Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Very fancy words here - 10/10 for atmosphere!

Something about this kept me entertained, despite finding the story kind of dull. I feel like it went a little too long, and by the end it was really trying too hard to hammer home its message.

Still, beautifully lyrical; brilliant at setting the scene and Kya's place in it.

The story is about Kya, who is essentially an orphan living in a run down shack in the swamp. She spends her days feeding birds, collecting shells, and learning all about the environment around her.

Honestly, there's so much ecology here but it never got as dull as I'd expect - it was dosed out enough between the story that I didn't mind it so much.

The story however is kind of bland. It's broken family and first relationships and a murder mystery that takes a backseat to everything, really. Despite the setting and the glorious atmosphere, it's just another whodunnit.

I did have to force myself to pick it back up at times becausr there's nothing really driving the story. There was no curiosity that left me desperate to read more. Normally I'm a big fan of solving mysteries so the fact that this one did not really interest me at all shows how little importance it had in the story.

This is for slow readers who revel in atmosphere and things that are a little different. I can see why people hype it up, but I don't know that it's quite the standout I was expecting.

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