Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Der Gesang der Flusskrebse by Delia Owens

67 reviews

sayoni198's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I began 2025 with a novel that I had bought 2 years ago but never read.
If a love story (a love story between a young girl and nature), a love letter to marshlands, a Bildungsroman, and a murder mystery could be perfectly packed into a novel, that would be: *Where The Crawdads Sing.* 
Never have I read a story where the author breathes life and soul into every nonliving object like the lagoons, the sea, the rivulets, the shadows, and the mud, where the author gives life, personality, characteristic traits to nature more than to humans, to every tadpole, every firefly, every sea gull, every oak tree, every blade of grass, every heron, and every bird as if they are not artifacts to be conserved but a family, a community to be nurtured and live in coexistence with. 
The novel explores the life of Kya, a girl who was abandoned by her whole family and grew up all alone in the marshlands and swamps of North Carolina, USA in the 1950s. She was isolated, neglected, and cast off by even the townspeople and labeled as the Marsh Girl or White trash. This made her learn how to survive on her own, make the gulls her family, and fend for herself for most of her childhood and youth. Human characters do have personalities in the novel yes, but they are mostly limited to the kind of impact (positive or negative, big or small) that they had on Kya. Or they were known by their professions or race or class. But it is the flora and fauna that play a role beyond as being the setting of the novel and are also the objective observer, witnesses to significant milestones of Kya's life, keeper of secrets, and a gateway or a glimpse to the world that *Delia Owens* (the author) has created for her readers. 
Kya's complicated relationship with humanity goes beyond the Jungle Book-esque survival story of a girl literally raised by the marshlands. I say this because I have a special inclining for female survival stories because women, who are traumatized enough to expect nothing but abandonment from society and civilization, who no one imagines anything of who go on to do the things no one can imagine.
Where The Crawdads Sing is the story of such a woman.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Racism

marileysan's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

oliviapi2010's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read. I cried to many times to count. I read it months ago and still think about it on a daily basis. It was heartbreaking and emotional. Overall I recommend and would kill to read it for the first time again 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

cluelessavian's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

parcoeur's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The book is beautifully written with a strong rapport between nature and humanity. One cannot help but root for the main character, Kya, through all of her trials and tribulations. The reader is kept on the edge of their throughout the second half of the book and is stunned by the end of the story. Somehow, the ending provides closure and more questions, further cementing Kya as an enigma, the Marsh Girl. Where the Crawdads Sing puts a lesser-discussed part of the US on display with a cast of complex, human characters alongside the marsh at it story's core.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness and War

maryconney's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Confinement and Death of parent

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Amazing read, my heart was breaking for Kya through most of this read and I couldn’t stop the tears. Compelling and beautifully written I adore this book. 5 STARS!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had put off reading this because I tend to be let down by the books that have a lot of hype around them, but this was an enjoyable read.

Slow start but picked up pace around half way through.  The author really brought out the pain caused by abandonment and also the prejudices Kya was subject to.

The connection Kya had with the natural world around her was lovely to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

jodar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The novel was an enjoyable and easy read. The MC, Kya, is engaging, albeit a bit unbelievable in terms of practical plausibility and psychology. The ending had a melodramatic twist to resolve the mystery – for a while before that I had up to four characters I had suspicions about. At least I was right about one of them!

The novel focuses quite a bit on the beauty of the natural world, which weaves in well with the plot line. I thought the pacing of the plot was good, though more use of foreshadowing would have worked more powerfully. Also, the musings by the MC on evolutionary biology and human behaviour struck me as quite reductionist, and seemed to be a way of explaining away the characters’ actions without psychological depth or ambiguity. The interweaved poetry occasionally worked well, but more often felt a bit jarring.

Overall, if you don’t expect too much, it is a great “airport read”.

CW: Extramarital sex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

schneidero's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The protagonist and setting draws you in from the very beginning and with short chapters it feels like a quick read. Although the story jumps back and forth between two different time periods it never felt confusing and got more and more suspensful when they started to connect. I had read somewhere that the author is a zoologist which is very apparent as a lot of the book focuses on describing the wildlife and fauna but it wasn't distracting but instead invited you into the point of view of the main character. While the overall pace felt rather slow it definitely picked up towards the end and while I was worried of being left with many questions, the last handful of pages answered a lot of them and left me just sitting in silence for a moment once I had finished the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment