Rachel Vincent

When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger's Menagerie, 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 "performs" in town after town. Despite the breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival and despite the kindness of the cryptic handler Gallagher, she and her fellow menagerie of mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies struggle for their freedom.

Menagerie

Briar's Reviews

Rachel Vincent has done it again with Menagerie!

This book was perfection in just over 400 pages! I wasn't sure what to expect going in with such an odd idea behind the book, but it was incredible! Rachel Vincent never lets me down!

The book follows Delilah, a human who is forced to perform in the Metzger's Menagerie of strange creatures. When she is pulled away from her normal, everyday life to suddenly becoming a circus animal, how will she take it? Rachel Vincent helps you find out! 

Overall, I loved this book. I found the first half of the book very slow to get through, but the second half was a breeze. While it did take me a while to get through the first half of the novel, it's still worth it. The first half isn't boring, it's just a little slow with introductions, character development and shocking plot devices. The second half has a lot more action and intrigue in it.

I loved this novel! I would recommend it to everyone and anyone! People who love fantasy, supernatural, shapeshifter, and story's that open your eyes to touchy subjects will love this story!! 

Five out of five stars!

taryn a.

Menagerie is a novel wherein the world surpasses the characters -- while I was pleased and even thrilled with the dark, urban fantasy world-building Rachel Vincent managed, the main characters themselves were disappointingly archetypical and otherwise flat. I even found myself annoyed with the protagonist, Delilah, at times. There are short switches to POVs for other, minor, characters that could have been an asset, but are somewhat ruined by the repetitive nature of their content and structure.

Vincent's writing has moments of beauty, which makes me wish I could give 3.5 instead of 3 stars.

Kelsi Proulx

3.5 stars

Something about this one didn't work for me. A lot of it made me really uncomfortable...Delilah starts out as a normal human who basically loses all of her rights after revealing her supernatural powers. After being kept in a cage and abused along with other supernatural characters, it turns out she is after all a human. But this is kept secret so that her "owners" can keep her on display and continue to make money off of her...The whole thing was just kind of disturbing to me. That being said it was a really original idea and the creatures were pretty cool. They also got some pretty great revenge in the end. I might continue with the series but am not in a real hurry to do so.

Stephanie

It wasn't as interesting as I had hoped. Perhaps that's why it didn't click with me

Kaylee Z

3.5*

I really didn't know what to expect from this one but I was pleasantly surprised. I bought this book when it was released and it has sat on my shelf for a couple of years. I am glad I finally read it because it was SUCH and interesting and unique story. I honestly don't think I've read anything like it before. It did take me a while to really get into and there were quite a few repetitive details that I started to think "ok, I get it." each time they were mentioned but the journey was overall a fun one. This is a dark story that comments on human and animals rights but in a very interesting way. I don't want to say too much about it because the turns the story took were so refreshingly new that I don't want to spoil anything. I really did enjoy this one and will definitely read the rest of the series.

Rachel

Such a good book! I could not pace myself. Delilah visits a carnival that showcases Cryptids because in the US they do not have any rights since the reaping. While Delilah is there she sees a werewolf pup being shocked to perform for the crowed and this unleashes her inner creature. She is arrested and sold to the same carnival she went to see and put on exhibition. Her handler Gallagher is trying to help her adjust and is the only staff member who treats her like a human. 

The book can be uncomfortable to read because of the abuse described, but that's because it is well written. There are multiple perspectives, but most of it is told from Delilah's POV. It did get a little confusing keeping track of who was who and what they are. The author does a good job of explaining what each species is, so if you aren't familiar with the legends it's not required to look them up unless you want to. The ending has a lot going on that made it feel a little rushed. Looking forward to reading the next book!