I read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens almost a year ago for the IRL book club and... well, since this book - chosen democratically on our Facebook group - we decided that from now on the books will be decided at the actual meeting by the actual members who actually take the time to read and meet and discuss the books (there's a lot of us on Facebook, but only 5 that actually come to the meetings).
So, yeah, this is going to be a fun one to review.
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| ★★★☆☆ (2.5 for the book) |
"Autumn leaves don't fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar."
I also saw the film with my book club a month ago or so. I will not go into details regarding the author - Google it, there is a controversy surrounding her that I found out about months after reading the book.
The novel follows Kya's story - from her childhood in the marsh through her twenties, when she is accused of murdering the most popular boy in the city near her marsh.
The Book: Beautiful Nature Descriptions
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: I did not really enjoy Where the Crawdads Sing. I had mixed feelings about it when I first rated it on Goodreads, but if I'm honest now - there are just so many flaws and I did not enjoy it overall to not care about those flaws.
"If anyone would understand loneliness, the moon would."
What I did not like? Where do I begin? Praised for encapsulating multiple genres, I think it is just more different books in one because the genre switch is not flowing naturally - it feels like a sudden disturbance in the tone and writing of the book - it's like the author does not know where she wants to take her story.
Overall the characters are flat and based too much on stereotypes, their dialogues and interactions are cliché and our main character is a Mary Sue (not even a fun one). I just did not believe Kya as a character.
The Film: Better Than the Book
I enjoyed the film Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), directed by Olivia Newman, a tad bit more than the book, but if it wasn't for the book club girls, I wouldn't have seen it at the cinema - it is not worth it (although the nature shots are gorgeous and there is one bird that was my absolute favourite character). It's more fitting to be that Sunday afternoon film I watch with my mum (and she falls asleep, naturally). But it's not bad!
"She knew the years of isolation had altered her behavior until she was different from others, but it wasn't her fault she'd been alone. Most of what she knew, she'd learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored, and protected her when no one else would."
The film actually fixes what I consider to be the book's biggest flaw: combines the two books (her childhood and the trial) and tells them both at the same time, thus making things feel more natural. Unfortunately it does not improve the characters that much but Kya's journey is more believable.
It also respects the story (even though it presents the first parts in flashbacks, but at least you don't feel like reading two different books!) and the few changes they made make sense (like merging two characters into one due to time/financial constraints).
Why So Popular?
The thing I and the girls from the book club did not understand is... why on Earth is this book so damn popular? We really couldn't see it and if you think we are the kind of group who like the same things, you are wrong! Our discussions are so compelling because we each bring different opinions to the table. Yet somehow we all agreed that this book is so not worth the hype.
"That’s what sisters and girlfriends are all about. Sticking together even in the mud, ’specially in mud."
Usually when a book is hyped and I do not enjoy it my go-to conclusion is that it's just not my cup of tea... however, this is not the case. This book was just that bad and something is wrong with the rest of you!
Damn, I really feel like changing my Goodreads rating now but I don't do that unless I reread the book and there's no way I'm ever touching this book again.
PS: I did it, I changed my Goodreads rating.
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