First of all, wow. I was shook. Saving the twist for the last page of the book was a bold move, Delia. And I loved it. Where the Crawdads Sings has been a best seller since its release in 2018, and for a good reason. This book is elegant in every way. From the true-to-life depictions of various wildlife, to the complex intertwining of lives in the Marsh, Delia does a fantastic job of creating the environment these characters relate to and experience emotions and others in, and the characters themselves.
Kya is quite a unique character, one that many relate to strongly. Being abused and abandoned at such a young age makes her, sadly, quite realistic. But coming from nothing and then creating something of one's self is another thing that people relate to strongly as well. Kya's traits, a deep love for nature, a strong self-preservation instinct, and of course, the flaws of being a human, make her someone we wish we could meet. At least in my opinion, I would like to meet Kya and pick her brain, but she probably wouldn't like that, If you know, you know, lol.
Men are basically trash in this book, except for maybe Scupper. It was hard for me to watch Kya being mistreated by men (and sometimes women) over and over and over again in this book. If I could meet Ms. Owens, I'd like to pick her brain about that. I guess Kya is supposed to be inspiring, overcoming so much poor treatment thrown her way, but she wasn't so much inspiring to me, as she was real - she did what any teenager and young woman would do when influenced by pretty boys. She fell in love twice, got abandoned and hurt both times, and then because she's prejudiced against by the town because she's uneducated and a white person who lives in the wilds of the marsh, considered trash, she is dragged through a joke of a trial over killing Chase, and then is suddenly loved by everyone because she is not proven guilty? And then the twist is that she actually was guilty? I don't know, something about it seems almost too real, in my opinion, because things like this happen in our real world all of the time, but it's mostly men getting away with it. I guess I would chalk this up to a "Good for Her" kind of book. Chase was literally chasing her down, trying to rape her, physically harming her, and she wasn't supposed to protect herself? Chase had it coming, if you ask me. And Tate is still garbage and Kya was right to make him earn her trust back.
Now the shining star of this book, in my opinion, is the artistic depiction of nature and the marshes and brackish waters of the swamps and inlets of the lagoons of this area. I have visited several times to these areas, and kayaked them, and let me tell you, this account is spot-on. The areas are gorgeous, and Delia Owens sure has a talent for the descriptions and artistic words that go into bringing areas like these to readers who may have never seen a marsh or lagoon like this before. The poetry was also lovely - meaningful, simple, and straightforward.
In the end - I do recommend this book for readers who like books with simple twists, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is too young, as the meaning of some things may be lost on them. Mature readers only for sure. Time to watch the movie!
-Much love,
Brieanna
Kommentare