Book Review: Water for Elephants

Title: Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

Genre: Adult fiction, romance, historical fiction 

Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Publication date: May 26, 2006

Synopsis: 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. Read more …

Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen had been getting a lot of attention this spring, due to the movie, so I decided to finally read the copy I had bought a few years ago. I really wanted to love this novel, but just felt that it was too predictable. Throughout the novel I couldn’t help but think that it was a little unrealistic and ended too perfectly.

What I loved about this novel though was all of the circus details. As the reader you could tell that Gruen had spent a significant amount of time on researching the aspects of circus life during the Great Depression, animal treatment and the circus environment in general. I found all of this fascinating and helped to create a wonderful, rich story line. There was so much detail regarding this aspect of the plot and it provided the reader with a historical perspective of the time and setting. I adored this aspect of the novel immensely.

What I didn’t like about this novel was the characters and their relationships. Honestly, I did not connect or care for any of the main characters. Sure, they were okay, but I was not rooting for the success or failure of them particularly. Although I will say that Gruen did a wonderful job with the older Jacob, capturing his frustration and feelings of abandonment, I did not love him either. Additionally I felt that Jacob and Marlena feel in love in two-point-three seconds. Where did this even come from? Maybe it is because I am a slight skeptic when it comes to love, but I am not that big of a fan of inexplicable attraction or love at first sight. I felt that Gruen took a short-cut and instead of building an actual relationship between Jacob and Marlena, she just skipped to the part where they were madly in love. This did not work for me, and although it was sweet, I felt that it was unrealistic.

Bottom line: some aspects of this novel were incredibly interesting, but others were unbearable.

You might also enjoy: The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosney, or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows.

My Rating: 3.5/5.0