by Sarah Gruen

This was an amazing story.

I love realistic stories about the circus or carnivals and I learned from the author's note at the end that this was very well researched in a historian sense. It rang mostly true and some of the incidents were taken from events that really happened somewhere in circus history.

My only niggle is that it was written in present tense. I'm not going to dock it a star for that as I usually do because it was done well and sometimes I could forget to notice, but it still would have been better in past tense.

The depiction of the rough edges of depression era train circus life was very immersive and I actually read most of the book into the night because I didn't want to stop. That's a sign of a well written story!

Without giving anything away, I particularly liked the way it finished. I mean the story itself, before getting to the notes. The decision made by Jacob, the main protagonist, left me with a smile on my face. Characters were strong throughout the story, human or otherwise.

There were definitely some animal antics that made me laugh, especially the elephant. There were other emotions too, some not so pleasant, especially with the knowledge that animals weren't cared for as they should have been in those days, but it's far in the past now and I could enjoy the story as a nostalgic record of a time that happened long before I was born.

Loved it!

I've been on a bit of a "finally getting around to reading it!" streak lately. So, I finally got around to reading Water for Elephants. I thought it was perfectly fine. It didn't move me one way or another. But maybe now I'll finally get around to watching the movie, as well.

Good hello everyone and how are you this fine day? I hope super for you all!!! As for me I'm doing fantastic!!! Just super excited to be bringing you all the "Water for Elephants" review!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is written by Sara Gruen!!! I hope you all are ready because I am. So, Allons-y!!!

Before I go any further. I again have to admit that I seen the movie before reading the book. But, in my defense I didn't know that it was a book! Oh well what can I do? :D

So, this amazing and loving story is about a man name Jacob. Who in between the 90 or 93 year old self (he's not sure) and his 23 year old self. He shares his story form the tragic lost of his parents to becoming a vet in a circus (The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth) to meeting the love of his life. Also, when he is older and in an assistant living home!

 What can I say about this book but EEEE!!! Despite some of the craziness in this book. This story had added a level of sweet, caring, and gooshy like nobody's business! I loved Rosie the Elephant who is just so sweet and adorable. I loved that on amazing days she is just happy and full of cuteness!!! The interaction between Jacob and Marlena was epic. It was slow to build and you can feel the energy between them. It was so real and fairy-taleish! What more can you ask for in a love story?! The times that the story changes to the older Jacob, was both entertaining and heartbreaking. Entertaining, because he has a sharp mind and tongue. Heartbreaking, because the way he is being treated as if he is a child and his own children are just jerks! I have learned a lot from the circus scenes on what it was like during the 30's. Like how it all ran and how it was for the worker and performers. I could go on and on about this amazing book, but I think that you all should read it if you haven't. And, see where your feels take you! This was a well written book by Sara and I now would like to see if she has anymore books out.

Welp! That's it from this book lover! I will be back on Monday as always with a new post. Until then, I hope you all have a great day/night where ever you are.

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EEEE!!!

This book symbolizes the reason why I am still reading YA books. I have recently become disillusioned with YA books because the majority of what I read is a recycled plot, recycled characters, with a recycled, often instalove romance. But then, I read this book. The story is unique, I don't loath the main character or his love interests, and the romance, while fairly fast, was not instalove. You'd think I'd love it, so why didn't I?

Well, there was a lot of cussing. I'm generally tolerant of cussing in books because I can skip over it or change it to "bleep" when I read it. I was reading this via audiobook, so I couldn't do either of the things I usually do, but even so, I probably wouldn't have allowed mere cussing to make this book, which could have been a four or five star read, down to two stars. The problem, for me, was the sex. Or the vulgarity in reference to sex. When a character was having sex or naked, the detail the author gave was far, far too explicit, making me want to cover my ears. What's worse is that the book didn't need these details. It didn't even need most of those scenes, but the ones that were necessary for the plot did not need to be that explicit. Even though, overall, I liked the narrator, the fact that he kept giving so much detail for these things made me like him a lot less.

Probably another reason why I didn't like the book as well is that I watched the movie (which was very good) first. For some reason I've found that most of the (admittedly few) times when I have enjoyed a movie more than a book it's because I watched the movie first. The movie cut most of the vulgarity and nudity in order to be PG-13, but it still kept the characters and story line. The movie also moved me more emotionally. It was very upsetting to see the abuse of Rosie, and I truly felt for Marlena's difficult position. In the book, the abuse of Rosie had a problem of being told rather than shown, and so it wasn't as moving, though I still did feel for Marlena in her difficult situation.