{"id":21503,"date":"2026-10-21T13:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T17:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=21503"},"modified":"2026-10-21T13:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T17:42:18","slug":"review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Crow<\/i> by Ryan Burruss<\/a><\/strong>
\nCounterpoint (October 6, 2026)<\/strong>
\nReviewed by Janelle Janson<\/a><\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

American Crow<\/span><\/i> was such an interesting read, even if it didn\u2019t completely hold me all the way through.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set in 1952 in Brookshire, Maryland, the story follows a newly built suburb full of World War II veterans and their families. On the surface, it\u2019s the postwar American dream: new houses, families, stability, and a chance to start over. Underneath all of that are people carrying trauma, anger, nightmares, violence, and things they\u2019d much rather keep buried.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, a mysterious bookbinder shows up, leaving handmade books around the neighborhood, books that seem to know the secrets people are trying to hide. From there, the story gets increasingly strange and supernatural.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of my favorite things about<\/span> American Crow<\/span><\/i> was the close-knit community feel. There\u2019s a strong sense that everyone in Brookshire is carrying something beneath the surface, and the secrets hidden behind those tidy suburban homes give the story a lot of its tension. The plot itself also feels really unique, and the whole bookbinder-and-secret-books set up immediately pulled me in.<\/span><\/p>\n

The writing was the biggest highlight for me. It\u2019s literary, atmospheric, and beautiful without feeling overly dense. I could easily see this working for readers who normally gravitate toward historical fiction, or even people who love classics and enjoy a more traditional style of prose.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first half was the strongest part of the book for me. This is definitely a slow burn, and I started to lose some interest around the halfway point. As the story went on, the central theme around trauma and the supernatural started to feel a little cliche.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are some Stephen King vibes here, especially in the close-knit community, damaged characters, and the way something supernatural works its way into problems that are already there. But <\/span>American Crow<\/span><\/i> still feels very much like its own thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with those issues, I\u2019m glad I read it. Burruss can absolutely write, and there\u2019s a lot here to admire, especially in the atmosphere, setting, and character work.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of slow-burn supernatural fiction, historical fiction, small-town secrets, or more literary horror, I\u2019d still recommend picking up <\/span>American Crow<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Crow by Ryan Burruss Counterpoint (October 6, 2026) Reviewed by Janelle Janson American Crow was such an interesting read, even if it didn\u2019t completely hold me all the way through. Set in 1952 in Brookshire, Maryland, the story follows a newly built suburb full of World War II veterans and their families. On the … Continue Reading! “Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[2077,3717],"class_list":["post-21503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-janelle-janson","tag-ryan-burruss"],"yoast_head":"\nReview: American Crow by Ryan Burruss - Cemetery Dance Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cemetery Dance Online\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"headline\":\"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-21T17:42:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":379,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/American-Crow-233x350.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Janelle Janson\",\"Ryan Burruss\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss - Cemetery Dance Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/American-Crow-233x350.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-21T17:42:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/American-Crow-233x350.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/American-Crow-233x350.webp\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/reviews\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"description\":\"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss - Cemetery Dance Online","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cemetery Dance Online","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/"},"author":{"name":"Cemetery Dance Online","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"headline":"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss","datePublished":"2026-10-21T17:42:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/"},"wordCount":379,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/American-Crow-233x350.webp","keywords":["Janelle Janson","Ryan Burruss"],"articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/","name":"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss - Cemetery Dance Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/American-Crow-233x350.webp","datePublished":"2026-10-21T17:42:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/American-Crow-233x350.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/American-Crow-233x350.webp"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-american-crow-by-ryan-burruss\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/reviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Review: American Crow by Ryan Burruss"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Cemetery Dance Online"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p81cXa-5AP","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21503"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21508,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21503\/revisions\/21508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}