Book Review: Water for Elephants

Book: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Source: Recommendation from my mom

GoodReads Summary: An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of "Riding Lessons". "Gritty, sensual and charged withd ark secrets involving love, murder and a majestic, mute heroine (Rosie the Elephant). " Q " Parade."

My Thoughts: I loved this novel. I actually ended up reading the entire thing in a day, I simply did not want to put it down.  What I enjoyed most about this novel was how well researched the historical parts were that I picked up on.  Granted, I didn't know much about how circuses were run in the 1930's except that they traveled on trains but it read really well.  Stopping and thinking about when I was reading this novel, I felt like I was actually there and witnessing everything that happened by the way that Sara Gruen wrote.  My favorite character of the entire novel is Jacob, the main character.  He's been through a lot and then he's stuck in a nursing home but in the end there's a rewarding moment that let's him get away.  Also, part of the reason my mom had recommended this to me was because it talks in little snippets about what it's like for Jacob to be in a nursing home, and how the residents are often not listened to.  My mom recommended it to me for this mostly because she's worked in a nursing home for over nine years now and I've volunteered about seven years there so I hear a lot of things from her and even have experienced them myself.  Reading those parts in this novel makes it even clearer to me about why we do the things we do at the nursing home.  All in all, this is probably my favorite thing I've read.  Also, to note, if I wasn't allowed to pick a main character as my favorite character, I would have picked Rosie, she's an interesting elephant.

Favorite Quote: "The whole thing's illusion, Jacob, and there's nothing wrong with hat. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect."

Rating: 5/5