Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Grade: B+

Profanity: Yes. Not a ridiculous amount but more than enough

Graphic content (sex, murder,etc.): Yes. A few fairly detailed pervy moments and some violence

I had originally planned on reading this prior to the movie coming to the big screen, but that didn't happen... But since I totally missed seeing it in the theater anyway, I guess that's a moot point.

I had heard good things about Water for Elephants, but I didn't know much about the storyline other than what I gathered from the movie previews I had seen. And although the novel stayed pretty true to what I assumed would happen, there were definitely some surprises along the way.

As a hopeless romantic, I enjoyed the love story side of things... But I was also pulled into the other sides of the story. Although there were several throughout the book, I never felt overwhelmed or had any trouble keeping up with the details. I did have trouble remembering a couple of the female circus performers names when they'd show up out of nowhere in the middle of the book, but it wasn't vital to the story.

I really loved the vintage circus setting of this novel. Gruen did a great job painting a mental picture, which is awesome for those of us with overactive imaginations. ; ) I gathered from the "Conversation with the author" at the back of my copy that she did a ton of research before writing it... And the book I purchased even had several old circus photos throughout it!

The pervy moments I mentioned up top were a little more explicit than I would have preferred... although some made me laugh out loud. (That may mean I've been hanging out with my husband too long though... ha, ha!) But I suppose they went along with the rough, gritty life of a circus worker.

I also enjoyed the back and forth from past to present throughout the book. And I won't give anything away, but I loved the ending! So I would say if you haven't read Water for Elephants, and you don't mind a little adult content, you should give it a try... I'm glad I did. : )

Next on the list is The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, which is this month's Book Club pick. I need to have it read by the 18th... which is about 35 pages a day. I kept up (and even slightly surpassed) the 39 pages a day goal I had made previously, so hopefully I'll fly through this one. ; )