Review: Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

"Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.







Jacob was there because his luck had run out - orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive 'ship of fools'. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act - in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival." -From goodreads.com


Review
I was very excited to read this book after seeing the preview for the movie, but I was very disapointed in this book. I thought it was going to be a great love story but thats not what it was. It did have a love story in it but thats not really what it focused on. The book was honestly a little boring in some parts but it was still a good book. I feel like I find that adult books aren't as exciting as YA, and that's probably part of the reason I didn't like it very much. The book had a lot of good of lessons to be learned though, and I really appreciate that. Don't get me wrong, this was a good story it just wasn't told in a very interesting way. If you normally read adult books I think that you might enjoy this book but if your mostly a YA reader you probably will feel the same way as I do. I give this book a 7.5/10.

Quotes

"I am ninety, or ninety-three. One or the other." Pg. 5

"I stare at his face, trying to maintain eye contact, but it's difficult because he's zooming away from me, receding to the end of a long black tunnel. Stars explode in my peripheral vision." Pg. 17