Book Talk, Thoughts

Book Review: The Night Circus

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The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus“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.” – book blurb

So the stage is set for a strange and wonderful story. The circus is a spectacle on its own, but it is also the venue for a secret duel between magicians – real magicians, wielding real magic. Celia and Marco know only that they have been bound to a challenge by their mentors, and must somehow out-do one another. The narrative flits between following these two contestants as they add new and stranger tents to the circus, and come to know one another; it also follows a few select of the circus’ admirers, dreamers who somehow only feel at home in this mysterious place. Morgenstern weaves together mystery, enchantment and love, an undefined yearning and an impending disaster, all with beautiful prose. And while you don’t get to know any of the characters intimately, all of them have depth and you find yourself as invested in the more minor characters as you do the two main ones. I would’ve liked a little more clarity on the two mentors, but that’s a fairly minor point. It’s just beautifully done overall, and reading it feels exactly like having a strange dream.
 

I give it 4/5 stars.

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17 comments

    1. Really? That surprises me a bit, though I guess this kind of floaty story progression probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’s not my usual kind of read, either, but I liked it. 🙂 Have you read it?

      1. I haven’t read it yet. I had it on my to-read shelf and then took it off after those three people gave it poor reviews. I might put it back on. 🙂

    1. Thanks! Me too, and writing them. 🙂 Water for Elephants is one of those that is on my shelf in the to-read pile, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. You recommend?

  5. I loved this book too and also have it 4/5. I agree about the clarity of the mentors, but I also liked that they had that air of mystery around them, it all linked in with the magic of it. How did you interpret the ending? I won’t say anything on here because of spoilers! 🙂

  7. I enjoyed this book as well. I felt like it dragged on a little… I get that she needed to insert a ton of detail to really help you picture everything, but it still felt like a lengthy read. Great story though!!

    1. Yeah, I agree that it was a tad slow at a few parts (mostly those little inserts between the ‘real’ story, where they were like ‘you walk into a tent’ etc.), but overall I still liked it. 🙂