Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

7 reviews

lprelei's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit

celery's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ibadella's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

why was this listed as a historical romance? i did not get romance vibes. it was like coming of age thriller shitshow

i understand that this book has a very narrow and subjective point of view from the flawed main character but i would have like to see a tiny bit more attention paid to the background characters (who tended to have more marginalized identities and were generally homogenized by jacob’s narration). also sometimes felt like the author was forcing themself to write how they think a straight man thinks and it made us both feel icky

made me emo about zoo animals

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, and Sexual harassment

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

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

napalm's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I’ll admit this wasn’t my favorite. I enjoyed the film immensely and as such was disappointed with the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

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

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

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

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