Where the Crawdads Sing
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Debi wrote: "Anyone else find that by keeping the necklace, it made Kya just as creepy as Chase was for keeping it? Kya went from cool, to not cool for me.If Chase wanted to keep that gift as "possession" of ..."
This bugs me too. Why would she want it?
Erin wrote: "There was a moment in the middle of the trial where it says something along the lines of: "Then they described how she had killed Chase." I re-read that line but just chalked it up to being a turn ..."And she kept her head down and had no expression-- I thought maybe just a tortured soul in a strange land, but no...she totally did it. (Was going to say "guilty" but thats a morally gray area here.
Thomas wrote: "I thought she did it as well at first but then I was convinced it was Tate because of the details in the court were a bit far-fetched to attribute them to Kya. The idea that she would meticulously ..."I agree with this 100% I was wishing it was an accident!
I didn't like this book so much. The plot was nice as well the descriptions but the characters felt flat at some points. The story was about Kaya, a young woman who overcame many difficulties in her life, hard situations which shaped her character and turned her to a resilient, strong, proud woman. It was quite a journey to see her blooming from a small scared kid to an , almost powerful woman, but only that.
It's a nice book but not a masterpiece.
Kya more than anyone else understood the animal in us. She’d known how to protect herself since she was a child and knew (and repeated) that men like Chase don’t stop. She rightfully feared him. Because she specifically said “it is one thing being isolated and another living in fear”, I knew it. That gave it all away. She contemplated suicide then asked herself who decides the time of death. Chase would never leave her alone.
Thank God for this thread, I needed the camaraderie from others who read this. I was so shocked by the ending. Honestly I thought I had figured it all out and prepared for it to be Tate or like an accident or someone else who killed Chase. Not Kya. I thought it wasn't her when Jumpin told her what happened and she acted surprised. also when she was freaking out in court i chalked it up to her possibly being wrongfully accused and being forced away from nature. I honestly believed it was prejudice from the townspeople that made them jump to farfetched conclusions. it was crazy
okay i didn’t get a chance to go through the rest of the comments to see if anyone else mentioned it, but the biggest thing i cannot for the life of me comprehend is how kya got chase up to the fire tower. once his mom found out about her, i’m sure she would want to pay attention to when he’s out with her? also after the attempted rape, i would assume that kya wouldn’t want to willingly see chase again, so he would’ve had to approach her in order for her to get him to agree to meet her there. but as she said that she learned from her pa, “men always have to have the last punch,” so why would she willingly agree to meet chase to convince him to go to the fire tower if there was a possibility he would hurt her again? also the fact that kya, shy little marsh girl who is basically terrified of people, would murder someone that close to a whole town full of ‘em—not to mention people that hate her already. also how DID she do it in time? if the bud was late, then how was she able to kill him before catching the second bus back to greenville AND how did she have time to change disguises? there’s just so much that lowkey doesn’t add up and it’s tripping me out.
i totally feel the same way. like how did the timing align for the motel worker to not see her also?? and she only had 20 minutes of "extra" time apparently, but it still just doesn't make sense. syd wrote: "okay i didn’t get a chance to go through the rest of the comments to see if anyone else mentioned it, but the biggest thing i cannot for the life of me comprehend is how kya got chase up to the fir..."
syd wrote: "okay i didn’t get a chance to go through the rest of the comments to see if anyone else mentioned it, but the biggest thing i cannot for the life of me comprehend is how kya got chase up to the fir..."My thoughts exactly! The book was an excellent read , till that ending ,and hence my 3 star rating.
Things did not really add up. 🤷♀️
Kelly wrote: "syd wrote: "okay i didn’t get a chance to go through the rest of the comments to see if anyone else mentioned it, but the biggest thing i cannot for the life of me comprehend is how kya got chase u..."I also agree!! Huge empty plot hole there. I mean, given his obsession with her it doesn't seem difficult from that sense...but considering the time line (had to get back on the bus, etc.) just a weird gap for me.
Katie wrote: "She did plead "not guilty". Then again, "the marsh people have their own laws".As an orphan surviving nearly complete isolation, her morality and socialization were learned from observing nature ..."
