Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

31 reviews

triciajk's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense

5.0

The Crane Husband will tear you to shreds. It is violent and wrenching and filled with truths the way most good fairy tales are. The main character remains nameless throughout the story, her invisibility a product of her neglect as she becomes the caretaker for her family. This is a story of sacrifice, a story of abuse, a story of generational trauma, a story of the effects capitalism and monopolization can have on working families. Barnhill weaves all of these themes into her story, the story of a nameless girl disillusioned by the harshness of the world too soon as she finds her own path to survival. At the end, the reader is left to deal with the pieces as they fall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Blood

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

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

jmeighan's review

challenging dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

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

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

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

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

dokushoka's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Abandonment

Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

bessmonet's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug abuse and Cannibalism

displacedcactus's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence