Where the Crawdads Sing in 2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge

Dec 04, 2018 Angela Jones rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-books

I had to wait a few days after finishing reading this book before I was ready to review it. The book is very well written and there is a very poetic quality to the prose which makes the story beautiful to read, especially in the picture of the marsh and the characters that Delia Owens creates through her words. But how she is able to show the level of sadness and despair of true loneliness is both remarkable and heartbreaking. This story left me in tears. I was angry and hurt and outraged for Ky ...more

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Apr 23, 2019 Jane rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, family-story, womans-story, geographical, fairytale

I began this book to be part of the Goodreads "Constant Reader" discussion. The discussion had started, and when I looked at comments, the fact that people questioned the author's geographical research, and several plot devices made me hesitate. I tried a few more chapters and gave up...those who found these faults, thought that the writing was often lyrical and that several of the characters were compelling. A friend had listened to the audio version and loved it, so I gave it another try. When I began this book to be part of the Goodreads "Constant Reader" discussion. The discussion had started, and when I looked at comments, the fact that people questioned the author's geographical research, and several plot devices made me hesitate. I tried a few more chapters and gave up...those who found these faults, thought that the writing was often lyrical and that several of the characters were compelling. A friend had listened to the audio version and loved it, so I gave it another try. When the main character, Kya's friend Tate begins to teach her the the sounds that letters and letter combinations make, with Tate's help she makes out her first sentence..."There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot." Kya simply says, "Oh." "You can read, Kya. There'll never be a time you cannot read." "It' aint just that," Kya whispered. "I wadn't aware that words could hold so much. I didn't know a sentence could be so full."

That may be my favorite passage in the book. Even though the phonetic difficulty of that sentence is pretty astounding. Several people in the discussion had trouble believing Kya learned to read so quickly. She's quickly reading on her own. But Tate is sitting beside her day after day "teaching her how to read the words.." Yes, she learned quickly but she's reading from a book about the animals and the land where she lives. It's her life. No family, no TV. Just this friend and a few books and a pencil and paper to copy the words in the book. Pretty high intensity learning.

Soon I began to read the book as though it were a fairy tale. I think some of the lack of realism fits with the romantic hero and the evil villain, the magical pace at which Kya learns; her abandonment in the wild; the way she discovers to protect herself from the animals and insects; her "fairy god-parents." The mystery is also somewhat implausible. But it was a fairytale ending...satisfying in exactly that way. So glad I stayed with it.

I often find best sellers far too light-weight to enjoy...although occasionally, after a particular dense piece of non-fiction, or a literary masterpiece I want to read a fairly simple page-turner. Where the Crawdad Sings feels like its own kind of book, neither high-brow, nor light weight. Very much like the books I loved from the time I was eight until I was a teen. My expectations were simply too narrow and too rigid. Thanks, Anne, and Constant Readers for encouraging me.

Sort of Spoilers

Other excellent passages: the description of Kya's father, Jake, who had high hopes for himself, his life and his family. "Blending in with the fighting, drinking, cussing renegades of the marsh was the easiest thing Jake ever did." The description of the way the villagers treated the Marsh Girl, the way boys talked about her sexually. Tate realizes that she inspires a sweet love for his lost sister and also a fiery live for a girl. 124 Going to Ashville for the bike that Tate's parents couldn't find locally. 276 probably the worst of the poems 163, Chase shows interest in Kya. 279 Tate shows Kya a drop of marsh water through the microscope. "I had no idea there so many and so beautiful." Tate watches her: "She feels the pulse of life, " he thought, "because there are no layers between her and the planet." and Kya whispers, "It's like never having seen the stars and then seeing them."

As I copy them, I realize some will view this as trite, sentimental writing. The poems sprinkled through the book are much like the ones I wrote in high school. Very emotional and autobiographical. No real sense of music or the surprise of language. When Kya's poems rhyme they are cringe worthy. I think the author was trying to be realistic about how Kya would write poetry, not write beautiful poems for her. There's evidence for that. ...more

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Aug 04, 2019 Amy rated it really liked it

Where the Crawdads Sing was a difficult read but a rewarding one. Kya Clark, nicknamed the 'Marsh Girl' built a life for herself hidden away from others. She was scorned by society but persevered. Readers will find the book shocking yet riveting. I couldn't put the book down while at times I felt sickened by the Kya's circumstances. Delia delivers a powerful read and critics are singing her praises. ...more

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