Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Anchor Books
Format: Paperback
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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 both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.
Summary/Plot
Years later I have finally read this book and it was amazing!! An atmospheric story telling novel about two people, Celia and Marco, who have been placed in a competition due to their fathers. The Night Circus is told from when Celia and Marco are kids to adulthood. They are bound together and they will be a part of this competition till one of them is left standing. However, the rules aren’t that simple. And when Celia and Marco, the magicians, realize that every single move doesn’t only affect them but everyone and everything that’s involved within The Night Circus, things change. And in all of this Celia and Marco fall in love with one another which makes this competition all that much harder because it is not easy to escape The Night Circus. The Night Circus is like a chess board and Celia, Marco, and the rest of the team are the chess pieces.
“The most difficult thing to read is time.
Maybe because it changes so many things.”
The Night Circus isn’t your regular circus. No this one is full of enchanting tents like The Ice Garden, The Wishing Tree, Cloud Maze, and so many more. Each one built filled with magic, illusions, and manipulations. Each tent serves a purpose. Every single thing that happens within the circus has a reason and a purpose because in the end, it’s all part of game.
Writing
I loved the writing. The story is told in third person so we get to see a little of everything that’s going on. It’s a little slow paced but so worth it because of it’s poetic flowery way of writing. It’s avid descriptions of every single person, thing, circus, surroundings were vivid and wonderful. The writing completely sucked me in. I also loved how the author makes you think since she doesn’t entail everything. I love authors who do that, don’t give you everything in written detail but have a way of saying things that you still understand what’s truly being said.
Every single time I picked up this book, the author definitely sucked me into The Night Circus and I felt like I was there experiencing it all through every sentence that flowed through this book.
“I would have written you, myself, if I could put down in words everything I want to say to you. A sea of ink would not be enough. But you built me dreams instead.”
Characters:
We meet so many characters throughout this book and they are all important to the story because they play important roles within what’s taking place in the competition. Although Celia and Marco are the main characters of the story, we also get insight of other characters which in my opinion, makes me feel like The Night Circus in a whole is just the main character at this point lol.
Celia and Marco wouldn’t be the amazing Illusionist they are without their instructors. Celia’s instructor who so happens to be her father Prospero the Enchanter. He is a downright douchebag who always claimed he wanted the best for her. Through his character we see that Celia and Prospero don’t have the greatest relationship. I’ll go to say that he’s emotionally abusive to Celia, all for a win. We also meet Mr. A.H., Marco’s instructor, who is merely present in Marco’s adult life but still has a hold of the circus and knows what’s going on at all times!
There are a few characters that I absolutely loved though, the red haired twins Poppet and Widget. One born a minute before the circus opens and the other born during the grand opening. Poppet and Widget aren’t just any bit human, they have these magical abilities. Just like Celia and Marco, we also see Poppet and Widget grow into adolescence (sheds a tear). Poppet and Widget really stole my heart because of their sweet innocence. You can’t help but love them so much (my precious babies). Another character that grows with them but we don’t really see much of is Bailey. Bailey is not apart of the circus but his story was very heartwarming and added more to the summary and plot. Bailey’s story started off with a dare from his sister to take something from the circus in the middle of the day, meanwhile the circus only opened up at night.
We meet other side characters, which like I said take apart of the circus. Some take you totally by surprise which is why I am leaving them out of this section. Just read the book if you haven’t already lol.
Thoughts:
I still can’t believe how long it took me to read this book but I am so happy that I started off the new year with this dark circus read. It’s branded as a favorite of 2017 for sure. I took a long time reading it for good reason, I have a thing with faves…they take me forever to finish. I just didn’t want to let go of the circus. I know I said this but again, The Night Circus isn’t a regular circus. It’s full of magical elements that I have never seen or read in any other book. The Night Circus consumed me in amazing ways. We even get to meet these group of people in the book who follow the circus wherever it goes, and if this book was real, I’m sure I would be apart of that group.
I loved that we get to grow throughout the years with these characters and we see character development for sure. Everyone plays an important role and there were times that I was scared of what was going to happen. There is also a take on mental instability for some of the characters and I liked how the author handled that eloquently.
One of my favorite things about this book is how there isn’t instalove. Both Celia and Marco were around one another for years but didn’t really KNOW each other. I would ask myself “sooooo when are you two falling in love, hmm?” The author definitely took us on a ride with those two characters but it was so worth it.
I am hoping that maybe one day the author will write a book about Poppet and Widget, that would be my ultimate dream come true besides making a movie for this.
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Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? Let’s chat in the comments!
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