Currently reading this book and just saw a character's name "Napier Murphy" and immediately came here.

Yay for our Frankenstein video!! 😆 I really like how it turned out, thanks for buddy reading and reviewing this with me! ❤️

Just finished this book this evening. My wife is now reading it. I loved it. Like you said, I've read this story structure before...and I knew the ending, BUT it didn't bother me at all. I gave it 4.5 Stars. I actually cried a couple of times during the book. I practically read it in a day. So good. Now, we are waiting for the movie to be released in July 2022 with Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya. It looks SO good.

The atmosphere in the book was by far my favorite part! What great writing. Personally I was hoping for a story with a little more healing but I thought the direction it took was powerful in its own right. Loved the review! Keep up the good work

The whole interaction between Kya and Tate at the beginning of the book, when they were still young, reminded me of The Blue Lagoon with Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields.

SPOILERS The ending is very important. It flips the entire novel into a story about prejudice into a story about Kya, and how the feeling of abandonment by literally everyone breaks her to the point where she murders. Also, a meditation on how her not being raised by people lowers her moral standards to the point where she views murder as a right because animals (specifically fireflies) do it normally.

When the last con is the biggest pro for me, haha... I want my endings as closed as possible which is why those "years after..." epilogues are 👌👌👌 Anyways, so happy for this collab. I love both of your channels 💜

Oh yay! 2 of my favorite booktubers are collaborating in a video !!

For me, I haven’t read too much historical fiction that doubles as a mystery so the structure was pretty new to me and I LOVED IT. The pacing didn’t bother me much, and I do agree the ending could have been left ambiguous and it would of been just as good, but apart of me likes the shift in narration and shift in character from Kya to Tate, the only person Kya truly knew and loved in her life and what he conclusions he has to make to finally put the chapter fully behind him after the fact

Characters and writing style are the things I care about most so this sounds perfect 😍

A fantastic review! Love reviews like these: focused, organised, passionate- and on one book! It sounds like a real, rich Bildungsroman. Love the dual effort on the review too! Keep up the great work. THIS is the kinda BookTube content I love / we need! X

Been watching book reviews for the last couple of months, and yours are the only ones that I've liked, 100% of the time.

This is the first time I've read this story structure and my mind was BLOWN! 😱

aaaaah this is amazing! LOVED this review, two of my favourite channels, perfect ❤️

This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I actually lost interest around the middle, but it picked up again and I really liked how it all came together.

I loved your opinions! I recently did a review on this as well and I feel like, while our opinions differ, I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts, like how character driven it is. I feel like it did have major plot points, but since it was so slow-moving and drawn out, the plot kind of disappeared into the background. But totally agree in that the end seemed rushed and would have been better categorized as an epilogue! Thanks for sharing!

I like that you did something different from your usual sci-fi books etc...do more of these ...Thank you for the great reviews and videos....

Thanks Merph (and Theresa). I picked this one up a few weeks ago because you girls were going to read it and I loved it. I do agree with your cons and I do have some of my own (although, I went the audiobook way and the narrator was amazing, so I might have a different perspective there). Thanks for pushing me to pick and practically eat this one down in a few days You are both awesome!

I am really excited to pick this up. Interesting I love when they jump ahead

One of my favorite parts of this book was exploring how Kya navigates her need for love and connection against her history of loss and betrayal. I think its so easy for people to not understand someone's guardedness, but this book did such a great job of connecting her actions with her past.

Not sure if you saw this or mentioned in the video, but look at page 105 in the book!!! I think it has your name!!! It says something like "Napier Murphy" in the book I think

Great review! I disagree as I found this book perfect and super unique as I’ve personally never read such a flushed out coming of age story combined with the murder mystery. This felt first and foremost like a coming of age story and the murder just elevated it. But I liked the points you made!

I got tired of waiting for the library book (I’m like 745 on the waiting list). So I ended up buying the book today. Great review!

Interesting. I didn't think it was slow paced. I thought it tore along at breakneck speed. It's been a long time since I wanted to read a book from start to finish and dodge sleep. Great book. I do think any time the book drifted away from Kya the narrative became a bit wooden. My favorite part of the book was how the author developed the character as she matured and became more educated. The ending? I expected the ending, but I really liked how the author mapped it (and the whole storyline) to the primary themes of humans as creatures of nature.

loving this review

I just finished this book and saw that you did a review of it and immediately came here.

SPOILER ALERT: One other CON is that a child being able to raise themselves in this situation seems very unlikely. One other PRO is that so many of the side characters, police, townspeople etc are realistic - not just stereotypes. The trial was well done also. I loved the characters of Jumpin' & his wife Mabel, Tate and her brother.

