Book Review: Where The Crawdads Sing

i am so proud about creating this, ngl ~

So, here I am with my first book review which I wrote after going through atleast 10 book reviews on Riddhi’s, Nehal’s and Sep’s blogs quite naturally🙃

Blurb:

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.

But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

Review:

I was so excited to get to this but I ended up not liking it very much, and no one could be sadder than me.

Plot: *Light spoilers*

As far as the plot was concerned, it was knitted and packed with everything you’d want in a story to happen. A broken past, romance, mystery and eventually a plot twist. Yet, there were a few questionable parts to it that I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around. A girl who lives on her own, goes to buy groceries attracts the attention of the town heart-throb and yet she has no contact with anyone else throughout the years except for two guys and an old black couple. Isn’t that a bit absurd? There are a few more parts to it that don’t really make sense.

Characters:

The character of Kya was built up well but it felt like the author lost the thread of writing her after the first few chapters. It felt like she was telling us her character dynamics instead of showing it. Like throwing facts about her to our face and wanting us to accept it.

The other characters were comparatively better written but sometimes felt bland.

Writing Style:

While the lines describing nature are beautifully penned they tend to become a bit monotonous in a fiction book. In places where I wanted to see the plot moving ahead or the character showing emotions I was greeted with overly descriptive lines about the marsh and the wildlife in it.

The author tried to use the dialect while writing but that just ended being confusing and annoying at places where you couldn’t make out what the character was saying.

The first half of it still manages to keep your attention towards the book but the second half fails miserably. When the story turns about to become a murder mystery, it suddenly feels like the author called upon someone to write those parts and then switched back to herself to write the rest of the book.

Favourite Quotes

While the book made for a read that didn’t make me feel much, there were a few unforgettable quotes-

“She laughed for his sake, something she’d never done. Giving away another piece of herself just to have someone else.”

“I wasn’t aware that words could hold so much. I didn’t know a sentence could be so full.”

Rating:

⭐⭐/5 starts: OK

I wouldn’t recommend to people who would go in searching for a touching story that is simultaneously intelligent as mystery books usually are.

If you enjoy descriptive writing, go ahead

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And that’s it for this one

Have you read this book? How did you find it to be?

Are you planning to read it?

Tell me in the comments!

Have a great day!