Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens’ 2018 novel Where The Crawdads Sing quickly became a New York Times bestseller, staying on the list since its release. A murder-mystery coming of age story that follows main character Kya Clark and her secluded life growing up in the South Carolina Marsh.

    I’ll be honest, walking into the theater, I was a little worried. So many times, amazing books become disappointing movie adaptations. I didn’t know what to expect with the formatting of the movie, as the book hops around a lot from different years. However, I was really pleased with Where The Crawdads Sing in its entirety. 

   I was so impressed by the structure of the movie. The jumps between Kya as a kid and Kya as an adult were done really well and not confusing at all. The sets in the Marsh and in the small town of Barkley Cove were gorgeous, really on point with the 1950s and 60s style. Similarly, the actors who played the Where The Crawdads Sing characters were really great in portraying the emotions visible in the book.

   Although the movie was really great, I wish that the director, Olivia Newman, would have incorporated the parts of the story with the poetry by Kya (using her Pen Name, Amanda Hamilton), as that was a big reveal in the end surrounding the death of Chase Andrews, as well as the poems that were spread out throughout the novel which gave hints on what the outcome would be.

  Last but not least, the amazing Taylor Swift herself wrote, “Carolina,” an original song for the movie adaptation; like her music does so well, it told the story of Kya really well and was a great contribution to the film.

   I would definitely recommend Where The Crawdads Sing to all interested in both a great read and an amazing movie rendition.