Okay everyone, I’ve finally read The Night Circus. Considering the hype, I’m glad I’m finally caught up. While I wouldn’t say this is my next favorite obsession, I don’t think the hype let me down. Keep reading this book review of The Night Circus for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
I was wary of The Night Circus for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I definitely missed the boat on this book in 2011. I’m not sure what I was reading then, but it wasn’t this book. When you miss the hype then I wonder sometimes how you can truly capture that moment over a decade later. Especially when it becomes such a part of the fantasy spectrum. Secondly, I’ve read a whole host of magical circus books and haven’t loved a lot of them. So I went into The Night Circus with tentative footsteps.
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And I will say, I enjoyed this one. I wasn’t sure how it would be, but I think The Night Circus beautifully captures this whimsical fantasy world. If you’re a fan of your fantasy worlds, and plots, slowly closing in then this is for you. With it’s omniscient narrator looking at multiple characters, you get this sense of the threads of fate slowly closing in. We see all these characters as they draw closer and start to interact and it feels whimsical, but also like we’re seeing glimpses of the broader picture. I’m personally a fan of this and I think The Night Circus excels here.
I wish we had gotten more snippets into the side characters, and maybe even our main characters too, but I think The Night Circus performs well with the atmosphere. Additionally, Morgenstern never lets you think that magic is all whimsy and bright lights. From the beginning there’s a distinct sense of cruelty and manipulation because what is illusion magic if not manipulation? We can see the force of illusions and the role of belief. But because of the deal being made, we recognize the selfishness and the manipulation present from the beginning. And because of that, we aren’t sure when the other shoe is going to drop.
Overall,
The Night Circus balances this book of something magical, while also being unsettling. It’s unhurried and asks us what role even we are to play. The rivals are also done really well here in the way that rivalry really ends up orienting our life to another’s. We become defined by them whether we like it or not. All in all, I did enjoy The Night Circus and it is growing on me. I think it’s worth reading definitely even if this hasn’t overwritten my personality. Find The Night Circus on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.