Book Review- The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

♥♥♥♥♥

Title: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Year Published: 2011

Publisher: Anchor

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥

World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥

Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥

Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥

Synopsis:

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. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Spoiler Free Review:

   When I picked this book up, I heard nothing but good reviews. However, after finishing the Shadow & Bone trilogy and having heard so many people dislike it despite really liking it, I didn't feed into the hype a lot of people built up for this book. Regardless, you should definitely believe the hype.

  This is very much a cast of characters book, which I generally have mixed feelings about just because they can get messy or certain pieces of screen time can drag on when you just want to get back to certain characters. Erin does a beautiful job of balancing each character in shorter 'chapters' so no part feels particularly drawn out. She also does a great job of jumping through events, either foreshadowing something to come or going from the same date a year in advance. Definitely pay attention to the dates and locations at the beginning of each 'chapter', otherwise the series of events can get a little confusing.

   Each character is so well inter-grained into the story and the circus as a whole. The closest we have to main characters would be Celia and Marco, because ultimately the rest of the story is weaved together because of them and the competition they are in. We start with Celia showing up at her fathers office and learning a little bit about the steady theme throughout the rest of the book. I love how cunning Celia starts as, even as a 6 year old skeptical of both Prospero and Alexander. Marco seems more like an optimistic and open person that his counter part just through his upbringing and actions. There is a subtle contrast to the two characters that builds through the beginning without making it obvious that they are opposites. 

 The world building in the story is really fantastic, the setting is in real locations like London, New York, etc. There isn't much detail added to the setting outside of the circus, save for the manor and Marco's appartment. Most of the magic and setting comes from the circus, which is 100% imagined. I love how Erin made the color scheme so basic in just black and white so as a patron everything is seamless but the tents themselves really bring out the mystery and intrigue. 

  If you haven't picked this book up, you totally should. It's a very beautifully written piece of literature that I feel like would satisfy a lot of readers, either younger or older and anyone looking for fantasy but not high fantasy. 

Spoiler Review*:

   I chose to split this review into spoiler vs. spoiler free just because I realize by just putting a disclaimer of spoilers possible, it restricts you as the reader from proceeding to hear what I liked and didn't like about the book. So, for those of you who also read this book and would like to hear my opinion, please continue reading.

   I did not expect the ending we got to close the story out so well, however at the same time I found myself having to re-read the most towards the end after pieces of the puzzle started to fit together. I'm not sure if it was because of the writing or if it's my analytical brain trying to make sure I truly understand what happened. I was worried about where the ending would go once I got around the 440 page mark because I didn't have a lot of pages left and there still seemed to be a lot to cover. The back and forth between characters I think really added to the ending, just because there were moments where we were propelled one direction quickly that Erin then fleshed out and explained, which was a lovely way to kind of manage the anticipation in the climax of the story.

   Celia and Marco are the first couple that I've read about in a while to give me true butterflies. There was a lot of tension built up on Marco's end that Celia sort of allowed herself to sink into. As Erin mentioned in the Q & A in the back of the book, their romance is very much star-crossed lovers. Erin also states that the two fall in love with each others imaginations and by getting to know each other on a deeper level before actually meeting. I did have a small problem with their relationship, in that Celia doesn't seem to reciprocate Marco's affection because she seems to skeptical about her opponent and how the entire competition ends. There is also a doubt that Marco is manipulating her that I don't feel like is resolved enough by the time we get to the ending. The dialog between the two when Celia brings up that he could be manipulating her certainly hurt my feelings not because of anything Celia did but because I didn't care for Marco's reaction. It almost took away from the magic between them during their tour of Chandresh's house.

   The twins were lovely, but unfortunately I feel like they were the entire plot to Bailey's story line. I didn't care for Bailey that much as a character the way I did everyone else. It almost seems intentional to not try and make him easy to attach to just because he is an outsider who is late to the circus game. Poppet was cute but I think Widget was my favorite twin. I loved his confident but cool nature especially when making a deal with Alexander at the end.

  The two mentors I didn't care for, and to refer back to the Q & A in the back of the book, I think it sums up the characters perfectly. If you are looking for a black and white villain, you could point at these two, as out of the entire cast they are the closest based on motive. However, as Erin states, not every story is black and white. There are some grey areas for each character. I thought her references to "not everything is black and white" was funny considering in the circus, literally everything is black and white. I will say I did like Alexander a little more than Hector, just because he seems far less ruthless despite being more cold. 

  Isobel was a lovely character and I'd love to have a short story for her and Chandresh either before or after the events here. I love how she was introduced to the story and how she played a part. Her tarot card reading was the perfect way to keep her relevant to what was happening within the madness of the circus. I do feel bad for her, because she was led on by Marco, but I am also happy that she isn't paired with him by the end of the book because TBH, she deserves better.

  A lot of the rest of the characters were awesome, and I liked them for so many different reasons. Chandresh's passion, Tsukiko's mystery, Herr Theissen's heart. They really made you love the story a little more. I feel like people could view the circus itself as a character, but for me it felt more like the circus was a piece of all the cast involved rather than its own person.

   The arc of the actual story is very basic. We start off know that there will be two people competing in a magical competition. The circus is the venue, and both Celia and Marco keep manipulating it in reaction to the other. There are no clear rules, other than they have to compete until a winner is determined, which kind of got on my nerves. At the end we finally got a clear answer as to what a winner means, by Tsukiko revealing she had won the last competition because her competitor forfeit and turned herself into a tree. Prior to that, it is hinted that one of the two more than likely will die, but at the same time there were comments made after that didn't stick to that as the definition of winner. I'm all for mystery, but this just seemed somewhat messy. If leaving that as the end game vague is to reference that hey, you may just need to be smarter than the game, I think a bit more focus could have been added on that fact in itself. Celia, with her wits and that sharpness to her personality is able to figure out a way around the two having to murder one another and it's very fitting that she finds it rather than her and Marco finding it together. I think the reason why I lean to liking Celia a little more is she is the quick, straight to the point where Marco is more the dreamer, loose-detailed one. 

   I know I've yammered on about this book enough, but I did truly enjoy it. There were so many elements that pulled you in and made it hard to put down. I'm considering trying to listen to the audio book in one sitting eventually, just because putting it down I felt like some of the magic built up had dissipated by the time I came back to read more.

If you guys read this book, let me know what you thought it the comments below. If you like me splitting my review to avoid spoilers, also drop a message so I know to keep doing it. I think I'll try it out for a few more and see how I feel about splitting it or if I can't form enough of an opinion on a book to bother.

*There are spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.