This was the reason I gave the book 4 stars. The fact that she did it didn't seem so unbelievable to me as the way she did it. How did she manage to plan such an act without messing up with the disguises on the bus, fingertips, etc? For someone so sheltered from the world, without knowledge of police/investigation procedures to not accidentally give herself away in the process seemed too far-fetched.
syd wrote: "okay i didn’t get a chance to go through the rest of the comments to see if anyone else mentioned it, but the biggest thing i cannot for the life of me comprehend is how kya got chase up to the fir..." One hundred percent agree!! I just re-read this book after reading it for the first time three years ago, and I can't believe I didn't notice this before. It makes absolutely no sense!! How on earth would she have gotten Chase to meet her in the middle of the night? Not to mention the crazy logistics she had to plan to pull it off. This huge inconsistency is making me question why I gave the book five stars in the first place.
Agree with a lot of you here! There’s a few things that are annoying me.1. How did she manage to get Chase to meet her up the fire tower? I mean this was premeditated so she must have approached him before she left for Greenville and asked him to meet her there on that night at that time. Possible of course, but no one saw them talking, arranging this? Did she approach him first or did he try to attack her again? Did she pretend she wanted him even after she had kicked him in the balls and threatened to kill him previously?
2. As soon as they found red fibres on Chase’s jacket I started suspecting that it was Tate, as he had worn red hats his whole life. Then when he and Kya tossed the red hat back and forth I was certain it was him (I also entertained the idea of Jumpin, I think that would have been a great twist). What confused me was that Tate knew that he had given that hat to Kya. At the trial he knew the fibres could not have possibly been on Chase’s jacket from years ago because Kya only just recently had it in her possession. He must have known then that she had done it?
3. I do wish that the death was an accident, or that it followed an argument and was in self defence. I didn’t like the fact that sweet shy little Kya, who we were all rooting for, had planned this extravagant murder all the way down to trekking in and out of town and wearing disguises on the buses (!) Where would Kya have gotten the clothing and wigs, etc for these disguises? And no one saw her buying or sourcing these?
4. Like many others I find the fact that Chase always wore the shell necklace quite odd. It didn’t seem to fit his character. It is kinda creepy that Kya took the necklace but especially that she kept it. I know this was likely to support the shock and reveal at the end, but logically, why would you keep anything that could tie you to the murder?
I only finished this yesterday so there’s probably other things that will bother me as I keep thinking about it haha but it’s nice to be able to read others opinions here and good that there are many readers considering the same things as I.
It was a pleasant twist, I know people are saying "I saw it coming" but I truly did not. I could not stand Chase, Ive read a lot of people saying he truly cared for Kya but his character, to me, did not come off that way at all. She was a commodity, something that was unattainable to everyone else and he liked being the one person that could have her, thats the vibe I got...and when he could no longer have her, he wanted to take it. She felt like she had no option, it was go ask for help out of fear he would come back and do worse and get shot down because shes just the "marsh girl" or take care of the problem herself. She did what she always did...survive. Phenomenal book.
Phenomenal story.
Debi wrote: "Thomas wrote: "It's not really self-defense if she is acting preemptively..."I feel the same way, Thomas. I lost understanding for Kya after the big reveal. She not only seemed darker, but also more primitive."
Primitive is one word for it I guess. She was not raised with morals or social pressure that would force her to tolerate threat or abuse. She was threatened, so she defended herself from future attacks. There is nothing unusual about destroying a potential predator; certainly not in the animal kingdom, which after all was her world.
I'm pretty sure she didn't say directly that she plead not guilty. Just the words of her lawyer
Hey, so I just finished reading the novel today!I always suspected Tate did it. For me it was the red hat and his love/obsession for Kya (I thought it to be strange that he never thought of any other girl in his entire life and kept thinking more about Kya than his dad when his dad passed away - like what???) that made me suspect it. I thought him killing off Chase would be revenge for Chase hurting his beloved Kya. But I was wrong!
In hindsight I believe there were a few hints in the wildlife descriptions which could give away that Kya was the murderer. I remember something along the lines of the wildlife doing what it has to do ... and therefore showing no remorse ... female animals getting rid of the males ... and so on and so forth. Pretty much all throughout the novel.
