Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

16 reviews

itsemmaofc's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

pagesofkenzie's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Violence, and Physical abuse

mary_soon_lee's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

"The Crane Husband" is one of this year's crop of Nebula-nominated novellas. Is it good? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No.

It's a beautifully-written but desolate story at the intersection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The tale is a reworking of a Japanese folk story, this version set in a near-future where farming can be entirely automated and corporate, but there are also magical creatures. The story is narrated by a fifteen-year-old girl who is in jeopardy and trying to safeguard her six-year-old brother. There's violence and harm, both physical and mental. The plot turns on abusive relationships and attempts to escape. The bleakness of the story's main events is rendered even sharper in contrast to the girl's memories of her tender father. The story speaks also of art, but the art of the story is a very harsh mistress.

It's haunting. I liked the writing very much. I was on edge and distressed as I read: I don't do well with sustained jeopardy to children.

Call it four out of five distraught stars.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Violence, and Domestic abuse

jessicafee86's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexism

booksthoughtsandtea's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book shows the lengths older siblings will go to protect younger siblings, that love isn't enough to live on, the power of selfishness and selflessness, and the burden of grief. I wish this book had a more satisfying ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Murder, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Grief

melissamalicious's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

All the feelings! This one is a twisted retell of a Japanese folktale The Crane's Wife. A dark tale narrated by a weaver's daughter, this story is one filled with

This book reminds me of a dark fractured fairytale. The twists of the retell is conveying an old message, rather than a more modern one: "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.”  

The crane as an allegorical character is going to have me thinking about this story for a bit. The feathers shedding everywhere, suffocating and obscuring views, the talons taking over the past and damaging it, just whoa. The author presents this story to us and takes the outside world away. 

The crane as literal character is done visually, both beautiful and a bit of the grotesque that makes this an enjoyably dark read. The crane as a metaphoric character, whether representing abuse, or expectations of women, or freedom, 

I'm really looking forward to getting to discuss this a bit, specifically to what it means when a crane can represent different things. The author weaves this together into an evocative fable. It makes me want to read more of their work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Vomit

merlinwinter's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty

archaicrobin's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The Crane Husband is a dark and emotional tale of a 15 year old girl who is basically the parent to her 5 year old brother and irresponsibly selfish mother. She manages to just barely keep them all housed and fed by selling her mother’s tapestries and homemade cheese until her mother brings a new man around, which she often does, but this time he stays and he’s also a Crane.  The crane (or man) is abusive and soon her mother becomes obsessed with keeping the crane happy as her children slowly starve. The girl tries to save herself, her brother, and her mother in a situation where she is entirely alone. 

Everything in this novella was superb for me, the narrator, the writing, the pacing, the plot, I absolutely loved it. I had a personal connection with this one and immediately connected with the 15 year old narrator since I was also the sole provider for my younger siblings when I was 14 and on. Making sure they’re fed, in bed, happy, and cared for. Lying to social workers when they came to visit out of the sheer terror I’d never see these kids that were like my own again. This book touched on a lot of trauma for me, but that’s one of the reasons it struck me in such a powerful way. One of my favorite books of 2023 by far!!

Sometimes Mothers fly away, and we’re left picking up their messes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

its_thekla's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

For such a short book, this was not an easy read. It was dark and grim and difficult to stomach, topped with a vague sense of underlying discomfort throughout. The vibe was a weird mix of mildly dystopian, magical realism set in some Midwest adjacent town. 

There's not much you can really say about a book that's 140ish pages without spoiling anything, which would be a disservice to our unnamed narrator and her story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

fluffyreadsthings's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Kelly Barnhill never disappoints. The Crane Husband is dark, witty, and shows a stark understanding of the darker parts of family and abuse and cycles of abandonment. It is a fast read, but it sticks to you like the threads of a spiderweb. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence