Book Review: The Night Circus
The Night circus by Erin Morgenstern.
4 stars (I really liked it) for 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.
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.
Source: http://erinmorgenstern.com/writing/the-night-circus/
We enter the book with an introduction to the circus, making you feel like one of its spectators and letting you feel some of its magic. The book the book then changes in time and character point of view.
At first I struggled keeping up with the constant changing POV, the switches in time and fitting it all together. I almost grabbed pen and paper to make myself a mind map and take notes during reading, which is not really something you want to do when reading a book. (I will add that before The Night Circus, I had read a little amount of books due and that I had to get used to getting back into the reading life.) But then the pieces fell together and I saw the light, I recognized the pattern.
Once all of that fell into place, I could focus on the story and was transported into the enchanting world of the circus.
The story is told from many different perspectives with three main ones: Celia, Marco and Bailey.
Celia and Marco are tied together stronger than they both are aware of, trapped in a game neither of them know the rules of. You discover both characters' perspectives on the challenge and how they feel about the opponent they are not familiar with just yet.
Once both characters' paths cross, the story really starts to pick up and you'll be pulled into their world, wondering how they'll react to one another. Marco feels an instant attraction and you can't help but love the boy for it. You want him to pursue Celia in every way possible but instead it becomes a subtle romance with love letters in the form of enchantments and magic.
Celia and Marco couldn't be anything else than made for each other. When you're so tightly connected with someone else that your life literally depends on it, it's not surprising that their love is as powerful as the bound they share.
I soon enough found myself wanting the two of them to be together. To hold more and longer conversations, to have one more touch, to share a kiss. I waited for every encounter between my two new favourite people and felt my heart leap whenever a move was made.
I think I fell as much in love with Marco and Celia as they did with each other.
As for Bailey. The chapters with Bailey sometimes really disturbed the pace (for me) as I was really curious about what was going to happen with Celia and Marco and the circus. I felt Bailey was created with the purpose of sharing a spectator's view and thought it to be misplaced at times.
Until this too fell into place and everything became clear. Bailey is just as important a character as everyone else and you'll realize that the people in this book are connected more than you anticipated.
Not just Celia and Marco but everyone.
And I think that is in fact one of the strengths of this book. Because it changes so often in POV and time, it leaves you guessing until the outcome is revealed. The way it was written and how the chapters were timed made for an interesting read. You'll be stuck on the edge of your chair and unable to put it down.
Near the end I had this typical 'push and pull' feeling. It's the way you feel when you don't want to put the book down, because you're eager to find out what else is going to happen, and at the same time scared of finishing it so that you feel the need to put it down for a little while, so you can take a deep breath.
The Night Circus is as amazing as the circus it describes and you'll find yourself reluctant to leave and eager for more.
Get it on
- Amazon
- Your favourite bookshop
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