BOOKREVIEW : Where the Crawdads Sing By Delia Owens

“ Go as far as you can- way out yonder where the crawdads sing.”

Let me be honest with you, first few pages with all the natures description and Little Kya’s life in the marsh, the plot was getting monotonous for me. I felt at times this book might not be the one for me.I skimmed many areas of the natures description in the beginning (almost about 100 page)s,  as there was nothing happening in the story. The dialect distracted me immensely. Until I came to the part where the book was unputdownable.  Yes it is, believe me .

You will either hate it or love it

The story is set in a marshland North Carolina 1950-1970, and the entire plot is about Abondonment.

The story begins with the survival of a six yrs old girl Kya who was abandoned by her mother, and  then her siblings . She was left with her abusive / alcoholic father until one day her father too left her in the marshes. They live in the marshes away from humans and there main source of transport was boat. So you can feel how it would be for a little girl to survive in the marsh all alone . Her solitude life in the marsh and how she learnt to survive  with the nature,  among the gulls and herons, insects and marsh  tides fabulously described.  From cooking, cleaning, to learning to drive the boat, Kya  had no other choice but to learn for survival this also made her distrustful to others. ‘ Slowly  with little bit of -learning about using boat and catching fishes and mussels she started  going to the town to sell them and get food and gas for her boat. Here she was loved by a couple and whenever she had trouble she would seek there help. The town people hated her for no apt reason, called her marsh girl, and many a times people made stories about her. This made her stop going to school. The discrimination and hatred was beyond words. They hated her alternative lifestyle.

Let me tell you she was not a black girl.

Kya in her growing up years had 2 people whom she loved immensely Tate and Chase. May be more than her parents who abandoned her.

“ Everygirl probably remembers her first love , She let out a long  breath then rowed back the way she came….”

The book moves to the part where she is a teenager and meets Tate. Slowly her life changed, she was been taught to read and write, and Tate too loved the marshes and so there chemistry was so adorable but will it end here, I guess no. More pains where written for Kya. The murder scene changed the whole tone of the story and Kya was suspected. Chase was murdered. 

 Trial room scene,  trauma, loneliness , loosing loved ones, betrayal  and lot of  hope to anchor the solitude life and lastly an unforgettable ending.  A book  full of emotional rollercoaster ride, a beautiful one.

BOOK REVIEW : The Day I Dissapeared By Brandi Reeds

The Day I Disappeared

By Brandi Reeds:

Thriller

Publisher: Lake Union

Publishing  On: 25 Aug 2020

Holly Gebgardt was kidnapped when she was 4 years old, but luckily she was been sent back home by the kidnapper after 3 months. Her parents were shocked to see her return unharmed, as they left all hopes of getting little holly back. But unfortunately Holly couldn’t remember a thing about her kidnap.Her best friend Kitty did recognize a man while Holly got kidnap, and the person was immediately jailed .But things get complicated when series of Kidnaps of little girls starts off again even though the person is in jail and almost many family lost their little girls. (Found dead in bridal dress)After almost twenty years the case reopens and the detective who is in charge starts questioning Holly as she was the only child who returned. Holly herself couldn’t come out of the trauma and her suspicions falls on many people which includes her mom.

Her mom got into a severe accident and went to coma, and therefore things gets more complicated but yes she knows some kind of a secret which makes the reader more curious.

“Phew” - What a twisty ride. Everyone is under suspect till the end of the story.

The story is narrated from Holly and her mother’s (Cecily) point of view , and the suspense was really good.

At times it became little slow especially Holly’s best friend kitten’s part, but I enjoyed her mother’s narration. Though Cecily was not much reliable because she is an alcoholic and her mind is always in mess. The past and the present narration made the plot more suspenseful by both the character .Just when you will think you know who the kidnapper is and what was the motive behind, you will get a bend in the road and again you will be left dangling.

Thank You  #netgalley and Lake union Publishing for the ARC of #thedayIdissapeared.  Recommended for thriller lovers !

Book review : The Henna Artist by AlkaJoshi

Set in the year 1950 right after India's independence, the henna artist is about Lakshmi  Shastri from a village named Ajar. She fled away from her abusive marriage and made her living struggling hard selling herbal medicine and designing mehendi to her high profile clients which include the Maharani of Jaipur. She learned henna in Agra while herbal medicine from her beloved mother in law  who use to treat women  in her village. Her business and connection started to grow and she wanted to have her own house, until suddenly her husband visits her in Jaipur with a little girl of age 13 name Radha. Lakshmi gets to know it is her sister , and also how much struggle she went through in her village alone after her parents death. Things change soon after Radha's arrival and Lakshmi started to face obstacles in her journey. 

Henna artist is about the independent women Lakshmi , a story about women empowerment. In India mythology Radha is the reincarnation of Lakshmi, and so i felt in the book Lakshmi wanted to give all the motherly love and most comfortable life to Radha  as she see her young self in her. 

The charecters detailing in the book created an everlasting reminisce . I was unable to choose which charecter I enjoyed the  most  because everyone supported each other. 

The plot talks about caste system, superstition, abusive marriage, motherhood .

A mature book for the ladies out their in their mid twenties and Thirties.