Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

13 reviews

gondorgirl's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death of parent

count_of_carabas's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, 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

bubblegirl858's review

challenging mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

Kelly Barnhill loves to turn people in creatures. The transformation aspect seems to be a recurring theme of her books. I didn’t like this book as much just due to how awful every single character was. No one made it out unscathed in the end which is just so heartbreakingly sad. The crane was a dick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

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

rektress's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Small little book that is incredibly big and heavy

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

citrus_seasalt's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

 I liked the writing, the narrative fit very well inside the novella format and didn’t feel crammed in. The plot stays within the magical realism/fantasy genre, but borders on horror and I wondered at times if it was also meant to be a thriller with its tone.  This was easy to breeze through in an hour or two due to both the actual writing and the book’s length, but my reading experience nor perception was anything to write home about. (Then again, that might’ve been my headspace was piss poor.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Minor: Gun violence

suzannekm's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Violence

twistykris's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

 “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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, and Gun violence

Minor: Bullying

didireadthat's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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? No

4.75

I’m left feeling a little baffled and I know I’m going to be thinking of this story for a while. I already know I should reread it again in the future because I know I didn’t get everything in the first read. 

This was a really fast read and very interesting. I loved the writing, it was descriptive but not to the point that the plot was lost in the narrative. 

The basic story of the eldest child finding her widowed mother is deep in an abusive relationship and will do anything to protect their younger siblings was a sturdy backdrop for the magical realism in the story. Knowing how the plot would most likely develop made it easier for me to accept the crane in this story and not get so distracted by the impracticality of it and I could really enjoy the fable aspect. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit and Blood