• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Roger's Reads

Author & Book Reviewer

  • About Roger
  • Reviews by Genre
  • Blog
  • Review Policy
  • My Novels
  • Resources
You are here: Home / Historical Fiction / Review of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Review of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

January 10, 2020 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Where the Crawdads SingWhere the crawdads sing is a fascinating book that takes place during the 1950s and ’60s and follows a misunderstood girl named Kya Clark, who is also known as the Marsh Girl or Marsh Trash by the local people in Barclay Cove. Kaya is abandoned, first by her mother, then all of her siblings, and finally, by her drunken and abusive father, leaving her to fend for herself all alone on the marsh, without assistance from anyone. I think she was ten years old or so when the last of her family abandoned her.

The story is told in two alternate timelines: the first, focusing on Kya’s life in the marsh and her eventual romantic involvement with two young men from town. The other timeline occurs in 1969, during which a young man named Chase Andrews is found dead. At first, police think I was an accident, but upon further investigation, begin to suspect that the young man was, in fact, murdered. The townies immediately suspect the strange and aloof Marsh girl, especially given that she has been seen several times over the years in Chase’s company.

This is another one of those books that is super-haunting and atmospheric, and the rich, vivid descriptions of the soggy swamp, the birds, insects, water, sand, mud, plants, fish and other animals transported me right back to the 1950s and makes you feel as though you’re in the marsh right along with Kya.

While this is a lovely homage to nature, it’s also a moving and heartbreaking coming-of-age story about a resilient young woman who had to overcome abandonment, prejudice, scorn, and immense loneliness and how a person can rise above their circumstance when people believe in you.

Where the Crawdads Sing a character-driven story with an admirable and tenacious heroine that is part mystery, part love story, part suspense, and part adventure. This was an engrossing and surprising story that I absolutely loved and one that I will no doubt contemplate for a long time to come.

Purchase Where the Crawdads Sing on Amazon

Purchase Where the Crawdads Sing on The Book Depository


 

Filed Under: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Roger’s Reads

Subscribe to Roger’s Reads

Subscribe below to get news and other goodies to your inbox!

    We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.

    Reviews Published 100 Book Reviews Professional Reader 80%

    What I’m Currently Reading:

    A Curse So Dark and Lonely Book Cover
    The Binding Cover Image

    Please Note:

    Any links to Amazon or The Book Depository on this site are affiliate links, meaning if you purchase anything via the links, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.  Note that I only review books/items that I’ve personally used and enjoyed, and all reviews are my own opinion.

    Categories

    • Book Challenges
    • Book Recommendations
    • Book Reviews – All
    • Book Tags
    • BookTube
    • BOTM
    • Contemporary Fiction/Classics
    • Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
    • General Fiction
    • Graphic Novels
    • Historical Fiction
    • Horror
    • LGBT Romance
    • Man Booker Finalists
    • Middle Grade
    • Mystery
    • Mystery/Suspense
    • Non-Fiction
    • Paranormal
    • Readathons
    • Science Fiction
    • Suspense/Thriller
    • TBRs
    • Top Tens
    • Uncategorized
    • YA Contemporary
    • YA Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
    • YA Historical Fiction
    • YA LGBT
    • YA Paranormal
    • Young Adult
    • YouTube Video
    Tweets by @rogerhyttinen

    Copyright © 2022 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in