Where the Crawdads Sing

Suon villi laulu on kelpo lukuromaani, tunteisiinkäypä tarina pohjoiscarolinalaiselta suolta. Tapahtumat lähtevät liikkeelle lokakuussa 1969, kun kylän kultapoika Chase Andrews löytyy kuolleena palotornin juurelta. Tapauksessa on epäilyttäviä piirteitä, jotka saavat sheriffin epäilemään rikosta. Epäilykset kohdistuvat pian Kya Clarkiin, joka asuu yksinään suolla, eristyksissä muista ihmisistä.

Kirjan nykyhetken tapahtumien lisäksi lukijalle kerrotaan Kyan elämästä. Nämä tapahtumat alkavat vuodesta 1952, jolloin Kyan äiti lähti ja jätti Kyan ja tämän isoveljen Jodien – muut sisarukset olivat jo aikaa sitten kaikonneet – yksin alkoholisti-isän kanssa. Pian Jodiekin saa tarpeekseen ja Kya jää yksin isänsä kanssa. Kyan koulunkäynti jää lyhyeksi, mutta jotenkin Kya vain onnistuu selviytymään itsekseen suolla, isästähän ei liiemmin apua ole.

Suon villi laulu on toisaalta ylistyslaulua marskimaille ja suoluonnolle, toisaalta hieno kuvaus selviytymisestä ja yksinäisyydestä. Kya on ehkä sivistymätön ja kouluja käymätön, mutta tuntee marskimaan luonnon perinpohjaisesti ja selviytyy yksin. Kyallakin on kuitenkin kaipuunsa muita ihmisiä kohtaan, mutta pettymykset yrityksissä lähestyä muita ihmisiä ajavat Kyaa entistä yksinäisemmäksi ja eristyneemmäksi. Lopulta ystäviä ja turvaverkkoja löytyy, siitäkin huolimatta.

Suon villi laulu on pätevä erikoisteos. Hieman hämmentää tieto siitä, että tämä on ollut vuonna 2019 Yhdysvaltojen ylivoimaisesti myydyin kirja. Onko tämä niin huikea? Tiedäpä tuota. Toimiva, kauniisti kerrottu, liikuttava, jollain tapaa taianomainen kyllä – Kya on kiehtova päähenkilö ja kaksitasoinen tarinankerronta toimii. Dekkarina Suon villi laulu ei ole ihmeellinen, mutta murhaepäilykset tuovat mukavasti jännitettä Kyan elämäntarinaan.

Takakannessa on kehut Reese Witherspoonilta. “Sanat eivät riitä kuvaamaan kuinka paljon rakastin tätä kirjaa!”, mutta ehkäpä elokuvadiili riittää? Pakko on antaa tunnustusta Witherspoonille, sen verran monesta kuumasta suosikkikirjasta Witherspoon on onnistunut elokuvaoikeudet nappaamaan. Pelisilmää selvästikin on.

Devoured this book in two days. Think that pretty much says it all!

I listened to this on audio book. probably unpopular opinion but I personally couldn't get myself into this one, i had to force myself to the end. maybe if I reread a physical copy but overall i just really wasn't vested into this one. it was okay.

Devastatingly powerful

Without a doubt a book that grabs your heart and imagination and pulls on it for over 350 pages. Delia Owens has created a life here that I was fully invested in and had me feeling every emotion possible. Never have I felt so invested in a book to the point where one minute I was nervous and the next I felt I could cry. Her writing style and descriptive writing needs no praise, it's phenomenal. You can visualise the world and almost feel the surrounding through her words. Absolutely outstanding. The second book of the year I'd give six stars if I could.

Incredible tableau of life in the 1960s southern marshes for the first half; the parallels between nature and human society with a slow-burning tension crackling in the air. Then, my heart ached for the entire second half. What an exceptionally written book with characters that live and breathe even after the last page.

