Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

39 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

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

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

natgoe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

smithalexis035's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

nellzzzz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol

oujo_umi's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.5

I saw the broadway musical first which I really enjoyed and decided to read the book when I found out the show was based off it. It was a  fun story with a satisfying ending.

For the most part everyone felt staticly “good” or “bad” without much development. As someone who typically is drawn to stories for the characters, I didn’t really connect. However the plot’s momentum toward the disaster teased in the first chapter was exciting enough to make up for that. I enjoyed how I could get pulled into the circus from the detailed descriptions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism and Terminal illness

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