Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

18 reviews

gafforama's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Grief

emilyrandolph_epstein's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This was an uncomfortable book, but I was able to buy into it until the end, which felt somewhat rushed compared to the pace of the rest.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Cancer, and Domestic abuse

kaiyakaiyo's review

emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

brutal yet beautiful book! I expected to like it based on how much I loved When Women Were Dragons, and did! Barnhill’s prose is so … something! emotive, throbbing, evocative. I felt so dearly for our main character, and felt so acutely the struggle of her family over generations. 

this book was deeply sad and is not very hopeful, but it is powerful and does not devolve into hopelessness or despair for despairs sake. it just is, you feel and sit in those feelings. 

idk much like most of my 5-stars, I can’t really articulate exactly what I liked. Just know that I liked it immensely 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Blood, Gun violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Animal death

Minor: Terminal illness and Alcoholism

rebecca713's review

very well written but very weird and disturbing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Gun violence

arayo's review

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Body horror

pm_me_book_recs's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Heartbreaking; a tale of neglect, abuse, and violence, but also about gaining self-agency and powerful enduring love.

This one may be a tough read for those who had to grow up to early and became sibling-parents due to neglect, or anyone who has survived domestic violence. Multiple times this little story had me ugly crying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

hownoveljo's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Animal death, and Physical abuse

rachelle_reads's review

dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

I read this in one sitting, but I’ll be thinking about it for a while. The author deftly walks the reader down a murky road that crosses just over into futuristic fantasy from the stark reality of the present day.  Sometimes that takes the edge off the violence in the book; sometimes, the bizarreness makes everything that much more nauseating.

The images of the weaver stitching up her wounds will stick with me for a long time.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

reading_rainbow_with_chris's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

“The Crane Husband” by Kelly Barnhill
At 15 years old, and mature for her age, a young girl in the Midwest carries far more than her fair share of household duties in the wake of her father’s death and her mother’s artistic impulses. But when her mother brings home a giant crane as her next lover, things in the house became far more tense than ever before.

In this tight 120 page tale, Kelly Barnhill has once again revealed herself as a master of magical realism. I pounced on this after having read her stunning novel “When Women Were Dragons” and devoured this in 24 hours. I do think it’s worth noting, however, that “The Crane Husband” has its fair share of flaws. If I sit and think through the experience with a critic’s eye, the pacing feels off for how quickly the major twist becomes apparent to the reader ahead of the characters. As a result, the suspense is not as effective. I also found myself at times incredulous at how skilled, how brilliant, how effective the protagonist was in roles well beyond her years or experience. Yet she was never found out. Somehow, this felt less believable than the giant crane lover. And yet, this story was riveting from start to finish and I absolutely loved the journey. It’s imperfect, but some of the best things in life are. Highly recommend for fans of magical realism tinged with a touch of horror.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Gun violence, Vomit, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

ehmannky's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

A weird and dark retelling of The Crane Wife that doesn't try to explain away fantastical elements of fairy tales or make them mundane. It's a slow read, despite being a relatively short book, and it deals with a lot of heavy themes of abuse and how the impacts reverberate well beyond the person who experienced the abuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Violence and Gun violence