Review ‘Menagerie’ by Rachel Vincent

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.

Publication Date:    October 2015 

Series:                    Menagerie #1

Genre:                    Fantasy, Fiction

Pages:                     429

Formats:                 Audiobook, Paparback, Hardcover, eBook

Available at:           Amazon

A view weeks back I saw the sign up for the Page a Vu
Book Club. Since I live in a place where there aren’t any real-life book clubs,
this sounded like a great idea. I was a little late with signing up, and I had
a lot of reading to do already, so I decided to go for the audiobook of ‘Menagerie’. In the end I didn’t get to join the Book Club FB page, but I still read a new book, and that’s always fun.
This was only my second audiobook so I was super excited and curious about what
I would think.

‘Menagerie’ is the second book by Rachel Vincent I read,
and it sounded like a very different sort of read.

The first thing I want to say about ‘Menagerie’ is that
this book is unlike anything I’ve read (listened) before. This book is dark, a
little disturbing at times and really gripping. From the moment I started this
book I was fascinated and really wanted to know what would happen next.

I really loved the way a lot of the chapters began with
an article from the past. It somehow really made this book almost sound like
something that really happened. (Thank god, it didn’t!!)

Overall this book was just really strange, and not all in
a bad way. This book contains some torture, sexual harassment, a lot of bad men
that I really wanted to strangle, slavery.. I mean how on earth can you think of
such a story. But ‘Menagerie’ really makes you want to keep on reading and
really shows us how talented Rachel Vincent is.

The world- building in ‘Menagerie’ was very different,
but really amazing. We learn about surrogates,
and the history of surrogates in our world. Although there were a lot of
disturbing parts in this book, Rachel Vincent was still able to make this carnival
mysterious and fascinating. Throughout this book it also really felt like the
author thought about everything. There were a lot of details, and it really
made me feel like the author put a lot of time in creating this book.

The main character Delilah Marlow, was definitely a
character I liked. She was just a normal woman, when suddenly her whole life
changed and she became a prisoner of the Menagerie. I loved how strong she was
and that she didn’t give up fighting for her rights and those of the other ‘creatures’
of the Menagerie. I loved how passionate she was and that there was so much
unclear about her character. It really had a mysterious feel about it.

The audiobook narrator Gabra Zackman was perfect for this
book. There are a lot of different characters in this book, and Gabra was able
to give a different voice to all of them. I really loved listening to this
audiobook and it definitely made me want to get more audiobooks.

Overall this was a good read. I do keep thinking about
the horrific parts in this book. And sadly that makes me a little hesitant to
read another book in this series. ‘Menagerie’ really is a very different book.

Rachel Vincent is a former English teacher and an eager
champion of the Oxford comma. She shares her home in Oklahoma with two cats,
two teenagers, and her husband, who’s been her # 1 fan from the start. Rachel
is older than she looks and younger than she feels, and she remains convinced
that writing about the things that scare her is the cheapest form of
therapy—but social media is a close second.

For more information about Rachel Vincent please visit
her website, or visit her on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.