Read It & Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Michelle Green
Sep 7, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Sep 21, 2020

“The Barkley Cove graveyard trailed off under tunnels of dark oaks. Spanish moss hung in long curtains, creating cave like sanctuaries for old tombstones—the remains of a family here, a loner there, in no order at all. Fingers of gnarled roots had torn and twisted gravestones into hunched and nameless forms. Markers of death all weathered into nubbins by elements of life. In the distance, the sea and sky sang too bright for this serious ground.” – p 355, Ch. 56

I initially bought this book because of the buzz surrounding it and was excited to start reading. I finished it a couple of days ago; however, it was not my favorite. The story overall is good, and the descriptions are top notch, but the ending—in my opinion—was disappointing.

Plot Summary

Our story starts in North Carolina with six-year-old girl, Kya, who is distressed and confused because her mother is leaving due to her abusive and alcoholic father. By the time Kya’s 10, she is completely abandoned by everyone in her family. Two young men from town try and break her out of her isolation in the wild marsh she calls home.

You go between Kya’s life, starting in the 1950s, and a murder investigation in the 1970s. The time jumps get closer until they meet in 1970.

Spoilers Ahead: Read at Your Own Risk!

General Thoughts

I liked this book. Her writing style is so unique, and I’ve never read anything like it. She made something like a marsh sound beautiful. At times, the book felt very cinematic and I’m not sure if it was because of the time jumps, the descriptions, or a combination of both.

Even though I figured out that Kya murdered Chase before the story told me, it was still interesting to see how she would lead all of us there. However, I felt like it lacked once she was on trial for his murder.

Read Again?

Maybe, but it wouldn’t be my personal first choice. It is a commitment to read at almost 400 pages, but the writing makes it fly by. Since I am now familiar with the story and know the plot twists now, I think it’ll be a while before I reach for this again.

I was disappointed by the ending. Not just because I figured out Kya was guilty earlier than the book told us, but the last 50-100 pages felt rushed. To me personally, those pages read like a paper a student wrote 20 minutes before the deadline. She was packing so much into those last pages that she could’ve fleshed out earlier on in the novel.

It was a beautiful but heartbreaking story, but after all the hype surrounding this book, I personally expected more.