Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

26 reviews

alyssatuininga's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I have had this book for years and never got around to reading it. The story was all over the place- a sweet story of memories from an old man, a scathing story about the rampant (graphic) animal abuse in a circus, a romance,  a sad testament to the dangers of Prohibition for alcoholics. Honestly throw in the super raunchy prostitution and rape of the main character and I didn't know what to feel or think. It was a strange book, the ending wrapped up in a neat sweet bow. Overall it was just ok and I kept finding I didn't want to pick it up. Guess I should have left this one on the shelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

maniikoi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-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

The book comes full circle at the end; the disaster in the beginning gets told through a series of memories that are recounted until it reaches that point. The whole book is told from Jacob's point of view, as an old man in a nursing home, reliving in his head the time he spent working for the circus. 

I absolutely loved this book! It was really good! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lkcoon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse and Murder

jneverland's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

annmierl's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Antisemitism, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

justaddwater's review against another edition

adventurous reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

asienerbrown's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent

odessablaine's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

axel_p's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism