Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

19 reviews

greenmind's review

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

I didn't have any expectations for this one, but I was interested in reading this before watching the movie - and it's a really great book. Unusual and emotionally engaging. As well as packed with adventure, drama and fantastic characters.  

I watched the film adaptation after I finished the book - it was frustratingly crap. Can’t recommend it.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Excrement, Antisemitism, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Dementia, Trafficking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

mstadhei's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad

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

2.5

There is a lot of animal abuse in this book which can be difficult to read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent

marciafelis's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

3.0

While I liked that the book conveys the atmosphere of a 1930s circus, overall, the story just wasn't quite my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

planetshelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don’t know whether it’s just because of who I am, but I don’t think this is very romantic. It is very centered around thoughts of sex and overly anatomical descriptions of bodies (boobs’ descriptions were weird and often related to acidic fruits and penises sounded repulsive), but doesn’t feel at all like other books I’ve read that are categorized as romances.

The way Jacob — 90 (or 93) — is written is wonderful. I don’t know exactly what elders think, but I grew up with grandparents as my guardians and I feel an oddly sentimental connection with the more utilitarian thoughts that were written.

I feel this may be worth mentioning: the author uses non-colloquial vocabulary when referring to a body. If that might be uncomfortable for you, you probably should let this one go.

Nonetheless, I liked it and thought it was a fun journey to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

jasminn_perez's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

i was disappointed in the writing. there were so many times where i was questioning what the fuck was going on and why i was reading abt it. the love story was ass bro. like ive read fan fiction that was better written. made me so sad. marlena pissed me off too that bitch was always crying about something. howeverrr i was surprised at how well this book kept my attention like i was entertained fs. i love walter and i actually cried i miss him sm. jacob and walter had a better relationship progression than him and marlena liiikkee. august got what he deserved tbfh and it was a satisfactory ending to him :)). rosie slayed always. i pictured jacob as like a nerdy lookin rob and i was satisfied he was pretty sexy. i am excited to watch the movie. but also why tf was he yelling all the time. this book changed my views on old ppl actually. like being in a home sounds so sucky and when his family forgot abt him i cried so bad. it also made me happy that he rejoined the circus at the end :3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

cammiem8's review

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

le3713's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked the book best at the end, but it was slow to hook my interest and the long list of awful things that happened was hard to get past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Car accident, and Death of parent

elthechameleon's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

This author didn't treat any of its characters well. Jacob and Marlena are positioned as the two most important, while Walter and Camel don't get any fully-fleshed out stories.  Their deaths were shocking, quick, and poorly done. It was truly frustrating, especially with the overwhelming attitude of privilege of Jacob Jankowski.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Dementia and Car accident