The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern | Book Review
10.25.2021
BLURB: 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 (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.
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction
Goodreads rating: 4.03
Pages: 490
Publication: September 13th 2011 by Vintage Books, Random House
Goodreads rating: 4.03
Pages: 490
Publication: September 13th 2011 by Vintage Books, Random House
Source: Preloved Carousell
Book links: Book Depository | Amazon | Google Books
Reading format: Paperback
Book links: Book Depository | Amazon | Google Books
Reading format: Paperback
Review type: Non-spoilery
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
OHHHHHH OH OH THIS BOOK IS SO BEAUTIFUL, THIS IS THE MOST BRILLIANT BOOK I'VE EVER READ, MY FAVOURITE MAGICAL REALISM BOOK EVER, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO READ IT. I'm speechless. I don't know what to say, my brain is gone. What I'm currently feeling is totally indescribable. It's not possible to write a review that does justice for this book.
This book is so hauntingly beautiful and magical in ways that have never been done by all the magics I've read about before. It's a fairytale with a haunting vibe I can never describe. The ending of this story made me feel the way I felt when I watched the final episode of The Haunting of Hill House; those bittersweet and other kinds of feeling. The prose was so beautiful but it didn't confuse me even a bit. I did sometimes get confused when the circus performances were described but none of them was truly un-understandable. Everything was magic in this book that I want to go to Le Cirque des Rêves just to witness the magic happen with my own eyes.
I was truly scared that I wasn't going to like this book at first-, because I felt like the first 100 pages were a bit slow-paced. However, as I was reading the book, I saw that the slow pace was needed for the world-building, in order to truly suck the readers into the story as it proceeded. I grew to not mind the pacing so much because the writing was so beautiful and I was so sucked in that it felt like I was dreaming as I watch these things happen in the book.
The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.
The characters were, needless to say, the most wonderful characters. Despite this book being not exactly character-driven (but compared to plot-driven, it's more character-driven), which is usually the main reason I like a book, all of the characters still find their way to be glued to my heart. I love all of them. They are all magical beings to me. Although there were so many characters, I wasn't confused with who's who at all, since each of the characters was characterized with unique qualities, so they were really easily distinguished. But the main character wasn't one of the characters, but the circus itself. Like I said, the story was magical and it was mainly because of how full of life the circus was (which is a weird thing to say about inanimate stuff). It captivated me and left me with this longing of wanting to be one of the lucky people who get to visit the place.
You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words.
I won't recommend this book to people who want a fast-paced read but I will recommend it to people who want to be captivated by beautiful prose with a detailed narrative, whimsical stories, who wants a dreamy read, fantastic world-building and a book that touches your soul.
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