Your videos give me life ❤️❤️

When are you going to drop your skincare routine, though? I need some of that magic. 🙏😂

Ah ha loved this!!

You look really nice in this video! :) Dark colors really suit you.

The trial and the ending were my favorite parts. I couldn’t put the book down the last 72 hours 🙈💕

That's interesting cause I actually loved that they stuck to their guns they way they did, I thought for sure that because they were pointing so much in that direction they wouldn't follow through with it, so I loved the ending

Wow, so I've been wondering why I haven't seen any booktube videos in over a year ... KZfaq UNSUBSCRIBED me?!? Well, I've subscribed again and can't wait to watch your reviews again!

The overly-detailed prose reminded me of the fanfiction "My Immortal" but much more eloquent 😆

This is a lovely book for all nature lovers out there. 🌿

It sounds like we share a lot of the same opinions of this book! I was actually surprised by the ending and it didn't feel all that formulaic to me, but that could just be because I haven't read many other books that follow the same structure. Or maybe I'm just easily surprised!

I just finished this book. It was fantastic!

Looking at this book right now in a bookstore >:) literally the first thing by the door

Hi Merphy! I'm a newer subscriber, and I am really enjoying your videos! I would love to recommend The Dark Light series by Lisa Hofmann. There are two books so far, a third will be out soon, and she plans 4 total. The first book is called Stealing the Light. This is by an independent author and it is absolutely the best fantasy I have ever read! I think I remember you saying you read the books that are most recommended and that you are trying to save money as well, so you probably won't pick it up, but at some point you really should! I am completely in love with the writing style and the story and the female protagonist! This series completely excites and immerses me!

Ohhhh I wanna read this so bad!

Spoiler. . . . . . I actuarlly thought it wasn't Kya, or Tate, because I thought it was way to obvious. I thought it was either going to really be an accident, or I thought it was going to be Jumpin or Mabel. They both would have had motive if they knew what Chase had done, but because they were side characters they weren't gonna be the center of attention. But like I said, that's not because I didnt suspect Kya, but because it was so obvious I was sure it was a cover up.

thanks for the spoiler free review. I am about to read it and do not want to 'know' anything.

Could we talk about Merph's hair though?!

I actually predicted how it would be revealed in the end (and the who from very early), and was surprised at my having done so correctly when I saw it, because I'm normally pretty terrible at these things and quite easily duped. I didn't love the story any less for it though. I'm not sure if it's an indication of being too predictable, and I can't disagree with some criticism among Goodreads reviewers about how some stuff in the story is a bit too inconceivable, difficult to buy, geographically inaccurate, etc. etc. But I'd still give it either a 4 or 4.5.

Thanks so much for your ace review. Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts. I’m in the process of doing an episode on Crawdads. Would it be okay to quote you in my responses section of my podcast? (With attribution). No worries if not poss. Thanks

What're some examples of books with the same structure? I've never seen it before (although I've only read like 10 adult novels)

What is this? A crossover episode.

You remind me so much of the new Bachelorette, Katie! You look and speak a lot like she does. :)

This sounds an interesting read.

I just finished reading it. I had to stop myself from thinking "this isnt realistic". I am picking it apart. I was picking it apart from the start. I did like how descriptive it was, the setting and how she described boating around the marsh and towards the ocean. I wish they gave us more in the book about her learning to read but then maybe it would be too long. As a teacher I know that this isn't feasible, just fantasy. The investigation was very silly, the fact they didn't turn over every nook and cranny for the necklace. Her home was left perfect, no they'd have ripped the walls open to find that necklace. As for the end, I had hoped it was Jumpin or Tate. Like maybe Tate send her away to do the murder and Jumpin caught wind and did it himself. I mean there is a whole bunch of ways they could have played this out. And finally I do not believe she'd have been so warm and welcoming to her brother. I expected more push back, her to question him more. Also the mother not coming back to get her daughter because the father threatened her again. I just don't believe that the aunt or anyone who knew how abusive he was would just sit back for years. In fact if Kya had found her moms bones, I'd have believed that more than her mom just up and leaving all her kids. The Aunt knew her sister was in a poor state, physically, mentally, financially.... it is just unconscionable as a mother myself. If I was dying, I'd want to see my kids one last time at the very least. As much as I love the characters Jumpin and Mable, they'd have called the cops on her to get her into a home.

