Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Title: Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

Pages: 335 (paperback)

Synopsis: "Orphaned, penniless, Jacob Jankowski jumps a freight train in the dark, and in that instant, transforms his future.

By morning, he's landed a job with the Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. By nightfall, he's in love.

In an America made colourless by prohibition and the Depression, the circus is a refuge of sequins and sensuality. But behind the glamour lies a darker world, where both animals and men are dispensable. Where falling in love is the most dangerous act of all..." -Goodreads

I want to start by saying that I adored the film adaptation of Water for Elephants. I found it to be so magical and fun. I went into this book excited, but unfortunately, I was very disappointed.

I want to start by saying that the chapters of Jacob as an old man were annoying, uncomfortable & frankly, out of place. I found the two voices to be so very different, but at times exactly the same. There were times where I felt like I was reading from young Jacob while in the older Jacob's pov. There were also times where his voice sounded to hard to be this loving and kind person that he was in his youth, but maybe that changed because of him growing older.

I found the plot to be very interesting and captivating, but it just fell a little flat. The story didn't really begin until they finally train Rosie. That didn't happen until 2/3 of the way through the book.

There were moments where the descriptions of certain parts were just too uncomfortable. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot, and at one point also putting the book down because of about 3 paragraphs about how Jacob finally goes to bed with his special someone.

I do have to say that I adored the atmosphere. I loved the picture that I painted in my head of Rosie and the circus. I loved the way the author made me imagine the scenery, even though I didn't really like anything else.

Maybe I just didn't like this book because the film was done so well? Maybe if I would have read the book first, it would have been one of my favorites. I just found myself too bored and too uninterested in the lack of Rosie and overabundance of drama.

What is one animal you'd want to keep from a circus?