Kya identified herself more with the marshes and the wildlife than the humans around her, even studied wildlife trying to understand love and human behavior.
The first time I actually suspected Kya to be the murderer was right after the incident with Chase, when she read about or talked about this one female insect killing the male insect off. The timing of this seemed just too fitting, the description too graphic, for it to be nothing else but coincidental.
But this was before the trial and so I forgot about it again until I finished the book and had some time to reflect.
So in the end it makes sense that Kya killed Chase. The wildlife does what it has to do in order to survive and feels no remorse about anything it has to do in order to achieve that, even if that means taking a life. And so does Kya feel no remorse ...
I think it makes her an interesting character to study, eventhough I don't deem her sympathetic.
late to the party, but this book was so gorgeous. I also would would like to voice my support the the "but did Kya really do it party.... are we sure... and what if it was everyone or no one?"I thought the swell of the story was so beautiful. The *gotcha* moment kind of cheapened it for me. I thought it would have been so lovely if we never found out. The golden boy who died an anonymous death: suspicious but alone.
Immediately after the trial, my thought went to Jumpin' or someone else from that community. They dealt with trauma and abuse they didn't deserve. But they kept true to their community and to the marsh, just like Kya did. Seeing the tender, loving, and respectful relationship between her and Jumpin' and Mabel was one of my favorite things. Their charity humbled me. I also would have loved the poetic justice of him/his friends or family out taking out Chase and then foxing the racist ***holes of the town (with or without Tate). Kya stuck up for Jumpin' when the boys were compete racist jerks, but he never knew. I love the idea of him sticking up for her in return but she never knew. I can see the Tate motive, but its a little too cliche for him and their arc.
All in all, I cried, I smiled, I loved it. But even with the firefly poem... not convinced ;)
*edit: also wasn't there a line about Kya reacting to first degree murder and how she couldn't imaging planning the killing of another human? yet that's exactly what was required..."
I’m very late to the party but I just finished this and have many questions that remain unanswered, many of which have been discussed already. I loved reading this book and it was such a page turner, but the ending still doesn’t add up to me therefore I don’t give it 5 stars. The most obvious seems how Tate never knew it was Kya despite giving her the red hat just weeks before the event? How did kya know the law process so well that she knew to wear disguises, wipe fingerprints and footprints? Why in the book does kya say “thought kya was never completely healed from the scorn and suspicion surrounding her, a soft contentment, a near- happiness settled into her”- suggesting she was hurt by people being suspicious of her despite these suspicions ultimately ringing true. Finally, i felt as though the final poem by AH did not have the same tone and eloquence as the previous poems in the novel, however I can’t think of how someone could’ve found out it was her alias and known of her firefly association and planted this… maybe it’s the optimist in me wanting Kya’s character to remain pure and innocent.
Hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read. Kya was so beautifully written and the setting of the marsh. I felt like I was there. Bawled my eyes out after I finished it and took a few days off to recover. Chase was such a piece of work. In the book it felt so much like he used her as a science experiment. Then when she ran into him in town was almost like the universe showing her how much of a pos he actually was. He got what was coming. Abusive men possess. She was right, he would never stop coming back.
ill shortly brief how i ended absolutely loving this book after dreading it so much that it became hard to pickup ,however i gave my shot till 100 pages AND BAMM , didnt want to put the book down ,didnt want the marsh girl's story to end.All the characters;,kya's life, her childhood everything so perfectly blended in.loved how author was super descriptive with the marsh , food,poetry, details of the boat,sea birds etc that i imagined myself in berkely cove and kya's marsh I AM SO GLAD I READ THIS BOOK
Claire Walsh wrote: "Hi there This is my first post ever. I wanted to talk to others about this book beacuse I enjoyed it so much. I thought of something when I finished it and I wanted to see if others thought the sa..."
There was this scene where she said I will never say anything that implies guilt
I read this book last year and I did enjoy it, the only thing that annoyed me is that the plot twist was on the last page ever like after I had lost faith to find the killer. i don't understand why people hate it so much thoo I mean it was not that bad fr.
