the night circus

by erin morgenstern

★★★★☆

dates read: 11/18/22 - 11/22/22

"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 first time i ever read the night circus was when i was a sophomore in high school. i didn't think that it was anything remarkable at the time, but having re-read it years later, i now know that i could not have been more wrong.

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”

the night circus is everything one can want in a book. it has magic, romance, suspense, imagery, tragedy, and more. morgenstern’s talent for storytelling is so impressive. as readers we get to see how all of these characters, whom all started in different places, become so integral to the night circus on the surface and the competition between marco and celia underneath. no one in the night circus is immune from the effects of marco and celia's battle, forcing the two illusionists to face the consequences of a competition neither of them wanted.

with that being said, this book has a pretty big cast of characters. it's easy to get lost in all of the different names and faces. but the plot progresses at a pace that allows the reader to uncover more details about the people involved in the night circus and the games themselves as they continue to flip through the pages. so don't worry, the confusion about characters and the competition is intentional. the night circus is really an onion, with multiple layers.

the night circus is also one of the most beautifully written books i've ever read. morgenstern's prose and mastery of imagery is what makes this book what it is. the sensory descriptions and her ability to cultivate atmosphere through words makes the night circus feel real despite how outlandish it appears.

now while morgenstern is queen of descriptive language, i think that that also comes with its drawbacks within the novel. there is a heavier focus on establishing setting and atmosphere to the point where it takes away attention from plot and characterization. i still liked the characters and found the plot alluring, but they were not as three-dimensional as i would have preferred and the story had many lull periods. i can completely understand when people say that the night circus is slow. because of the heavy amounts of imagery, the book takes on more of a slow burn rather than a fast-paced thrill. although these drawbacks didn't really inhibit my experience reading the novel, i get why they would for someone else.

the night circus is the most atmospheric books i've ever encountered, making it a whole entire experience to read. it was a lot of fun!

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