Review: The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern
publisher: Doubleday
date published: September 13, 2011
format: ARC
pages: 387
source: from the publisher for review
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N

From Goodreads:

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.

What I Thought

I had been excited about The Night Circus ever since I first saw it on Goodreads. I was absolutely thrilled to receive it for review and was definitely looking forward to getting started. Though life got in the way and delayed the reading of this book, I discovered that it was very much worth the wait. This incredible, magical novel was worth every moment I spent reading it.

The prose that comprises The Night Circus is, simply put, lovely. The plot line, which is non-linear and concentrates on varying characters, is constructed in such a way that a veritable picture of the events taking place is painted for the reader. These two things combined left me in awe for much of the book and, at times, even brought tears to my eyes with their beauty.

The characters that make up this story are astounding in their complexities. From Celia and Marco, the star-crossed magicians at the heart of the circus, to Poppet and Widget, the twins born the night of the circus's opening, each character is as rich and compelling as the last. Though there are no definitive villains (Hector and Alexander, while having questionable morals, are not strictly bad), there is a decisive theme of the negative repercussions that come from the vast manipulations enacted by the four magicians involved. However, there is also a lot of good in the majority of the characters that form the circus. Together, they make up an enchanting tale that explores the realms of possibility and the lengths the human heart will go to for love.

As for the backdrop of The Night Circus, I simply could not get enough. No matter where the circus visited, it was as its own world, a world filled with fantastic, beautiful things. Though the circus is described as being made up of the colors black and white, it is truly composed of not only many shades of gray, but also of many colors, though they may not be readily apparent to the naked eye. Much like white light is composed of many colors, so are the people and emotions behind the circus. It is an imaginative, transfixing world where anything is possible. You will be hard-pressed not to become enamored.

I can not even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this book. You know you have found something special when the description of an unusual forest can evoke tears. There is much emotion and wonder to be found here, and I must enthusiastically encourage all of you to pick up this book. I give The Night Circus 5 hoots, the highest rating I can give. However, in reality, it deserves even more than that.

Obligatory legal statement: This ARC was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.