I finally got around to reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It was after I’d seen the movie which isn’t the way I prefer to do it. But after that rather surprise ending–in the movie anyhow–I had to see if it was as surprising in the book.

First off, the writing in Crawdads is beautiful. It’s a lovely book to read. My comparison with the movie would be that we get a whole lot more of the growing up life of our main character Kya. Ah, yes, to be expected. And exactly why books have so much more to offer than their movie versions. I loved the writing and learning about the marshland and another way of life, a culture and a geography so different than my own.

The book definitely held my interest all the way through. I was sorry I’d seen the movie first, because you know what? I think I might have been less surprised by the twist at the end of the book, but now I will never really know for sure. When I finished the movie I wondered if the book might have a different ending because sometimes, you know, book endings and movie endings are actually different. And yes, they do have the same ending, but I think I might have seen it coming more in the book…

Those of you who read the book first or only read the book, what do you think? Was the ending a big surprise, or not so much? Tell me what you think in the comments below. Thanks!