finished reading

This coming of age story focuses on the Marsh Girl, Kya, and her story from abandonment to adulthood. It’s part romance, mystery, courtroom drama, and homage to nature, and the narrative shifts from Kya's story to the investigation into the death of Chase Andrews. I think my book group will have a LOT to talk about. It's a much-buzzed-about book and although I was engaged in the story, there were several times I wish I was reading it so I could skim (I even sped up the audiobook narration). Some of the characters and situations were cliches. I wanted to LOVE it--I did like it.

From the publisher:

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.