Hello everyone!
Imagine a circus that opens at dark, where illusions are real, stories are trapped in jars and gardens are made of ice- that circus is the Night Circus. The Night Circus, written by Erin Morgenstern, is about a challenge between two magicians, Celia and Marco. They have been trained for this challenge by their mentors for years, and the venue of the challenge? The Night Circus, a dark, beautiful traveling circus that appears in places all over the world with no warning. But the challenge is made even more dangerous when Celia and Marco fall in love... but how can they possibly survive when the only way to end the challenge is for only one magician to remain standing?
The Night Circus is beautiful. The description is lush and the setting imaginative. I fell in love with the setting, that is, the Night Circus, and wished that I could actually visit it. The story is slow-moving and takes place over the span of more than a decade, so if you don't like slow-moving books, you may want to avoid this one.
But all of these positives have their downsides. The description sometimes masked the actual story and was sometimes boring. I don't have a real problem with a book or series taking place over a long period of time, but here, it could get a bit confusing. The narrative moved back and forth between different periods of time. It is essential to read the chapter names in order to get a sense of where each chapter is taking place. For example, a chapter may end with an intriguing cliffhanger, and the next chapter, taking place a year later, begins as though nothing happened, so the reader has to flip back to both chapter beginnings to see when both chapters are taking place.
Additionally, while the main characters started off strongly, with strong backstories, they soon lost everything that made them individual after they fell in love. After that, it felt like their main character trait was being in love, which it shouldn't be. Luckily, the book wasn't only about them and had other side stories as well.
I especially loved Chandresh Christophe Lefevre, the circus mastermind, Herr Thiessen the clockmaker, Isobel the fortune-teller, Tsukiko the contortionist, Poppet and Widget, the twins with strange powers and Bailey, a normal boy who is not entirely sure what he's doing there. They were interesting to read about and I looked forward to their chapters and storylines.
Another thing I liked were the very short chapters that were written in second-person, about the reader visiting the circus. It was interesting to see what the average visitor thought about the circus and to see some more of what the circus offered.
Erin Morgenstern is an American author. Her first book was The Night Circus.
Overall, the merits of this book definitely outweigh the demerits. The Night Circus is well-written and creative, and it is a book that I will recommend and re-read. I recommend this book to ages 12 and above.
Imagine a circus that opens at dark, where illusions are real, stories are trapped in jars and gardens are made of ice- that circus is the Night Circus. The Night Circus, written by Erin Morgenstern, is about a challenge between two magicians, Celia and Marco. They have been trained for this challenge by their mentors for years, and the venue of the challenge? The Night Circus, a dark, beautiful traveling circus that appears in places all over the world with no warning. But the challenge is made even more dangerous when Celia and Marco fall in love... but how can they possibly survive when the only way to end the challenge is for only one magician to remain standing?
But all of these positives have their downsides. The description sometimes masked the actual story and was sometimes boring. I don't have a real problem with a book or series taking place over a long period of time, but here, it could get a bit confusing. The narrative moved back and forth between different periods of time. It is essential to read the chapter names in order to get a sense of where each chapter is taking place. For example, a chapter may end with an intriguing cliffhanger, and the next chapter, taking place a year later, begins as though nothing happened, so the reader has to flip back to both chapter beginnings to see when both chapters are taking place.
Additionally, while the main characters started off strongly, with strong backstories, they soon lost everything that made them individual after they fell in love. After that, it felt like their main character trait was being in love, which it shouldn't be. Luckily, the book wasn't only about them and had other side stories as well.
I especially loved Chandresh Christophe Lefevre, the circus mastermind, Herr Thiessen the clockmaker, Isobel the fortune-teller, Tsukiko the contortionist, Poppet and Widget, the twins with strange powers and Bailey, a normal boy who is not entirely sure what he's doing there. They were interesting to read about and I looked forward to their chapters and storylines.
Another thing I liked were the very short chapters that were written in second-person, about the reader visiting the circus. It was interesting to see what the average visitor thought about the circus and to see some more of what the circus offered.
Erin Morgenstern is an American author. Her first book was The Night Circus.
Overall, the merits of this book definitely outweigh the demerits. The Night Circus is well-written and creative, and it is a book that I will recommend and re-read. I recommend this book to ages 12 and above.