I could not for the life of my finish this book My goodness it was slow and drawn out to the point that i could not find motivation or a purpose to keep going

I felt it was slow but not a drag, the development was enjoyable, even the parts you ask yourself "why? why take so long to say this?". I felt awed because it's about a Biologist and how she overcame her odds. The end... I was making peace with not knowing who killed Chase and accepted the resolution. Like a bonus. Now I feel an idiot because I thought it was Tate and Jumpin who did it, taking the chance that Kya was out of town. I even thought of Jodie or the wife.

So a dual recommendation for What the Crawdads Bring, then.

All the time it sounds like teresa is gonna start crying

Murphy I didn't know you were a Napier

I lovedddd this book such beautiful imagery. I wish the murder plot wasn't in it.

I really liked the description of the landscape, the birds and the plants. As a former zoologist, Owens is really good at that. Unfortunately she´s less good in writing credible dialogues... some of them are sylistically terrible with way too much sugar on top. Besides Kya, most characters in this book are actually quite shallow and I´m still suprised so many people loved that book. Too kitchy for my personal liking...

Hi, correct me if I’m wrong but your name is in the book. It’s in chapter 16. Do you know the author? Isn’t that a weird coincidence

Overall I enjoyed it, I thought it was well written and the themes shined through, but there was quite a bit of cliché and a bit of awkward dialogue imo. Now I can't fully commit to some of my dialogue gripes because this does take place in a region of the U.S. I'm not from and it's during the 1960s so maybe people did just talk like that, but I felt it was unnatural or over-revealing, at times feeling too much like written dialogue and not what real people would say. I thought the large amount of environmental description worked well. In other books that are more plot driven I may criticize this, but Kya's entire life is in the marsh, she only knows the marsh and she was often there alone, so constant description of the environment is very good, and it drives home that feeling we all have of memories of home. We often remember the environment; the smells, sounds, colors, etc. Which is also a reason I love the use of food in this novel. I thought the ending reveal was quite obvious and expected with all of the foreshadowing, and I thought the reveal with the poems was interesting, but I don't know if it was needed and it did feel a bit out of place. I agree that the murder plot wasn't necessary to the soul of the novel but at the same time my want to just find out what actually happened is what kept me turning the pages. 7.5/10

If it were me I would’ve put the mother or the wife as the murderer by accident. Chase was obssessed by kya. Maybe he went to her house then went to the tower cuz he went there with her but that angered the mother/wife and confronted him and killed him.

Just finished the book. I agree with Ivymuse’s con. It felt sooooo rushed at the end. Like oh Kya needs to do this. Oh this needs to happen. Blah blah blah. I would have loved the book to have ended less rushed. It’s almost like the editor told the author to cut a bunch of stuff out.

I watched the movie and it was so cool.

❤❤❤

Spoiler Where was Kya’s testimony? Did they not question her? I’m so confused why that part was left out, it was disingenuous in my opinion. The narrator leaves it out so we can see at the end? That was my biggest pet peeve and what made it obvious (although that was made clear to me early on anyway) if it was meant to be obvious and a story about how her circumstances and experiences shaped her and made her into who she was and therefore, her actions (murder) why leave that part out?

I can't help but imagine teresa from the maze runner😂😂😂😂

Loved the book. Rich prose and complex characters. Can’t wait to see the movie in July! Here's the trailer kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f5dlltqll7m8Y2w.html. It looks amazing!

I liked the nature writing but the actual story was so damn cheesy. like i was actually kinda annoyed by the end of it even though i didn't hate it. It felt like it was trying to be deep but it just wasn't. ALSO the actual author is complicit to murder in south afriicaa!!!

u might want to put some "spoiler alert" on the video for those who havent read it yet. :( :(

I wasn't really interested in reading this, but I looked up some reviews and . . . I'm just disappointed at what I found. Apparently the author did little to no research on North Carolina. I saw someone say a character drives from the Outer Banks to Asheville for a bike? This is about a 6+hr drive ONE WAY! I actually laughed at this cause who's driving up into the mountains for a bike, especially in the 50s? Unless the character had some other agenda for doing this (PLEASE tell me there was some other agenda), it's just ridiculous. It has me concerned how inaccurate the rest is if the author didn't even do a basic google search.

Who else skipped all teresa scenes 😁😁

No the murder plot couldn’t be replaced with anything else. It’s integral to the theme of the book, which is about the human connection to the earth and all other creatures and how we are driven by ancient evolutionary blueprints in our actions just like the birds and insects and wildlife Kya observes. Geez!

I have four words for you. you are gorgeously beautiful