[MPOV] Where the Crawdads Sing

My rating: 5/5

Goodreads rating: 4.39/5
Published: August 14, 2018
Author: Delia Owens
Genre: historical fiction, romance

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.

This book reminds me of Tarzan, a female version with a different premise. It may sound unrealistic at the start but as the story progressed, it turned out to be an amazing one! Indeed, a great book to kickstart my first read of the year 2024!

In summary, Kya was abandoned by her family when she was young and has been surviving on her own in the marsh. As she grew older, Tate comes along and befriended her, teaching her how to read since she didn't attend school. When Tate did not return as promised during his university breaks, Kya was devastated as she had been abandoned again. Along came Chase who tried to woo and eventually bedded Kya successfully. Unfortunately, another sad turn as she found out that Chase was getting married from the newspapers. As the story unfolds progressively, it shows the strength and will power of a young girl who survived her childhood to adulthood on her own.

Go as far as you can - way out yonder where the crawdads sing.

The overall story was bizarre and there were gaps initially but as the story progressed once she hits adulthood, it definitely felt relevant. The little flaws do not maketh the story poor and it sure was an engaging journey learning how a little girl survived on her own. It may not sound as logical, similarly to Tarzan, and yet it was intriguing enough. I am just glad of the outcome at the end, though I had my own suspicions, I was still amazed at how it ended albeit a little rushed/short. 

I have read lots of rave reviews of this novel, so I was a little skeptical initially as I didn't want to be disappointed and felt that it's overrated. I have experienced such sad outcome of late, so I have lowered my expectations lah. Thankfully, this novel just got better and better! I liked how the author has written and paced the journey which do keep me interested. I was anxious to know how it ends and yet I did not want to flip the pages. I wanted to read it continuously until the end, not wanting to miss a thing! I'm just glad to have completed it and rated it 5/5 according to my satisfied palate. 

And I'll hide the maid in a cypress tree, when the footstep of death is near.

I understand that it has made it to the big screen, but I have yet to watch it. If you have read the book and watch the adaptation, was it as good as the book? I have gotten my copy from Revitalize Books, an online books-for-rent shop. I'm happy to be able to read more and not own as many books. The lesser the hoarding, the better lah LOL! My reading target for this year is 30 books, an increase of 5 from 25 last year. I sure hope to read more from my TBR this time and not buy any more books *fingers crossed* LOL! What is your reading goal this new year?