Do you want to be widely entertained?
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.
It's been a while since I've been so fascinated by a book.
Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus is enchanting as it is fascinating. Mysterious and alluring. It's like the book simply takes you into a mystifying journey to a world unknown.
I love the way the story was told through jumping time frames. I loved the tension and how it kept growing through the chapters. The mystery behind the contest remains just enough out of reach to us as it does to our young heroes. The magic is marvelous. The circus is breathtaking. The friendships are all ones that you would wish to be part of. Though the outcome becomes somewhat obvious, it does not detract from the feelings that you will feel when they finally reach them.
Everything is so enchanting that it’s hard to put the book down without wanting to grab it up again or sharing a passage of the book with others. Much of the book just sticks to you long after, as you become so drawn into the circus almost becoming part of it yourself. There’s some words of wisdom in the book that strike you deep in the heart and leaving you with some food for thought.
A few of my favorite things about the novel: Widget and Poppet (nicknames) are twins born in the circus. Widget's story to his sister of a wizard and a tree might be the best bedtime story I've ever read. Also, I love how Morgenstern ends so many chapters, not with a cliff hanger to get you reading on, but with a dramatic flourish that'll lead you to reflect on what's already happened.
All in all, The Night Circus is a really good book. I recommend it.
What books have you been reading lately?
claisee
