The Night Circus
By Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Recommended Ages: 18+
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. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
The Gist:
I’ve never once heard a bad review from someone who read this book. Everyone I’ve talked to absolutely loved it and said it was one of their favorites. If I’m being honest, it was more of a slow burn for me to fall in love with the story. I described it to my friend as a “sophisticated fantasy.” It took me a little while to latch onto Erin’s writing style (which I love now), and follow the high-level intricacies and many layers of the story. But after I was a third of the way through the book I was in love. And the more I think about it and talk about it, the more I love it. My mind is still in disbelief at the story and world Erin created. I wouldn’t call it a typical YA fantasy novel like I’m used to. It felt more mature and well thought out. But I genuinely loved it and am so glad I read it finally.
What I Liked:
Obviously the world Erin built around the circus. This world where magic exists and a circus is the battlegrounds for a competition where neither party had a choice in participating. My eyes widened every time a new tent was created. I can’t wrap my mind around how Erin came up with the ideas for these tents. I kept thinking over and over “Gosh dang it! I need a place like this to exist in real life so I can live there!”
The competition was almost as amazing as the circus. I couldn’t believe how long it was. And I loved that it turned into a way for the competitors to communicate with each other in a way. I found the reasons for the competition to be interesting and that’s probably why I liked it so much and wanted to know how it turned out. And the characters involved in the competition were surrounded by so much mystery, and who doesn’t love a mysterious man.
This book had a lot of twists, and I love a good twist. One of them I saw coming, most I didn’t. As more happened I had to keep reading to see when the next one would come.
I was very surprised with the book started in second person. But I loved it. It allowed me to feel as if I was seeing the circus with my very own eyes, like I was stepping into the world.
Some of the characters were wonderful. I think my favorite was the twins. Neither had particularly strong personalities, but their abilities and how their gifts were described were mesmerizing to me. And they had such a love for the circus it made me love the circus.
Erin’s writing continues to dazzle me. Her descriptions of setting and magic were very unique yet I could clearly understand what she was trying to get me to see in my head. This is one of the areas where the more I think about it, the more I love it.
What I Didn’t Like:
The ramp up to the start of the competition dragged on a little long for my flavor. I was so intrigued by this competition so I didn’t appreciate having to wait so long for it to actually start.
I got confused sometimes when it jumped between storylines and time periods. Once I finished and had a full picture view I understood why it was written that way, why it had to be written that way. But the confusion throughout bogged me down a bit at times.
I would have liked to see Marco and Celia interact more. Their declarations of love felt unjustified and unbelievable to me. Sure, they created tents for each other as a way to reveal their feelings, but that’s not the same as saying it and seeing how they act around each other. When Marco declares he loves Celia, I thought to myself “How? He’s barely talked to her.”
In general, a lot of the characters fell flat for me. None of them had particularly engaging personalities. They all started to feel the same to me after a while.
LunasLuckyRating: 4/5 Lunas
