Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Water for Elephants

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

45 reviews

edentiefling's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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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lprelei's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

the ending bumped it up a full extra star for me

“Dear God. Not only am I unemployed and homeless, but I also have a pregnant woman, bereaved dog, elephant, and eleven horses to take care of.” (Gruen, p.317)

the twist concerning rosie landed veryyy satisfyingly. also the fact that the majority of the book’s plot took place over just 3 and a half months is insane. i love a book that weaves in its ends. wish i could love marlena’s character a bit more though!

“And then I laugh, because it’s so ridiculous and so gorgeous and it’s all I can do to not melt into a fit of giggles. So what if I’m ninety-three? So what if I’m ancient and cranky and my body’s a wreck? If they’re willing to accept me and my guilty conscience, why the hell shouldn’t I run away with the circus?” (Gruen, p.331)

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celery's review against another edition

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alyssatuininga's review against another edition

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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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kat_rowlen's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.0

A really entertaining and fun read that sheds some light on the darker aspects of circus life. The ending of this book is really sweet and honestly had me holding back tears. The pacing of the book was a little off in some spots or it would’ve been a higher rating.

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kes7706's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

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smithalexis035's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I didn’t understand the hype around this book at all. I could not wait to finish it and it took me so long! The descriptions of animal abuse really bothered me and there were some really strange sexual things mentioned.

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