Review : Menagerie by Rachel Vincent

Summary (from Goodreads)  

Title : Menagerie (Menagerie #1)
Author : Rachel Vincent
Publication Date : September 29th 2015
Publisher : Harlequin MIRA
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent comes a richly imagined, provocative new series set in the dark mythology of the Menagerie…

When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger's Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah in her black swan burlesque costume is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she's forced to "perform" in town after town.

But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other "attractions"—mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she'll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed.

Renowned author Rachel Vincent weaves an intoxicating blend of carnival magic and startling humanity in this intricately woven and powerful tale.

Personal Thoughts

Menagerie is only my second book by Rachel Vincent, The Stars Never Rise being the first. I loved the writing, the story-telling and the characters in The Stars Never Rise and knew that I wanted to try more by the author. Menagerie also captured my attention because the idea seemed so creative with the book being set in a traveling circus housing all sorts of supernatural creatures. I didn't really know what to expect when I started Menagerie, but it made me feel very conflicting emotions - I was at the same time utterly fascinated and repelled by the story.

You have to know before going into Menagerie that it's not for the faint-hearted. It's an extremely difficult book to read at times because of just how violent it is. It portrays every ugly side there is to abuse and stomaching it all wasn't easy for me. There is even child abuse in the book which made me so so angry. Rachel Vincent painted the emotional and physical abuse that these paranormal creatures went through at the hands of their handlers vividly. It almost felt like I was going through the abuse. She didn't hold back and while I was nauseous throughout most of the book, I thought it was important because sadly, so much of it can be translated back to real life. There were times I wanted to honestly drop the book and move on to something happier because I'm not used to reading such dark and brutal books,  but at the same time, I was unable to stop reading the book because of how intriguing it was.

Plus, Rachel Vincent's writing is stunning and this author is clearly an amazing story-teller. The effort and the detail that went into building this complex world was amazing. I thought she did such a fantastic job at helping readers visualize how this dark world came to be and the menagerie itself came to life for me. It's amazing how she was able to get me to immediately care for the paranormal creatures, that ranged from werewolves to minotaurs, and to utterly despise the wretched human beings in the book. The plot itself was a little slow, but started building up with a lot of momentum towards the end, with twists after twists. Despite it being slow, Menagerie was hard to put down. One minor quibble that I did have regarding the book was the multiple POVs. It's definitely a personal preference, but I generally dislike multiple POVs. While Rachel Vincent's one wasn't as hard on me, I still could have done without it.

At the center of Menagerie was a courageous, resilient and admirable heroine; Delilah. It hurt to watch her life turn upside down overnight and to watch her suffer through the torture, but I was also very proud of Delilah for not allowing her situation to fracture who she was. This was a young woman who fought until the end of the book for what she believed in and to help others out. Even before she was caged, she was a selfless character who cared so much for others. Her strength throughout the book was definitely one of the few flames of hope in Menagerie. It was very easy for me to love her character. Then, there was Gallagher, her handler, who himself was intriguing. I couldn't tell what his true motivations were because he was the only one at the zoo who showed a morsel of kindness to Delilah. He was secretive and I wanted to know what was going on with him. We did find out towards the end and it was definitely surprising. I'm not 100% sure if there will be a romance between him and Delilah in the next book, but I am hoping that it will be the case because I enjoyed the complicated dynamics between them.

Ultimately, while Menagerie was an emotionally draining book to read, I can't deny that I also thought it was intriguing, well-executed and masterfully written. It might not be the book for everyone because of the extent of the torture and abuse, but if you think you can handle the darkness, I highly recommend the book. Rachel Vincent is a force to be reckoned with and Menagerie is proof of that.

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

  

Thank you to MIRA for the ARC of Menagerie.