Where the Crawdads Sing

Great characters. Excellent immersion. I was right there for nearly all of it.

What is there not to love about this novel? Let me count the reasons, if I can, that I did love it:

It's unvarnished, simple, elegant prose. The searing vulnerability of not only the central protagonist but many surrounding characters as well. The theme of family failure but also family triumph. Its resonating depiction of life circumstances and survival collides head-on with legal norms and personal choice.

I enjoyed the atmosphere created by the author, a southern coastal swamp, and the depiction of this novel of cultural bigotry. The separation of the classes is not one of race but one of poverty and supposed ignorance, although the protagonist is a deeply intelligent artist.

The story is one of accusation against a young teenage girl and the mystery surrounding the two young men who love her or claim to love her. With the absence of her parents, I found myself strongly pulling for the underdog protagonist, Kya.

Again, this book is set in the fifties and sixties in… show more.

I loved this fiction book based on a young woman who had to become one with her environment to survive. With the backdrop of a crime to solve, this book gripped me from the start. It is a well-crafted story, and I really wanted to know how it ended. Even though I now know, I still have read this book twice, and seen the film which follows the book well. I would recommend reading it before watching the film.

I liked how the book had so much depth, weaving in issues around the characters' cultures, as well as the amazing… show more.

As an outdoorsy person, I love the integral role that nature plays in this book. Owens uses strong imagery to contrast the serenity of the North Carolina marshes with the cruel realities of life and the universal themes of isolation, loneliness, and abandonment.

It is both a coming-of-age tale and a murder mystery driven by a self-reliant heroine for whom I instantly found myself rooting. 

Remember a few years ago when this book was everywhere? I do! And it was deserved—Delia Owens created a memorable heroine in Kya, a loner who lives in the tidal lands of the North Carolina coast.

Owens, a zoologist, calls upon her impressive knowledge of flora and fauna as she sets up a murder mystery, and the novel's finale is both satisfying and memorable. I’ve never read another book quite like this one.

I fell in love with this unique nature-drama-thriller-mystery novel from the first sentence. I know Hemingway taught us the art of the simple sentence, but Delia shows us that Ernest didn’t know everything about writing…or life, for that matter. 

This wonderful tale had me lingering over the delicious descriptions (of all things) of swampland marshes, and at the same time, impatient to see how the story ends for Kya Clark, the clever and yet fragile Swamp Girl. A-plus all around! 

I love historical fiction, especially when authors throw in a touch of crime. So, that’s what first drew me to this book.

What kept me reading and what made me rank this novel so highly is the gradual unlayering of the main character as the story progresses. Sure, Kya is a victim and a survivor, but she is so much more, and she is capable of more than I could have anticipated. As in some of my other favorite novels, it’s that loyalty to human nature, the understanding that circumstances can make good choices wrong and poor choices right, that… show more.

I love being in the swampy marsh of the Carolinas, as the author takes us with the character through the waters on her boat; the big night sky, and all the stars as we listen to the crawdads sing.

I really liked the characters and how first love ends up being true love. This is a beautifully written story, almost like poetry. 

I was scared and saddened by this book but by the end, I was cheering because there is power in being able to overcome obstacles that are through no fault of your own, that are chucked at you by the ones who are supposed to know better.

I’m also a sucker for a good love story.