Vincenza wrote: "Yes! She did a really great job distracting us from that fact by focusing on how much the community discriminated against her for being different. I mean despite the fact she did do it, but you get..."Oh exactly ! I think this is exactly how I thought about it . The fact that we all thought it was her but then were convinced it's not ! It's such a plot twist!
I actually really liked this book; however, I wasn't expecting how heavy and painfully slow "Where the crawdads sing" was going to be. The characters and story were very well developed but this dragged on much longer than it should have. I had to stop and read something else in between and then pick back up. I was in a slump for a few weeks after reading this because of how connected I felt to Kaya - I got depressed for her. This book broke my heart, she deserved better.
Khaila wrote: "Chase Andrews still wore the shell all four years. Did Chase really feel something or was it a trophy?"It could've been a trophy, but rather than a symbol of conquering the "marsh girl" it could've been somewhat of a souvenir or a symbol of unconscious empathy (not sure how to explain, perhaps an ode a different possibility of life?). It was often mentioned Chase's life was planned out for him, as quarterback and then marrying the prettiest girl from the right family. This strict expectation mirrored the stereotype he lived his whole life, perhaps the necklace was a possibility of another life? Humans have multiple dimensions to them. The attempted rape was horrible and he deserved to be punished, a sign of his need for control with the way he was raised without empathy and his sexism, but the sentimentality could've been another side to him that would not have been nurtured in that society. Just an idea.
yeah, but then it means she deserved the punishment and it destroys the whole feel
Debi wrote: "Anyone else find that by keeping the necklace, it made Kya just as creepy as Chase was for keeping it? Kya went from cool, to not cool for me.If Chase wanted to keep that gift as "possession" of ..."
No not creepy she made the necklace and decided he shouldn’t have it. Dead or alive.
Kristina wrote: "Debi wrote: "Anyone else find that by keeping the necklace, it made Kya just as creepy as Chase was for keeping it? Kya went from cool, to not cool for me.If Chase wanted to keep that gift as "po..."
Hi Kristina , I completely agree with you.
I think in terms of her character, killing Chase it made sense for what he put her through, but from a reader/writing point of view I was almost somewhat disappointed that she had done it? I felt that I was being convinced of her guilt because of the discrimination from her society, and then introduced to her, grew up with her, and convinced that she couldn't and wouldn't have done so - only to be suddenly twisted around that she HAD murdered him all along.Maybe I simply misjudged her character building and read over the hints previously discussed that would have led to picking up on the fact she was guilty. Either way it was an enjoyable read :) but I wish the ending was a little more un-tropey and unpredictable, such as Pearl being guilty or it simply being a tragic accident!
I've read the book last year and now watched the movie as well and read through the comments here o this post.Throughout the story I thought Chase had a strange character. Especially in the beginning I didn't understand why he wanted to get to know her and why he was so demanding. But I guess in the beginning he just wanted to get the trophy of sleeping with her.
And at some point I realized that he is very different when he's in town with his friends. I think he could be himself when he was with her, he liked music and sang to her sometimes. All while he could never be himself with anyone else before, because of his parents expectations.
So he made up a nice future in his mind where he marries Kya and stays with her and that's why he always wore the necklace, because he still wanted to hold on to this version of himself that felt more like him and free of expectations of others.
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As an orphan surviving nearly complete isolation, her morality and socialization were learned from observing nature in the marsh. Even after she eventually learns to read, her primary education is based on judgement-free observations of the natural world. She doesn't see herself as guilty anymore than she sees the female firefly as guilty for eating the head off the irritating male attempting to mate with her...its just how it has to be.
That being said, I couldve sworn it was Jumpin' who killed Chase, trying to protect her. He said himself something had to be done or he'd be back.
My question is--seriously-- how did she have the ability to plan such an elaborate cover up when she's had minimal exposure to the outside world? Covering tracks is one thing...but there were no hairs at the scene or any fingerprints (would she know about fingerprinting?). How did she know to concoct a perfect alibi with no knowledge of the legal system whatsoever? While I really enjoyed the book I'm irritated at this kinda unbelievable plot twist.