Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

5 reviews

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

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

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

dianesloftis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Anyone that truly knows me is well aware of my genuine  love for— well, we’ll just say, ‘circus- themed’ stuffs.. a childhood story. 

Movin’ on… Anyway, this is a title that keeps getting mentioned quite often. And so here’s my approach: a read-along (e-book + audiobook) & then, enjoy the picture show! 

🎪Water for elephants by Sara Gruen [2007]

🤡Audiobook narrated by David LeDoux

🍿Movie [2011] starring Robert Pattinson,  Reese Witherspoon, et al.

#HistoricalFiction #Drama #Romance

My word this is such a good book! I did end up doing  a read-along And Wow… Not only am I impressed by how well researched and complete the dual-timeline story is, but the narration for this book is incredible, too. It’s a dramatic, heart-pounding  performance, honestly. The story, largely set aboard a traveling train circus, is action-packed and character driven while cleverly weaving a Biblical story throughout it. However, I didn’t fully grasp the latter, even though I kept noting the multiple Biblical references, until I read an author Q&A offered at the end of the book.

Quite possibly my book of the year. 

⚠️ Warning: Mature Content and Language 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs

Biblical

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