Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Crane Husband

“On the farm,” she said quietly, “mothers fly away like migrating birds. And fathers die too young. This is why farmers have daughters. To keep things going in the meantime, until it’s our time to grow wings. Go soaring away across the sky.”

There is just something about the way that Kelly Barnhill writes that just consumes me. She has the ability to write bizarre, disturbing, sad subject matters so beautifully. I've read When Women Were Dragons, and this has a very similar feel in regards to the magical realism and the stifling emotions around motherhood and women's transformations to leave it.

I went into this vaguely familiar with the original Japanese tale of "The Crane Wife" and I found this was an interesting, emotional retelling of it from the perspective of an unnamed 15-year old girl trying to protect and take care of her younger brother, while her mother- a weaver- becomes consumed by an abusive, mysterious crane-man. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

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amisner's review

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dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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antimony's review

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

some novellas give me an unfinished feeling like there's more to be told. but this was the perfect length. the writing was wonderful and the last chapter was sad as things often are. my excitement was warranted i really enjoyed this book! that isn't a very good review sorry. well it is a good book

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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is a pretty intense novella and may be difficult to read if you were abused or neglected as a child, witnessed a parent being abused, or were forced to take on a caregiving role at far too young an age. My heart really went out to the narrator of this story and to her baby brother. There are no easy or tidy solutions here; expect your heart to be at least a little bit broken when you finish reading it. I found this book very difficult to put down and I am actually glad it was so short, because I don't think I could have handled seeing this story stretched out across an entire novel.

Be aware that while the narrator is 15, I would hesitate to call this a young adult novel. Some teens might appreciate the difficult subject matter, whereas others may find it to be a bit too much to handle alongside the normal difficulties of being a teen. Consider reading this first before sharing it with a younger reader, and be prepared to be there for them if they need to talk.

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pagingmrsvarnum's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

The Crane Husband is a brilliant retelling of the Crane Wife myth, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an insightful novella (or would it be considered a short novel at just over 100 pages?) that explores the metaphorical - and literal - transformative nature of love and art. The narrator is the teenage daughter of a very disturbed woman who is trying to make sense of the unhealthy relationship she sees playing out between her mother and, yes, an actual crane.

Kelly Barnhill’s Newberry-winning book, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, is possibly my favorite middle grade novel of all time, so I went into this with high expectations. This book is completely the opposite of her middle grade works - it’s dark and without true restoration at the end. And yet, I still adored it. Barnhill is a master at using language to set a ton and to paint a picture. With this being such a short book, not a sentence is wasted. Every word packed a punch, and the overall result was a powerful story that asks difficult questions about love, sacrifice, art, duty, and family. This is the kind of book I can easily imagine discussing in one of my undergrad English classes; in fact, I could see it discussed in high school English classes and libraries as well. In fact, I wish I could attend a discussion on this novella, because I would love to hear other perspectives and interpretations!

This book is not for everyone, but if you love magical realism, subversive texts, retellings of myths and folktales, or just stories that make you really think, then I would definitely recommend it!

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timothyotte's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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