From the Bookshelf of Bound Together…

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

Start date: February 1, 2019

Finish date: February 28, 2019

Discussion: 2025 January

Why we're reading this: February Member's Choice
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Nov 30, 2018 Carol rated it it was amazing

Shelves: murder-mystery, read-2018, published-2018, ebook, fiction, favorites

Never thought a story set in a swamp would be such a beautiful read, but there is indeed much beauty here...and sadness, love, and loneliness....so much loneliness.

I have to admit, WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING was not a five star read for me until it came full circle, but oh yeah.......love how it all played out!

"A she-fox will sometimes leave her kits if she's starving or under some extreme stress."

WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING is little Kya's story, a tough, little intelligent six year old Kya who fin

...more

98 likes · Like · see review

Jun 29, 2020 Cindy Newton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books

This was pretty good. I wasn't sure about it at first--actually, I was unsure for a good part of the book! It seemed like just an unremitting litany of woe. This poor child, Kya, was dumped on by every single person she ever knew--her mother abandons her at the age of 6 or 7, her older brothers and sisters walk away shortly after, and she's left with her abusive, alcoholic father, who also disappears just a few years later. She largely raises herself from the age of 7. She goes to school for pre This was pretty good. I wasn't sure about it at first--actually, I was unsure for a good part of the book! It seemed like just an unremitting litany of woe. This poor child, Kya, was dumped on by every single person she ever knew--her mother abandons her at the age of 6 or 7, her older brothers and sisters walk away shortly after, and she's left with her abusive, alcoholic father, who also disappears just a few years later. She largely raises herself from the age of 7. She goes to school for precisely one day, but when the kids make fun of her, she never goes back. I found the school scene a little unrealistic. The book kept harping on her lack of food--she basically lived off of grits, and sometimes didn't even have that. She finally gets a hot meal of something else and she isn't interested. She brings it home and feeds it to the birds. Yeah, that sounds right!

I understood why Tate left her. She is kind of like a feral cat, and he wants to find someone who can, you know, function in society. I guess later he decides that society is overrated and Kya is smoking hot, so he comes back. At this point, I became convinced that Kya was going to get convicted for Chase's murder, get the death penalty, and the novel was going to end with her bravely facing the executioner while Tate sobbed in the background. At which point, I was going to set the book on fire! (Not really--I couldn't do that. I might throw it, though).

However, it didn't end like that and I was actually pleased with the ending. There were clues for it, but I wasn't sure they were not red herrings. Anyway, the ending redeemed it for me. The whole thing about Kya being able to survive and thrive alone in the swamp at such a young age was a little hard to swallow. And when she started publishing and decided to update the cabin, how did she get electricity way out there in the swamp? Anyway, despite these slight criticisms, I did enjoy the story (mostly)! (I just still remember how annoyed I was and how tired of everything about her life being so sad!) ...more

13 likes · Like · see review