Status Updates From Water for Elephants

I’m usually good about skirting over-hyped books and passed on this one 20 years ago when everyone jumped on the bandwagon. I figured enough time had passed that I could read it, un-affected by the popular dialog.
While conceding that this is about a group of circus performers and crew, the characters are disappointing tropes, unoriginal and unlayered.
I’m uninvested in the predictable upcoming romance.