Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

5 reviews

lauraleamariereads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Wow. What a story. I felt there were a lot of things I connected to, despite the historical time period and gender and nationality of the main character. I was enthralled by the story. Great writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

cammiem8's review against another edition

adventurous sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I can’t quite put my finger on why I didn’t enjoy this book more. I love books about old timey cheating, but the love story just didn’t quite grip me. The plot had enough turns to keep me engaged and I did listen through it very quickly. I also didn’t care much for the parts of the book set much later with the old man, I didn’t think the framing device added much of value. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Sexual content, Racial slurs, Classism, Death of parent, Murder, Antisemitism, Cursing, Car accident, and Gore

Minor: Sexual harassment, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Animal abuse is constant in the book, but it is very clearly condemned by the protagonist

gabb_reads's review

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Suicide

Minor: Racial slurs and Antisemitism

jaderweir's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Sexual content, and Racial slurs

tisdianes's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Anyone that truly knows me is well aware of my genuine  love for— well, we’ll just say, ‘circus- themed’ stuffs.. a childhood story. 

Movin’ on… Anyway, this is a title that keeps getting mentioned quite often. And so here’s my approach: a read-along (e-book + audiobook) & then, enjoy the picture show! 

🎪Water for elephants by Sara Gruen [2007]

🤡Audiobook narrated by David LeDoux

🍿Movie [2011] starring Robert Pattinson,  Reese Witherspoon, et al.

#HistoricalFiction #Drama #Romance

My word this is such a good book! I did end up doing  a read-along And Wow… Not only am I impressed by how well researched and complete the dual-timeline story is, but the narration for this book is incredible, too. It’s a dramatic, heart-pounding  performance, honestly. The story, largely set aboard a traveling train circus, is action-packed and character driven while cleverly weaving a Biblical story throughout it. However, I didn’t fully grasp the latter, even though I kept noting the multiple Biblical references, until I read an author Q&A offered at the end of the book.

Quite possibly my book of the year. 

⚠️ Warning: Mature Content and Language 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Racial slurs

Biblical