Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (REVIEW)

An exciting book about love, the Depression, and the circus, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS takes you to the strange and alluring world of the Benzini Brothers Circus and into the lives of some wonderful characters.

 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.

Jacob was there because his luck had run out - orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive 'ship of fools'. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act - in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
335 Pages
Published April 9th, 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

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In WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, Sara Gruen takes us into the world of the circus during the Great Depression and the incredible lives associated with it.  For Jacob Jankowski, the circus is just about a last chance that fate has given him after some untimely luck.  Joining with the Benzini Brothers to care for their animals, Jacob is launched into a world that’s strange and unusual for him, and provides the backdrop for reminiscing when he’s 90 and in a nursing home many years later.

With vivid imagery, you’re taken into the world of the circus and into the lives of these characters.  The characters themselves are very believable and fleshed out, especially August the animal trainer.  His viciousness and mood swings were gripping and his evolution into the bad guy had me sitting there waiting for more.  And as the husband of Marlena, Jacob’s romantic interest, August had plenty of opportunity to be jealous and controlling.  Even secondary characters were well formed and fleshed out, giving the book even more life and character.  Even Rosie the elephant becomes a character that you fall in love with by the end of the book.

The author tackles a bunch of interesting subjects and has obviously researched them all thoroughly.  From the drinking of Sterno fluid during Prohibition and its effects afterwards to the history of the circus originally as an event for men to get on with their hoochy koochy stuff, Gruen provides a well researched take on everything.  This research shows and if you’re a history nut like me you will not be disappointed.

What I had a slight problem with was the love story.  It was very sweet, but it was also somewhat stereotypical.  Boy comes along and becomes the knight in shining armor to the damsel in distress.  It was still a believable, romantic, and heartwarming love story, and it makes you remember that back in the day, people thought that women were property of men.  Even in the circus with people protecting one another there was no escape from domestic violence.

The story in the past and in the nursing home blended seamlessly and the transitions were impeccable.  Gruen crafted a well researched and well written love story that, though with its small faults, was a very good novel.  Gruen is definitely an author that I want to watch and read more of.

VERDICT: Even though it suffers from a stereotypical romance, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is a well-crafted, heartwarming novel that keeps you glued to your seat wanting more of the circus and the atmosphere.

♥♥♥♥ - FOUR HEARTS

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (REVIEW)

This beautiful, evocative book takes you to the circus and won't let you go with its amazing imagery and luxurious prose. But the plot might suffer just a tad.


The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
387 Pages
Published September 13th, 2011 by Doubleday

"Opens at Nightfall; Closes at Dawn." The Le Cirque des Rêves is a circus unlike any other, just as this magical debut novel is equally unique. At the center of The Night Circus spectacle are two specially gifted young magicians, Celia and Marco, pitted against each other in professional competition, drawn towards one another in love. Erin Morgenstern's literary fantasy has already drawn raves for its captivating evocativeness: "A world of almost unbearable beauty.... A love story on a grand scale: it creates, it destroys, it ultimately transcends." "A novel so magical that there is no escaping its spell... If you choose to read just one novel this year, this is it."

THE NIGHT CIRCUS is definitely a book with a hype surrounding it, and like any book with hype, I went in with low expectations. I am by my own admission not a big fan of poetic, lyrical writing, preferring straight forward and stark prose, so I was already a bit wary of Erin Morgenstern’s debut.

As promised, THE NIGHT CIRCUS is a story of magic, romance, intrigue, and historical beauty wrapped in gorgeous prose and imagery that marks Morgenstern as a talent to be watched in the future. The story follows Celia and Marco, two young magicians locked in a battle of magic that will only end when one dies. Over the course of several decades, we are told of their lives, along with a cast of characters and intertwined stories of love, loss, deceit, and utter beauty. Morgenstern’s talent lies in her indelible use of prose and images, describing in detail scenes of wonder and beauty.

Morgenstern’s problem in the book is not her writing. She is highly skilled. Her imagery is brilliant and thought-provoking. What I found lacking was plot. At times the story feels forced, and for the love between Celia and Marco, there was a suddenness to it, almost random in the way that Celia falls for Marco. At times, the imagery, although breathtaking, overwhelmed the plot, focusing too much on the intricate details of insignificant items and people and too little on the details of the plot, the characters, and the circus itself. At times, characterization can fall flat, glossed over for the sake of beautiful descriptions. I wanted to know more about these characters and I felt like I barely knew them by the end of the book.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed this book and I might be one of the few who didn’t outright love it. I would definitely suggest this book to others, and I already have. My mother is already planning on downloading a Kindle copy and reading it soon, and my best friend has promised to find a copy soon. And so should you. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve been hard-pressed to find many people who didn’t really enjoy it. You might just fall in love with it.

VERDICT: With beautiful prose evoking every sense on every page, THE NIGHT CIRCUS’s flaw is the sacrifice of plot for beauty. But my heavens is it beautiful.

♥♥♥♥ - FOUR HEARTS

Spotlight on The God's Wife by Lynn Voedisch

So this week on Book Brats we are happy to be part of the blog tour for Lynn Voedisch's new book THE GOD'S WIFE, released last month by Fiction Studio. If you're looking for a book that mixes ancient history, the paranormal, and a bit of romance, then you might want to check this book out. It has everything that is right up your alley. I really suggest this if you're a fan of Ancient Egypt, because the detail the author uses is extensive. You'll learn a lot about Egyptian religion and history, trust me. Combining the stories of an Egyptian girl destined to be the next Wife of Amun and a modern day girl from Chicago, the story weaves magic and realism to create a compelling, harrowing story. These two girls aren't just two random people thrown together - their stories are interwoven and laced richly with history, magic, and originality. While maybe not the most straight forward book ever written, if you can get into the story it's definitely one that will keep you interested and wrapped up in the layered, intricate plot and settings. Rebecca and Neferet's stories will draw you in and won't let you go. The literary nature of the story could potentially be off putting, with heavy usage of metaphors and similes, but don't let that deter you from giving this book a look.

The God's Wife by Lynn Voedisch
Published August 9, 2011 by Fiction Studio
275 pages

The God's Wife on Goodreads
The God's Wife on Amazon

The women of ancient Egypt were the freest of any civilization on earth, until the modern era. In several dynasties of ancient Egypt the God’s Wives of Amun stood tall, priestesses of wealth and power, who represented the pinnacle of female power in the Egyptian state. Many called The God’s Wife of Amun second only to the Pharaoh in dominance.

THE GOD’S WIFE follows the adventures of a 16-year-old girl, Neferet, who is thrust into the role of The Gods Wife of Amun without proper training. Surrounded by political intrigue and ensnared by sexual stalking, Neferet navigates the temple, doing her duties, while keeping her family name pristine and not ending up like her predecessor—dead.

Meanwhile, a modern-day Chicago dancer, Rebecca, is rehearsing for a role in an ancient Egyptian production and finds herself blacking out and experiencing realistic dreams about life in Egypt. It’s as if she’s coming in contact with Neferet’s world. Are the two parallel worlds on a collision course? They seem to be, for Neferet has just used an old spell to bring protection to her world, and Rebecca meets a mysterious Egyptian man who says he’ll whisk her away to Alexandria. Magic and realism mix for a powerful ending in THE GOD’S WIFE.