Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

54 reviews

dancingprince's review against another edition

Mainly it made me sad, and I wasn't invested in a plot because there wasn't a clear through line to follow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

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

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

sophtank's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Gore

kathrynwendt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

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

jlchabotte's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad 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, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kes7706's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Antisemitism, and Pregnancy

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