bitternortherner's review against another edition
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.
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
clstrifes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Murder and Violence
frfiallo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Terminal illness
bookmaddie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Murder
its_thekla's review against another edition
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.
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
cryfest's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Grief
luckylulureads's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
pagingmrsvarnum's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
The Crane Husband is a brilliant retelling of the Crane Wife myth, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an insightful novella (or would it be considered a short novel at just over 100 pages?) that explores the metaphorical - and literal - transformative nature of love and art. The narrator is the teenage daughter of a very disturbed woman who is trying to make sense of the unhealthy relationship she sees playing out between her mother and, yes, an actual crane.
Kelly Barnhill’s Newberry-winning book, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, is possibly my favorite middle grade novel of all time, so I went into this with high expectations. This book is completely the opposite of her middle grade works - it’s dark and without true restoration at the end. And yet, I still adored it. Barnhill is a master at using language to set a ton and to paint a picture. With this being such a short book, not a sentence is wasted. Every word packed a punch, and the overall result was a powerful story that asks difficult questions about love, sacrifice, art, duty, and family. This is the kind of book I can easily imagine discussing in one of my undergrad English classes; in fact, I could see it discussed in high school English classes and libraries as well. In fact, I wish I could attend a discussion on this novella, because I would love to hear other perspectives and interpretations!
This book is not for everyone, but if you love magical realism, subversive texts, retellings of myths and folktales, or just stories that make you really think, then I would definitely recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Child abuse
kari_f's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love novellas, classic story retellings, and the dark whimsicality of Kelly Barnhill’s writing, so The Crane Husband was immediately put on my to-read list after it was announced!
I’m constantly amazed by authors who can write multiple genres well; I have loved the atmospheric fantasy worlds Barnhill has created for children and wasn’t sure how that would translate to adult fantasy/magical realism. I shouldn’t have been surprised that I loved her debut adult novel, When Women Were Dragons, last year.
While The Crane Husband is different in that it packs a lot into only about 100 pages, the writing style remains consistent in this next standalone adult story. There is magic in a world otherwise similar to ours. There is gritty sadness and a longing for something more. There are flawed characters who hurt others and characters who must be strong because they aren’t given any other choice.
Barnhill reimagines “The Crane Wife” in a heartbreaking and surreal way, blending horror and magical realism to put a new spin on this classic folktale. For a story so short, it has so much depth and symbolism. There are themes that include death, domestic abuse, parental duty and neglect, and how the system fails so many people in so many ways.
I am glad to have read this and cannot wait for her next new work, whatever genre it may be!
Thanks so much to Tor/Forge for the advanced readers copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death of parent and Murder
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
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
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