Where the Crawdads Sing
By: Delia Owens
My Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!
Best For: 18 and up

Is this it? The perfect novel? Judging by the raving crowds of fans and bottomless 5 star reviews, could it be?

Naw. No such thing. The perfect novel doesn’t exist. But…

…Where the Crawdads Sing is absolutely worthy of the discussion!

Is it Historical Fiction? Is it Coming of Age? Is it a Mystery? Is it a Courtroom Drama? Is it a Romance? Is it an Ode to Nature?

Yep.

The broad appeal is certainly one reason it’s found such success. More than that though, I found it quite readable. What’s readable? It’s that rare quality some books have where you read 50 pages without feeling like you’ve hardly read anything at all. I’ve read other reviews and echo a common theme: it’s unbelievably impressive this is Delia Owens first novel.

I wasn’t madly in love with the written-out regional dialect some of the characters used, but I don’t think I’ve ever loved that. It didn’t get it in the way, and to me that’s a win. The characters are well written and developed. I was completely invested in the outcome because I wanted success for the characters I felt a connection to. The mystery pulled me along. The suspense wouldn’t let me stop reading.

If there’s a magical book recipe, Delia Owens found it. It’s all in there, and it works. Plus, I’m a sucker for a great twist, and there’s a couple here that joyfully took me by surprise!

There is some mature content you may want to be aware of. You’ll find several instances of both F— and Sh–, as well as a couple uses of Ni—-. There are two or three instances of descriptions of sexual content involving teenagers, as well as an aggressive scene of sexual assault. Best for 18 and up.

My opinion? The hype machine got this one right. Where the Crawdad Sings was wonderful.

Get your copy here!

Happy Reading!