The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ~ 512 pages ~ published 9/13/11 by Anchor Books

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

What I Thought:

The Night Circus has been on my radar for a long time, and I’m so happy that I finally read this magical book! It was my book club’s pick for December, plus I have heard so many people talk about how much they love this book over the years, so I was pretty jazzed to pick it up. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it ended up being a fantastic read for me.

I absolutely loved the imagery in this novel. Morgenstern does an amazing job of giving you enough description for you to feel like you are actually walking through the circus, without bogging you down with so much description that you can feel your eyes glazing over. It was so vivid, and I now have very distinct pictures of everything and everyone in my head. I absolutely love when books take me to a place so completely.

I also really enjoyed how this book doesn’t have just one main character. It was definitely an ensemble cast. I don’t read books like this very often, and I thoroughly enjoyed it because I was able to relate to so many of the characters on a more intense level.

I enjoyed the various love stories that happen throughout the book. Not every love story was perfect, or even healthy, but I felt like they really showed the gambit of human emotion. I found this to be entertaining and intriguing.

The magic in this story was so much fun to visualize. Again, I felt like Morgenstern did an amazing job of painting the picture for you without bogging you down in semantics. I thought that the descriptions of the different magical tents in the circus were simultaneously strange and beautiful. Also, just the descriptions of walking through the circus were filled with magic of their own, which made me want to visit all the more.

I will say that I found the first 100 pages or so to be a little bit slow, but after that point I really flew through this book. I didn’t want to put it down. I had to know what happened!! And that is the mark of a great read 🙂

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave The Night Circus 5 STARS! If you love fantasy, historical fiction, and beautiful imagery, then this is a great book to pick up!

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Are you interested in learning more about this book? Check out the links below!

Erin Morgenstern’s Website

Erin Morgenstern’s Twitter

The Night Circus on Goodreads

Purchase The Night Circus on Amazon

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Have you read The Night Circus? What did you think about it? Are you a fantasy fan? Let’s talk down in the comments! 

Love and happy reading,