Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens

This was Book #3 that I've read this year, however since it was published in 2018 I won't be counting it towards my 20 for 2020 Challenge. I will start off with a spoiler-free discussion and then I’ll do a short spoiler discussion (I’ll warn you when it’s time for that). I really liked this book. I got really attached to the story and the characters and I would really recommend for others to pick this book up.

It took a little while for me to get into the story because of the language being used and the writing style. Something that many people seem to like was the very descriptive language about nature and animals, but it was something that was way too high level and distracting for me. I had no idea what every other word meant and didn’t want to have to look up so many words, when it could have been just as easily been described generally as a “bird” or a “bug” or a “tree.”

The book synopsis made it seem like it was more focused on the true crime/mystery aspect of Chase Andrews’ death. The book was mostly about Kya’s life, and what the rest of the town thinks of her, and the interactions between them. While the true crime aspect is definitely what drew me in, I definitely stayed for Kya’s story. I thought it was very intriguing and I was very interested to know what happened next.

I really loved the relationship between Kya and Tate. Some people in my book club thought that all of the male characters were very one-dimensional. I didn’t really experience that while reading, but maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for a good romance.

There were a lot of characters that I easily got very attached to. Kya, Tate, Jumpin’, Scupper, and Jodie are some examples.

There were definitely a few negatives for me though. There were a few factors that I felt were pretty unbelievable, such as Kya’s capacity to interact with other people and the ease with which she learns. Another negative is that the book does not give a satisfying ending at all. The end was completely rushed. Not only was it rushed, but I also just didn’t like it.

***SPOILER SECTION***

That ending… There were so many things wrong with it for me. They skipped over like 50 years of Kya and Tate’s lives together in the span of like ten pages. It felt completely rushed and didn’t feel necessary to the story. To me it felt like they could have ended the story right after or soon after Kya wins her court case.

I really didn’t like that Kya was revealed to be the killer. I felt that that took away from the message of the story. People judged her to be the killer just because she was an outsider. They created all of these very wacky, far-fetched stories to try and pin it on her- that she dressed up in these costumes on the bus just so they wouldn’t recognize her, as one example. These stories felt so unfair and ridiculous. It was just impossible that she could have done it and it was unbelievable that these people would stop at nothing just to pin it on her, an innocent girl, just because she was a little different from everyone else. But then it’s revealed that she did do it in the end??? I feel like it completely ruins the theme of the story. That’s pretty much all I have to say about spoilers. I definitely want to hear what you think of the end.

***END OF SPOILER SECTION***

I really enjoyed this book. I’d probably give it a 3.5/5. Have any of you read this book? I’d love to hear your opinions down below.