Book Review
Book: Where the crawdads sing
Author: Delia Owens
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis from Goodreads
For 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.
Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, 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.
My Review:
To pick ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ was actually a difficult decision for me. I was afraid to pick up a much hyped book, scared that it might not meet my expectations and leave me disappointed. But, it turned out to be one of the best book decisions of this year. Though it was a bit difficult for me to get through in the beginning, this actually was a fantastic book about the true beauty of nature. The main theme of this book was survival; how a girl who is abandoned by her entire family decides to stay in marsh and figure out minute details of survival. Besides lengthy details of beauty of marsh and survival, it also highlights minor themes of prejudice, love, betrayal, hope, solitude, and determination.
The book tells the story about Kya who is popular in town as Marsh girl because she lives in a shack in woods. She prefers to roam around in woods than going to school or acquainting town people. Local people also look down at her except for some who show mercy, kindness and love to her. She figures out each and every detail of how to survive in woods inside her tiny shack like how to cook, rowing a boat, catching fish, selling mussels in town so that she could earn some money for gas, and uncountable other things. She is a very brave girl.
The story goes back and forth in time recounting the story of Kya as a six years old kid to when she grew up to be a beautiful Marsh girl who is fantasized by town boys. One of them is the popular athlete of town, Chase Andrews. She was abandoned by her entire family because they walked away one by one in search of a good life away from marsh. She met a boy named, Tate, who teaches her how to read and write and eventually becomes her first love. Besides Tate, Kya’s best friends were sea creatures and marsh birds. She knew these animals more than she knew about people. Can Kya be accepted by town people one day? Can she have a chance to meet her family members again? Can she have a chance at having her own family? Who will have a chance to win her true love? Chase? Tate? What if one of them is killed?
This book is a mixture of drama, mystery, murder, romance and a bit of everything that will pique your interest while going through it. Most importantly, the language of this book is poetic and figurative with vivid descriptions of the marsh. It is gut punching incredible book. Highly recommended!
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