Typically, I tend to avoid books surrounded by an overabundance of hype. When the expectations are too high, the let down is usually too great. I have listened for months to people talking about Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and not a single person has failed to rave about how amazing it is and how you just have to read it and seriously, did we mention that it was amazing? And yet every time I picked it up and read the synopsis it didn't appeal to me. I can't tell you why I wasn't interested, but it just didn't "sing" to me. And then our book club couldn't resist the siren's call any longer. With all the 5-star reviews and all the gushing, we surrendered.
Kya lives alone in the North Carolina marsh and has done nearly all her life. Abandoned by her family, she learns to fend for herself. Before long, she becomes part of the town folklore: the "Marsh Girl". She is alone, she is different, there must be something wrong with her. When a popular young man dies, it is no surprise that she is immediately the prime suspect.
This book is slow to start, but if you can settle in to the descriptions of the marsh and all the life in it (it really does go on for a long time), you will be rewarded with great characters and a storyline that will capture your imagination. The second half of the book flies by so quickly you won't want to do anything but read. I won't gush as others have done, but this was a very good book. When I learned that the author is a wildlife scientist, it explained to me why there is so much detail about marsh life, but I thought it was still a little too much. Other than the pacing, this book was quite enjoyable and I was glad to have read it after all.
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