Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Crane Husband

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

39 reviews

ellekiriel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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rachelle_reads's review against another edition

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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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reading_rainbow_with_chris's review against another edition

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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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archaicrobin's review against another edition

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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.

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citrus_seasalt's review against another edition

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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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