Water For Elephants

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen

3/5 Stars

"An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932 illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Award for Most Popular Book."

Review

This book is a little outside of my normal reading tastes, but I actually ended up really liking it! I don't think it's something that is going to stick with me over the years or anything, but it was an enjoyable quick read while it lasted :D

Pros 

Naturally, I loved the circus setting and to be honest this was the only reason I picked this book up... I've also never actually read a non-fantasy circus book before, so it was refreshing to have a more realistic approach to the certain tropes that most circus books have! Also the animals were really cool... Rosie's adorable!

The scenes with Mr Jankowski as an elderly man were definitely the highlight for me. The relationship between him and his nurse was amazing and actually really made me want to read more books from an older person's perspective. It was just interesting seeing how he saw certain things differently as an older man and how some opinions change over time, while others stay unchanged. These scenes also had really thought provoking dialogue and were the only times the book connected to me more than just being an entertaining read.

The writing was nothing special, but I did find it really fast and easy to read, which has helped me get out of my reading slump! So that's definitely a pro!

I also thought that the two different timelines linked nicely together, which lead to a satisfying ending. :D

Cons

While the romance in this book had a few cute moments, it also had some cringey ones! I don't think it was done badly or anything, but I do feel like it was introduced too late in the story and they kinda just both liked each other and that was it... If that makes any sense?

Also all the plot points were really generic and predictable, so I was never really shocked or surprised. This didn't bother me too much though, as I did still enjoy the story while I was reading it, but I doubt it's going to be something I remember a few books down the line...

Every character felt a little under developed to me, especially Marlena. Again this could be down to her being introduced too late in the story. :( When I read about new characters, I always imagine them as real people and imagine them in real-life situations xD For example what kinda take-away they'd order, but I literally couldn't tell you anything about Marlena... If there were more sorta 'bonding scenes' with her and Jacob, I think her character and the romance as a whole would have been more fleshed out and engaging.

I did really like this book though and I'm forever thankful for it (hopefully) getting me out of this slump I've been in! I'm tempted to watch the film at some point too, so I'll be interested to see what the adaptation is like! (If only for Rosie!) :D

My Goodreads Review