Goodreads Progress
First, is it odd that I am comparing an Oprah Book Club Selection to a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick? The reason I thought of Icy Sparks while reading Where the Crawdads Sing is because both Icy and Kya were ostracized as children for being different and therefore kept to themselves. This unfortunately led to others "theorizing" which followed them throughout their lives.
Or at least the unthinkable act which led to another unthinkable act -- murder. I did feel that Chase's actions against Kya were unfortunately inevitable, however it did not make it any less despicable.
Kya was stubborn like Scout, yet simply wanted to be left alone and accepted like Boo Radley. Heck, she and her childhood boyfriend even left little gifts in the wood like Boo did for Jem and Scout. As I write this, I am also reminded of Tom Robinson at trial, as it came across like the process was accusing a Mockingbird.
I felt that these were the three themes that kept floating in and out of the story. Kya experiences loss over and over again throughout her life. First through her family, one member leaving at a time. When she does find love with Tate, he only leaves her because he doesn't feel she would "fit in" with his world. As for Chase, she was betrayed, I'd say good riddance. Kya grew-up illiterate until she was a teen when Tate taught her to read, and from then on read anything and everything there was to learn of the marsh, making her a respected expert.
Because Kya had been known as "The Marsh Girl" for so many years a population of the county had preconceived notions of her, tainting the townspeople. I was seriously worried the trial might have gone the way of Tom Robinson, as I stated above. Fortunately, as I was sure I would, I breathed a sigh of relieve when the trial was over.
I really thought I knew who killed Chase, but with the lifting of a floorboard my theory was blown out of the water for a shocking (and bittersweet) ending.
This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews