WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
"Every Creature Does What It Must To Survive"
Author: Delia Owens
Release date: August 14th, 2018
Number of pages: 368
I got given this book for free last year from people giving out a bunch of freebies in the university library, must have been for Re/Freshers or something along those lines. I hadn't heard of it before but I definitely was interested in giving it a go reading the blurb. It sounded like it was going to be a straightforward romance story interlinked with a murder mystery, but I definitely wasn't prepared for what followed:a hauntingly beautiful story about trauma, survival, secrets and how far someone can go to protect them.
Plot details
The Marsh Girl had been a rumour around town for years, but little was actually known about Kya. She stopped going to school when her family all left her alone with her abusive alcoholic father, and she is eventually left to fend for herself when her father leaves after receiving a letter from Kya's mother. Only a few people show any love or sympathy to her, including Tate Walker, who was a friend of her sisters before she left town. Now learning to read and write with the help of Tate, things are going great for Kya, and the two even fall in love and pursue a relationship. That is, until Tate leaves town for university, leaving her behind but promising to come back for her.
Following the absence of Tate, Kya starts dating a popular boy named Chase, however things are not what they seem and she break-up with him after a series of problematic revelations. Things get even more complicated when Tate returns to the town, as does Kya's sister with some bad news regarding their mother. Kya, needing space from it all, leaves town to meet a book publisher, but she returns to discover a dead body has been discovered, she's the prime suspect, and a key piece of evidence has gone missing.
To avoid spoilers, what follows is a whirlwind of court evidence, testimonials and a verdict. What happens to The Marsh Girl? Is she capable of murder?
My thoughts
I couldn't believe this book. I was gripped from start to finish and I couldn't put it down. The characters, especially Kya, are written with such sympathy that it is difficult to not root for them. Kya's backstory about a strained family dynamic and abandonment makes you think about lucky you are if you're not in that sort of predicament. Tate and Chase are written as complete opposites but with hints that both of them could flip at the turn of a coin. The fact that this book primarily takes place in a marsh really fits in with the story, a marsh is a dark, lonely, desolate place, just like Kya's life. Everything she has ever loved has left her at some point in her life, to the point where the only consistency is the marsh she calls home. The story is a beautiful, distressing look at the hardship people have to go through just to survive, and the lengths people are forced to go to. The ending is one that will stick with you for a while afterwards as you to and fro about whether it was the right thing to do (once you read the book, you'll know what I'm talking about). Pick up this book and give it a read, I promise you that you will finish the experience relieved that you did.
Way out yonder, where the crawdads sing.
5/5
Comments
Post a Comment