Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jacob Jankowski is a young college student. When his parents suddenly die, he leaves his Ivy-League college for the circus. There he meets Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and her husband August. He becomes circus vet, and cares for the new elephant Rosie, as his feelings for Marlena deepen.

I enjoyed reading this one. I liked the fast paced nature of the novel, and I loved the era it was set in. I finished it in one day, and I was really engrossed. I was never bored throughout reading the book. I liked the contrast between old Jacob and young Jacob. However, there’s going to be a ‘but’.

But, I felt that the characters were far too underdeveloped. The only really fleshed out character was Jacob. The so called ‘heroine’ was a walking signpost with the name ‘Marlena’ on it. She was so incredibly flat that it is no surprise that I felt Jacob’s relationship with her had no chemistry. I wish the romance hadn’t been there because I didn’t think it was handled that well. I also hoped that each character would’ve been many layered, interesting and colourful. This is a circus, for crying out loud.

I think another reason I didn’t love this book was because I wanted a book like HBO’s show ‘Carnivale’. This show (sadly cancelled,) mostly relied on character development and magical realism. Therefore the entire cast was layered and rich. No Mary-Sues there. I really missed a magical element from ‘Water for Elephants’, as I think magic and circuses go hand in hand.

I might still watch the film, as it has got one of my favourite actors in it, (Christoph Waltz.) If you haven’t seen the show (Carnivale) I would highly recommend it, but maybe give ‘Water for Elephants’ a miss.



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