seems almost everyone loved this book, sadly I was not one of them. I’m not saying it was bad, it just wasn’t for me. It seemed overly long and the marsh ecosystem descriptions went on and on and on..ok we get it!
It was only after the fact that I learned that this first time fiction author is an actual wildlife scientist…that explains it!
4.5 stars for me and my subjective review. It started off slow for me, but piqued my interest quickly because it’s so well-written. The reason I dropped it to 4.5 is because toward the end I truly felt it started to drag. Personally, I felt quite a bit could’ve been cut without losing anything.
The author was masterful at developing her characters. I was enthralled by all of them, so the extraneous writing in the last hour of the book wasn’t necessary. The courtroom scenes were well-done, but it started to drag for me after so long.
It was a heart-wrenching story— bittersweet— and the Kya relationships were wonderful, especially with Tate and Jumpin’.
The narrator for the audio book was fantastic. She brought this story and these characters to life. I was completely lost in this world and these people until the end and beyond.
surprised !
Loved this book!!!!!
Beautifully written.
Great descriptions. You can just picture everything so clearly. Shows how wrong assumptions can be
This was a great book
Not sure why the book cover of The Queen’s Wing (which I’d never read) is representing the page for Where the Crawdads Sing, which I’d read again because it’s a great story.