Delia Owens’ Where The Crawdads Sing Book Review

Hello reader friends! Today I’m going to be sharing my Where the Crawdads Sing book review. This novel by Delia Owens is one that I put off reading for a very long time. I prematurely judged it. I assumed that wouldn’t find it interesting because it didn’t seem realistic. It made no sense to my how Kya’s whole family could abandon her to live on her own in a marsh.

How could the  marsh girl possibly survive? That’s a question that I asked myself. I also wondered what she ate and if she went to school. Why didn’t her older siblings look after her better? Before even reading the first page I was so confused.

I listened to the audiobook at the beginning of this year and I’ve been reflecting on it ever since. Where The Crawdads Sing is an incredible story set in the North Carolina coast, and the murder investigation is very intriguing. It is historical fiction that starts out during the 1950’s which helps to explain why things were the way they were.

So let’s get on with the review! And if you enjoyed today’s book review, make sure you you check out the rest of my book discussions.

What is Where The Crawdads Sing about?

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.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures. (from Amazon.com)

My Initial Thoughts

As I mentioned earlier, I listened to the audiobook version of this book. I was hesitant to start this book, but the story of Kya and how she learns about the natural world immediately sucked me in. I wanted to know everything about how she learned to survive and take care of herself.

Kya’s story was difficult to understand in the beginning. Even during her earliest years of childhood, I felt awful for her. After Kya’s mother left, her siblings started drifting away and then she was alone with just her father. Kya’s father was unpleasant (which is obviously the reason why her mom left) and he drove away the entire family, except for Kya. She was just a young girl who didn’t know how to leave. I feel like if she was older and understood things better, she might have tried to follow the rest of her family members.

But Kya doesn’t leave and instead stays at the house with her father, who comes and goes as he pleases. She does her own thing, but faces harsh judgment from the rest of the town. They refer to her as swamp trash and don’t look out for her at all. Even the truant officer comes to Kya at some point and takes her to school. But when Kya faces too much bullying and decides not to go back, no one even cares.

I know that sounds awful, but there were some bright sides to her life. There were kind people who tried to help her the best that they could. There’s a good boy named Tate who takes a notice to Kya. They are around the same age and he befriends her while he’s out in her neck of the woods. They work together and he teaches her how to read.

But there are other, difficult situations Kya faces as she grows up. And without parents or older adults around, she’s has to figure things out on her own.

Kya as a Main Character

As a main character, I found Kya to be so inspiring. Her family situation was terrible, and the only thing that made it better was the fact that she was able to grow up and create such an amazing life for herself. Kya’s life is not easy by any means. But as she navigated the world on her own and worked to better her life, she figured things out. I loved how interested she was in the marsh and the different wildlife she saw. It was so interesting how she became the accomplished co-author of several nonfiction books about the things she saw. She would illustrate the things that she saw as well.

The Mystery

I love cozy mystery novels, so I loved the murder mystery aspect of this story. While the lake and the area where Kya live have beautiful imagery, there’s also some not so good stuff going on. Kya deals with love and loss in many different ways. When local boy Tate Walker goes off to college, she turns to rich boy Chase to be her friend after he takes an interest in her. But when the worst happens, it’s Kya who they blame. And why wouldn’t they? She’s the swamp girl. 

It was interesting to me how the small town reacted to the situation. It scared me when the trial was going on, but Kya was lucky to have good people surrounding her to help. Her town was hard on her, but they also gave her unexpected grace in the end.

Is Where The Crawdads Sing Base on a True Story?

No, Where The Crawdads Sind is not based on a true story. It is a work of fiction created by Delia Owens.

The Organization of the Story

The overarching story follows Kya’s entire life, although this is told between present day when suspect Kya Clark is in court. You may feel a little bit confused at first, but the as the story progresses it transitions seemingly, so that you understand where Kya is coming from and why she may or may not be guilty of the crime she has been accused of. By the end of the book I felt like I really understood everything, although the ending did surprise me.

The Romance

Kya’s coming-of-age tale is about her growing up, and one of the things that comes with growing up is relationships. During her high school aged years, she befriended good boy Tate and he taught her how to read. But when he went away to college, Kya was disappointed when he never came back. By that point he was more of a boyfriend to her and she was highly anticipating him coming back to the marsh when he was home on break.

I think Delia Owens did a really good job of writing this difficult time during her life. It made sense that she would get messed up with bad boy Chase because she had so little experience with men, and people in general.

Where the Crawdads Sing Movie

And remember, if you enjoyed the book there is also a film version to enjoy. A movie of Where the Crawdads Sing was released in 2022 and it was produced by Reese Witherspoon. It starred Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya Clark. I haven’t watched it yet because I always try to read the book before the movie, but it’s available for streaming on Netflix right now.

In Conclusion

I had some big assumptions about this book and didn’t think I would like it. But I was wrong. The marsh is a beautiful setting for a story, and although Kya’s story was difficult to read at sometimes I was always rooting for her. She may not have had a formal education, but she was smart and determined. Those are two characteristics that I love in a protagonist.

If you’re looking for coming of age story with a bit of a mystery, Where the Crawdads Sing is worth checking out. It’s completely different from what I expected. After a few chapters I was completely invested in Kya’s story and I think that you will be too.

But Wait, There’s More!

If you enjoyed today’s book review, you can read more of my book discussions here.