Where the Crawdads Sing

[Madelineren]

Who felt the movie Where the Crawdads Sing did the book justice?
In my experience, the movie is almost always a disappointment.
However, I have heard many people say they were pleased with how the movie followed the book!
Who agrees and why?

[Alice Heritage]

I saw this the other night, but I have not read the book! Nevertheless I can believe it was a faithful adaptation because it included narration by the heroine, which I think might well have been taken directly from the book. Plus the scenery was beautiful, including sunsets over the marsh, so I imagine the atmosphere translated well to the screen. I want to read the book now of course!

[Jakub Bystrowski]

I was very disappointed. Movies from books that exclude the author always flop. The movie lacked quality and was below par compared to the books.

[Mandy Pfister Lee]

I read the book first and fell in love with Kya's story. The movie was okay. I felt the right people were cast for the characters, and the film captured most of the book's essential parts but lacked the connection you can only experience from the book itself.

[Mary Bircher]

Side note: the geography in the book is terrible. North Carolinians hate it

[Jreeve]

I saw the movie prior to reading the book. I liked the movie, but I loved the book! I was left with questions after watching the movie, that were totally explained in the book. I also felt that some of the characters from the book were blended together for the movie. The character development was more thorough in the book (as usual), but it made the events of the story make more sense to me. Overall, it was a good movie but the book will always be better.

[Kaylyn_Marie]

I read the book first and then saw the movie and I was pleasantly surprised! I thought the movie did the book justice, and I think that was in part due to Reese Witherspoon as a director because I know it was one of her top reads of the year in her book club.

[AHHHHHHH69420]

I think the movie focused a bit too much on her romantic relationships. Don’t get me wrong, her relationships were definitely important to the story, but I wished the movie emphasized more on her as a child living alone in the swamp, spending time with the animals. I found those parts gave the rest of the story more weight.

But overall I thought it was a good adaptation, especially compared to other ones.

[Nevada Shriver]

The movie was just okay. They hit the plot points pretty well, but it didn’t have the emotional connection the book gave. I would have liked more focus on the hardships Kya faced as a child and teen, and the ending was not hard hitting like it was in the book. When I read the ending, I got goosebumps, but with the movie I had to back up to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I hadn’t. It just didn’t get transferred to screen very well.

[Shiru Elizabeth]

A beautifully written story that is rich in atmosphere and character development. I'm curious to see how the film adaptation will turn out.