Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

7 reviews

howlinglibraries's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 

"Love is the path of least resistance, you see? It’s a lot more work to cause harm to someone who mistrusts you, or fears you. Or hates you. Love opens the city gates wide, and allows all manner of horrors right inside."

I don't read a lot of speculative fiction, so this took me a little bit to get into, and at first, I wasn't sure if I was enjoying it at all. Who was this crane, and why was the main character's mother taking him as a lover? Was this normal in this lightly dystopian setting? Did everyone take birds for mates, and why was this crane so particularly cruel?

As the story unraveled, though, I found myself drawn into it so intensely I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was interrupted at the 85% mark of the audiobook and couldn't get back to it soon enough because I had to know how it would end! And gradually, I realized that this wasn't a story that was supposed to make perfect sense, because it isn't a story about the crane. It's a story about generational trauma, and cycles of abuse, and the things that people — especially women — will tolerate in the name of love.

I enjoyed this so much. I can't wait to read more from this author. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Grief

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

---

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

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. 

---

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

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. 

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

brewingespresso's review

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.5

This story was very intense, and very heavy, but very quick. It’s a novella so it’s not lengthy, but it was incredibly moving. It is a gorgeous adaptation of the Crane Wife folktale and I think it does a great job depicting things that are hard to face and talk about in a poignant and visceral way. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

marywahlmeierbracciano's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Kelly Barnhill has molded an ancient Japanese folktale into a semi-futuristic Midwestern warning.  A small family lives on a plot of land with a barn—the adjacent farmland is owned by a conglomerate which uses automated machines to grow monocultures, fields patrolled by drones to keep even the birds away.  The widow is a prolific textile artist whose woven tapestries elicit extreme responses, her current work-in-progress inspired by her live-in lover, a foreboding crane.  Narrated by the woman’s fifteen-year-old daughter, this visceral retelling explores the limitations of domestic life, the contradictions of love, and the price of inheritance.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Minor: Terminal illness, Gun violence, and Murder