WOW. Just WOW! This was nothing like I expected it to be. I fell so in love with all the characters. I was completely blown away by the ending it was not what I was thinking at all. I'm so glad I decided to read this, at first I was apprehensive because of others reviews but they're wrong. I read this in less than 24 hours it was so hard to put down, even to go to sleep!

3.5

This book was awesome. It's one of the books that you want to flip to the end before you're done to find out what happens but you stop yourself to have the full experience.

I'm not sure what to make of this. I generally don't have a problem with broad tropes and cliches when a story has some fun with it, but there was very little levity in this book and it felt like it was trying to make profound statements that just came across as very dull.

Kya is a dirty swamp dweller who is actually alluringly beautiful. She's uneducated and illiterate, but actually a brilliant scientist and author. She even manages to find herself in essentially a classic racial prejudice story, but she doesn't even need a white saviour because she herself is white (what?).

The character Tate leaves part way through this book seemingly only to cause tension for the plot. The central murder is too unexplained by the last five minutes of the book for the reader to not expect something to happen, (and really only Kya or maybe Tate could have done it?) so it takes the punch out of something which maybe could have been a nice little reveal.

There's a serene quality to much of the writing that I enjoyed and a few plot and thematic sort of callbacks (though the effect was often lessened by an exact explanation as to its meaning the moment after). I thought the interweaving of the timelines mostly worked as well.

The good before the bad? Sure, let's do that. There is some beautiful writing in here, when you can tamp down the noise of all the monotony and find it. The marsh is particularly vivid and I would love to visit and explore. There are a few passages that are lyrical in ways that don't seem forced. That's about it. So, the bad... The repetitive abuse of alliteration is obnoxious. Grinning as geese glided - critters, currents and cattails - fingers of fog flirted...three examples taken from just two pages of the book. Oh dear.
And, I think there may be palmettos and lagoons in the areas described – I think I remember reading that maybe once, or twice, or 5,000 times.
The characters are all caricatures of characters, all so predictable and some, down-right silly. I mean, Ed and Joe are just throwaways.
All of the main characters are all extremely predictable. Kya is simply unrealistic.
Owens descriptive writing almost becomes self-gratification and I won't even go into the poetry aspects because I don't want to spoil anything but, come on. Owens litters so much of this book with repetitive description that it not only becomes ridiculous but it makes any beautiful passages lose their authenticity and verve. What a shame. She undermines herself with what one can only assume is a desperate yearning to continue to hear her own rhythmic, rhyming monologue of regurgitation. See what I did there?
And the mystery was hardly a mystery at all. Sigh. This book was not for me and that is disappointing, as I have had it in my TBR for quite some time.

So basically this book, to me, was full of love, hope and nature. I totally appreciate the writing style of Delia, putting pillars of clues of a murder with Kya's growth from a wild girl into a woman who could read and write well. Surely, the suspense in this book was very well shaped, it keeps you digging more and more as to know what will happen next. What more to say is the theme of the book, the core of how isolation can affect we humans, the social mammals at all. It was really deep to me that the long lack of love and care of Kya could cause her to react so strongly when to deal with sexual violence. She was long abandoned by her family, so she seek the sense of community, living like everyone else does, and to understand that she was forever an outcast of the place, leaving her with wild until her death. It was a heartwarming book. It taught us there's love and hope, and there'll always be pain while dealing with people. And to illustrate the point that us, humans, as often the intruders of nature, breaking the perfect balance between nature and living species, just like the town in North Carolina slowly turning into a commercial and developed place within years. It gets rarer and rarer for us to live fully by wild every now and then. So as to treasure the sight of nature's beauty presence while we still can, do our part to not destroy it as much as we can.
Indeed a very well-written novel.

This is one of the most beautifully written books I've read in a long time. The audiobook was masterfully recorded, the narrator is brilliant and I highly recommend the audio experience. I am crying as I type this review because this book punched me right in the feels. The last few chapters were a whirlwind of emotion for me, I cried at least three times.

An immersive, unique, character- and setting-driven read.

The only significant criticism I have for this book is the narrative gets a bit wooden when it drifts away from the main protagonist. It also tends to be a bit too sentimental and overwrought. But on the whole, the story is very nearly perfect.

The world building is so visceral. The protagonist ages from 6 to adulthood and the author really immerses you into her mind and setting. You grow with her throughout her trials and tribulations . . . her cruel then caring education.

There is a murder mystery here and the story almost doesn't need it given how interesting the characters and setting are which makes this a compelling for reread. But the mystery is tense and keeps you at the edge of your seat to the end.

Oh! And the science! The book serves also as an exclamation of love for the natural world—a love for the small things, the overlooked things, by an overlooked girl— and expertly examines human behavior through the lens of a naturalist.

Just a fun and fantastic novel.

This was better than I thought it would be! I'm not the biggest fan of nature books in general, but the slower pace of this was lovely, particularly while the world is falling apart. Did the ending wrap up way too neatly for my tastes? Fo' sho. But it was engaging, and escapism, and well-written, and a who-dunnit, and can't go wrong with that.

cw: attempted rape

When I finished this book I was leaning more towards a solid four but I'm afraid I have two big issues (and a few smaller ones). I have w/ this book bring it down to a 3/5 stars.

That being said, I really did enjoy this book and would recommend to most people.

The writing is engaging, the author clearly knows the mid-60s to 70s southern culture. I actually caught myself slipping back into a “Jawja” accent.

Overall, I think the handling of abuse and isolation on the main character, Kya, is well handled. Sometimes it's frustrating because at some points you can just see Kya is stopping herself/hurting herself with destructive behavior. But as someone familiar with mental illness, I cannot blame her (or any of the abused parties in this story) for the actions they took.

However, outside of Kya's family, most of the characters are pretty one-note. There's not a lot depth in Tate or Chase or Jumpin' or Mable. (Tate has some depth, but is still a pretty shallow character.)

But that's a small nitpick–a lot of people say they like “deep” characters but in reality have enjoyed many media where the characters are not as well rounded but still tell a good story.

My bigger issues (and more spoilery) are below the tag.

My first big issue should not be a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I am upset that the biggest conflict comes from attempted rape.The tl;dr of the soapbox is that I feel rape is a cheap way to increase drama and stakes. It is mostly used to victimize women. I'm not saying it can't be used affectively (I've seen it done), but my litmus test for this is if you change rape/attempt rape to another traumatizing human event (say war/ptsd, the loss of home, murder of a loved one, etc) and can get a similar emotional outcome (in this case: the loss of personal safety), then you don't need rape and shouldn't use rape.Okay, off the soapbox.My second issue is that all of Kya's most meaningful relationships are with men. The only significant relationships with women are with her mother (who leaves in the first part of the book and we don't really hear about until the end) and Mable, a kind black woman who gives Kya clothes and teaches her about puberty.Mable isn't really given a lot time and is glossed over. Kya's relationship with Mable's husband, Jumpin is given more weight.And it's not like the book ignored the importance of women's relationships, but Kya is never given a female confidant or friend. And in a world that needs more positive examples of these kinds of relationships, I really wish this book had stepped up to it.

Overall it was a quick good read, great for the beach or a bookclub (definitely guaranteed to get a good discussion going on a number of subjects). Not life changing but not every book needs to be. :)

I've been trying to figure out what it is that I don't like about this book. Since it has been so wildly popular with other readers, I feel like I must be from another planet.

There were some details that didn't sit right with me, as well as bad dialogue and underdeveloped characters. There seemed to be no reason to set the story in the 1960s other than to not have to deal with cell phones or a more robust social work system. Certainly the time period wasn't used in the story.

However, if I was really into the story, I think I would have overlooked all of that.

At the beginning of the book, when Kya's mother walks out on the family, I was really invested in what was going to happen to her. As the book went on, I felt that most things were getting resolved pretty quickly. She solves all of her problems with relative ease and there is never any intense moment when her life is really in danger due to the swamp/environment. She is a “social outcast” but gets boyfriends and her social skills seem fine when she needs to pull them out.

I think the problem for me is that the writer wants us to sympathize and even worship Kya. Owens bends the events of the story around her, rather than let the story happen to Kya and see how she might deal with it. As a reader, I wasn't feeling any deep connection with this character and was really only reading to the end to see the resolution of the murder mystery. I think Owens expects the readers to think even the murder is justified. (Not legal, but justified.) Kya can do no wrong and there is no moral conflict and no risks taken that we won't like her.

Beauty of a book

Interesting story, exotic setting, convincing characters, and great climax. I enjoyed the book all the way through - heartily recommended

“The moonlight chose an unexpected path through the pines, laying shadows about in rhymes. She strolled like a sleepwalker as the moon pulled herself naked from the waters and climbed limb by limb through the oaks.”

How beautiful is this writing? Every word is so precisely and perfectly chosen. It's like reading poetry.

I've seen patrons get this book so many times - at one point I think it had 400+ holds? Anyway, I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I got this on audiobook. It's a bit different from what I would usually read and I thought it was good enough to keep me reading.

Beautiful prose. The marsh setting and descriptions are wonderful, reading a bit about Delia Owens it's clear she is a very passionate about wildlife. Kaya is kinda raised by some kindness from a couple of people in her life (especially Jumpin' and his family) and also in part by nature. I think her description of shy, lonesome, beautiful, and a force of nature herself is captured and mixed well to represent that.

I put this as a mystery because it does involve a murder trail. The writing set up is what's happened in the past to current time. So, you're trying to put it together as you go kinda deal.

One part that got me was when she got away from chase andrew's abuse and manipulation...THEN she had the understanding of why her mom left. A full understanding of her mother's decision. This really solidifies him getting murdered for me. (He had it coming!~ *in the style of chicago*) I think the like it or not depends if you like the end. You follow Kaya around through the whole book. She has a trail and everything...but they totally omit her parts of the murder? Even though you follow through the whole book with her the whole time So, the twist can feel rather...meh? weak? Anyway, not that it was out of character for her to murder him. I like the parts about the fire flies and insects taking out their males of the species (feminist message? lol), the poetry she had memorized from an author (I was wondering how she had so much memorized - nah, cause she wrote them!), and the rip tide thing were big indicators for me. But, I'm glad she was able to kill them and have a happy life! yay!

Wow, this one kept me interested THE WHOLE TIME. I got it on Audiobook from Libby and I listened to about 1/4 of it on the first day at work, and all night I was thinking about it. I finished it the next day because I literally could not stop listening. You feel like you live there with Kya. It's such a good character book and the development of Kya into the final character is so wild. The last chapter makes you love the whole trial aspect, even more, when you understand the characters so well and you get to see a whole extra side of them. This is apparently the author's first novel, and wow. I loved this book.

This also reminded me a lot of the book The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Not the same plot really, but just the same kind of feelings while reading it. Overall, I recommend.

Lived up to the hype! Read this in two sittings. Great if you like page turners or Southern mysteries.

Absolutely wonderful! Crawdads will be on my list of all-time favorites!!

Que livro surpreendente e interessante! Me vi torcendo muito pela Kya, pelo Tate, pela beleza selvagem do lugar e dos sentimentos envolvidos.

WOW - this lived up to the hype.

“Who knew words could hold so much?” -Kya

I liked this book a lot and dove in after the Reese Witherspoon hype on the internet. I'm glad I did. At first i said id never read it, however, it was actually very well written and the story was very creative. Very sad start, I'm glad that the ending held some happiness and creative closure for the readers. Short, smart read, that kept me interested until the last page. Many inter-lying themes of love, loss, mystery and forgiveness mashed many genres together. I hope they make a movie about this!