Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

35 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

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

saint_eleanor's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was really really good, very weird. It's a really unique way of telling the story of childhood abuse and how children often have to deal with strangers coming into their lives or their parents lives and kind of being this harbinger of neglect. The mother meets a 'crane' and they fall in love and she starts to ignore her children and just throws herself into an art piece with the crane man all the while he is abusing her. It really deeply unsettled me. 
Very well written despite being from the perspective of a teen, the language was really beautiful. I also caught bluebeard's castle vibes from the story her dad told her about the crane wife and also echoes of the green ribbon story, as in like women have these aspects to them that they want to keep just for themselves but men feel so entitled to them that they MUST know, causing eternal curse!! I really appreciated the modern setting as well, made it really creepy, the stuff w the sheep scared me!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse

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

qarina's review

dark emotional medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment and Animal death

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

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

meaghanelizabook's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Cancer, Child abuse, Body horror, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Terminal illness, Blood, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

annaavian's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

In "The Crane Husband," Kelly Barnhill reimagines the traditional Japanese folktale "The Crane Wife" for a modern Western audience through a devastating dark fantasy that explores domestic violence, cycles of abuse, fear of abandonment, and the exploitation of women. While staying true to the core theme of the original folklore - the mistreatment of women by men - Barnhill introduces additional layers of complexity and insight. However, the protagonist does not alter the story's ending from tragic to uplifting. Despite the crane's demise, nothing is truly salvaged.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence