Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Hello everyone! I finished The Night Circus two days ago and I loved it, so I thought I’d share my review.

Book: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis (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.”

My Thoughts:

This book was amazing! Honestly, if there was an actual circus like this, I would very much like to go. There was a lot going on in the story, which sometimes made it hard to organize everything that’s happening, but it was still so good.

✏️ The writing. There’s no doubt that Erin Morgenstern’s writing can pull you in. It’s so descriptive and lyrical, and the way she describes everything sometimes makes it seem so real. Sometimes, the descriptions are slightly lengthy, but they set the scene really well.

📈 Pacing. I thought that the pacing of this book was well done, especially for the romance aspect of it. Marco and Celia’s relationship slowly built over the years, after meeting and it didn’t feel rushed or anything. In fact, it was quite slow. If I remember correctly, it was at least five or something years (please correct me if I’m wrong.)

💞 The romance. The romantic part of this book I feel was interesting. Marco and Celia are supposed to be enemies, but instead, they’re basically soulmates, brought together during childhood but not knowing it.

🌎 The world. The setting of the book is actually in real life Europe, mostly, but Morgenstern makes a world of her own in our world. Le Cirque des Rêves is a magical place filled with unbelievable feats and indescribable events.

🕰 The time shifts. There’s three different stories happening during the book: the main plot, the backstory of a side character, and very occasionally, one where it’s in second person and you are the story. A lot of the time shifts were confusing, and I often had to go back and look at what the date was at the beginning of the chapter, just to mentally arrange all that happens in the right order in my mind.

This book was a terrific read, even with the confusing time shifts. I was up way too late reading this book, not being able to stop at the end of a chapter because I needed to know what was going to happen.

My Rating: 4.5/5 dragons