4 stars

Book Review : The Night Circus

November 5, 2011 5 Comments

“The truest tales require time and familiarity to become what they are.”

– Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

Synopsis : The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas, tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.

I figured The Night Circus would be a good read following Water For Elephants. While Water For Elephants deals with the metaphorical illusions of circus life, The Night Cirus deals with the more fantastical and literal ones

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Book Review : Unwind by Neal Shusterman

October 18, 2011 3 Comments

“You can’t change laws without first changing human nature.”

-Nurse Greta

“You can’t change human nature without first changing the law.”

-Nurse Yvonne”

― Neal Shusterman, Unwind

For me, Unwind is the perfect book to fit into the dystopian triangle of Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series. The novel is about a horrific norm that develops in a society where teenagers can be unwound and a group that decides to fight against it.

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Book Review : Beautiful Creatures

October 4, 2011 2 Comments

“History was a bitch sometimes. You couldn’t change where you were from. But still, you didn’t have to stay there.” – Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures

Synopsis : Ethan Wate is haunted by dreams of a girl he’s never met. When Lena Duchannes moves into his small southern town of Gatlin County, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her. And he is determined to uncover the strange connection between them, even if it means uncovering the one secret that could change everything.

I’ve only read one paranormal romance, Twilight, and have a “hate-like but still kind of annoyed” relationship with. Since then I decided to ward off teen paranormal romance

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Book Review : Water For Elephants

September 20, 2011 5 Comments

“Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work, but important”

Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

Synopsis : As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

When the film for Water for Elephants came out I heard the buzz, but didn’t pay much attention to it. Like any bookworm living on the Internet I was pretty shocked to hear the novel started as a NaNoWriMo.

When the Borders started going out of business I took advantage of the discounted prices and grabbed the novel for 30% off.

The main character is Polish-American Jacob Jankowsi.Water for Elephants switches between Jankowski at age 23 and much later in life at the age of 93. The two perspectives create an interesting dynamic in the novel. There are times you forget the two narratives are connected until a quick allusion the past is made.

There is nothing sexy or glamorous about this circus life. We find out what goes on behind the big top and it isn’t always pretty. Gruen picked a perfect time period for this novel.

There is a lot going on in this novel.It touches on prohibition,The Great Depression, animal cruelty, poverty, greed and the prejudices of class, ethnicity and mental illness.

There were no real stand outs as far as the characters. Jankowski isn’t a fully developed character to me. He just always seems to be conflicted and tortured as a person. The elephant, Rosie doesn’t show up until well in the book, but she is important to the development of Jankowski.

I really enjoyed this books. I read it in 4 days and was swept away in the storyline. Gruen is my favorite type of writer. At the end of the book she discusses all of the research and obsession that went into the novel. She writes without a script, throws herself into material and that kind of authenticity is amazing to me.

Water for Elephants is an interesting book that will keep you captivated until the very ending.