Bought for book club.

While I did enjoy this one, I don’t think it will make my top reads of the year. It was a good story and had beautiful writing but the first half of the book was a little slow and I wasn’t always sure whether I liked Kya 🤷��‍♀️. I didn’t see the ending coming tho so that was an interesting surprise. Growing up in North Carolina and visiting the coast quite a bit did make connecting with that part pretty easy. Overall a pick but not a favorite.

Sent as part of the wishlist tag game! Enjoy!

Received in the mail for the wishlist game. Thanks so much!

I agree with Kaila-Ann’s review. A good enough story, interesting ending even though Kya’s life seemed a bit far fetched at times. I also would have enjoyed it more if it was written from start to finish instead of going back and forth in time.

Giving to a friend.

Returned

Sending to aberpeter for the us wishlist tag game. Enjoy!

thank you for the RABCK

I enjoyed this story of the Marsh Girl and the curious case of What Happened to Chase Andrews. I could picture myself in the marshlands of North Carolina and observing Kya from afar. Kya had been abandoned by her entire family and was not trusting of outsiders. She was very selective in who she allowed in her life and it took a long time for her to build trusting relationships. She lived most of her life in near-isolation and lived as one with nature. I couldn't help but to feel somewhat protective of Kya.

I originally rated this book a 10/10 as it resonated with me and it's a book I would definitely recommend to others. But as I started to write this review, I realized there are elements which seem to be a stretch from reality and changed my rating to an 9/10. This doesn't change my enjoyment of the book, as I still very much enjoyed my time with Kya in the marshlands of NC. And, if I had not enjoyed the book, I would not be spending so much time thinking about it and analyzing the minute details.

One element which seem to be stretched from reality have to do with how Kya's character was developed. Being abandoned at such a young age and having to figure out how to live on her own are consistent with how she trusted very few people and why she kept to herself. Based on how slowly she came to build relationships with Tate and Jumpin, it was surprising how quickly she came to trust Chase. She still had her doubts about him, but she didn't hold him at the same arm's length as she did when Tate entered her life. She also saw the red flags in the relationship she had with him, but kept dismissing them. That was out of character for Kya as she would normally cut people out when there were any red flags. However, there could be an argument made that Kya was lonely and really wanted the friendship Chase offered, which made her turn a blind eye to the faults in his character

Another element which seem to be stretched from reality is how quickly Kya learned to fluently read and write. Tate spent the little free time he had in one summer teaching her how to read and write and within no time Kya was reading, and fully understanding, college textbooks. I realize some of this was to establish how smart Kya was and how she didn't fit the stereotype of the Marsh Girl which is who she was known as. To me, it just felt to be a stretch to go from a smart, resourceful girl who was one with nature to an education, well-read scholar, who was still one with nature.

Even though there are some elements of the story which I have questioned, overall the story was executed very well, Kya was a well-rounded character, and the novel itself resonates with me.