Book Review: Water for Elephants

A very close and trusted friend told me about this book months ago. Week ago when she mentioned it to me a second time, I decided to buy myself a copy and give it a shot!

I'm so glad that I did!

I went into this book not knowing a thing about it - the characters were all new to me and I was completely oblivious to what this book had in store. From the cover, I could deduce that it was about a circus of some kind. Little did I know how much this book would surprise me.

The basic setting is a circus during the depression in the United States - the 1920's to 1930's when it was all people could do to try and hold a job, and hope to get paid! The story follow twenty-three year old almost college graduate, Jacob. His parents are killed in a car accident early on and he's left to pick up the pieces of what's left, and it's not much. His father was swapping veterinary practices for food instead of money - Jacob was supposed to join the practice after graduation.

After learning of their death's and realizing that their home and the vet practice held nothing for his future, he went on a long walk - ending up jumping onto a circus train. Just his luck, they were in need of a vet for all the animals in the show, so Jacob got to stay on as a new hire. He was useful in many ways...

I don't want to give away the whole story, but needless to say this story is about Jacob and his time with the circus, traveling the country, setting up shoes, falling in love, and dealing with unexpected turns of events that will ultimately change his life forever!

Now, there is a movie made and I'm not too thrilled about the cast list. It's just not who I had in mind for these parts, nor anything like what I pictured. But I do expect the movie to be a good one. I hope that my avid blog readers will be encouraged to pick up this book and give it a shot. Go into it with an open mind and see where it takes you.

Just on a small note - there are some sex scenes, so I would rate this book for mature audiences only! (: