Kya feels at home in the marshes of South Carolina. She grows up in a shack in the marshes with her parents and siblings. Slowly each member of her family leaves because of her abusive father. Eventually Kya is left alone at about age 9 or 10. She has to learn how to survive, because she doesn’t want to go to a group home in town. The marsh and the beach and the animals have always been there for her. She’s a naturalist and an animal lover and a scholar. She just never really goes to school (aside from one day). It’s hard not to simultaneously feel sorry for Kya and also be jealous of her. She lives a fully free lifestyle in nature, but it’s spent mostly alone, and she’s been abandoned multiple times by the people she loves.
Kya falls in love with two different boys at two different times in her life. One of those is a healthy and loving relationship. The other one is filled with gaslighting and abuse. Because Kya didn’t grow up like most people and has very little social interaction, it takes her a while to figure out that her relationship with Chase is abusive. When he’s eventually murdered, she’s suspected of the crime and arrested. Her trial is masterfully written and filled with the people who judged her and mocked her, but also some people that turn out to be more family than her actual family. This is a beautiful story. It’s at times hard and lonely, but man does it finish well. Please read this book. Watch the movie too! It does a good job with the important bits and doesn’t sensationalize anything.
