Book Bites: 3 Sentence Intro About What This Story Is

Before they ever met or knew about each other, Marco and Celia’s fates have been tied…to duel one another in a game that challenges their skills and cleverness. People love the mysterious, alluring Night Circus. What they don’t know is that this circus has higher stakes than what meets the eye and how Marco and Celia handle themselves will determine the fate of the circus and all those tied to it.

*As usual, to see the official book teaser/summary of this, go to anywhere books are found and read up more about what this book is about.

Now on to My Commentary (**May Contain Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)

First Impressions

This book had everything I ever dreamed of. A Romeo-and-Juliet-esque romance set in the Victorian era. A mysterious duel that challenges the protagonists’ cunning and skill. An exploration into the beauty of theater and performing. And MAGIC!

What else could I possibly ask for in a recipe for world’s-perfect-book-for-me?! To add to that, this book is a national bestseller and received rave reviews! I had the utmost confidence that this book was surely going to be my next favorite on my bookshelf.

Despite all these high points, despite these being the reasons why I even picked up the book, I liked The Night Circus, but I wasn’t wowed by it.

And that saddened me. Because I’m usually easy to please. Even as I write this review and reflect back on my experience reading it, it took me longer than usual to get through the book. I felt like I was forcing myself to finish. Don’t get me wrong because I was emotionally invested in each individual chapter. But as a whole, I wasn’t impressed.

Then I started thinking…maybe I’m not intelligent enough for this story? To appreciate the subtle beauty evoked through the thoughtful details in its prose? To understand it in the beautiful, fantastical way that the author meant for it to come across? Maybe I’m just in a low mood and this affected the way I experienced the story? I don’t know…I definitely would read this again, but I devoted extra time to reading The Night Circus because I truly didn’t feel the emotional connection to it that I initially anticipated. And my motto is to take the time to read whatever I pick up. To understand it and appreciate it.

Now that I have thoroughly depressed you (I’m sure), let me write some highlights of the book.

The Wondrous Sights of Le Cirque des Rêves

When they mean Le Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams), they don’t joke about that. Each of the carefully cultivated tents and performances and meticulously selected entertainers makes this circus extraordinary. That was the whole vision of the original proprietor of the Le Cirque des Rêves (AKA Night Circus).

“More than a carnival. More than a circus, really, like no circus anyone has ever seen. Not a single large tent but a multitude of tents, each with a particular exhibition. No elephants or clowns. No, something more refined than that. Nothing commonplace. This will be different, this will be an utterly unique experience, a feast for the senses. Theatrics sans theater, an immersive entertainment. We will destroy the presumptions and preconceived notions of what a circus is and make it something else entirely, something new.”

This is an aspect of the book I thoroughly enjoyed. I love performing and I love art. I love an elegant, intricate and natural beauty. And Morgenstern lived up to this vision proposed by the proprietor. She created an enchanting, addictive spectacle through the Night Circus. Her descriptions of each exhibition will stimulate the senses and transport you into this immersive entertainment. I admire her ability to pull these marvelous ideas from her imagination and communicate the carefully constructed details of each tent through the page in a way that makes paints a clear and sensational image and makes you feel like you are experiencing the circus first hand.

You’ve got your acrobats, your fortune-teller, your illusionist, your big cats tamers, your contortionist, The Wishing Tree, The Cloud Maze, The Star Gazer, Ice Garden, The Pool of Tears, Bedtime Stories, and more. As noted by the characters in the story, you can visit the circus multiple times but it seems as though there’s a new leg of it that you discover during each attendance. And you start falling in love with Le Cirque des Rêves all over again.

I felt like the circus extracted the wonders of the world and compiled them in one place where visitors who step through the gates cross over to a dreamlike world and leave wondering if everything they had just experience had been a figment of their imagination. No wonder The Night Circus/Le Cirque des Rêves racked up so many fans both within the book and outside the book! And how can you not fall in love with the circus and all its personalities as you get to know them from its inception until the present day time? This story certainly doesn’t lack personality and intrigue.

And it’s a very psychological and philosophical book in its own way. Because as great magicians and performers know, to master the art of illusions would require an understanding of human behavior, timing, and a confident execution while subtly manipulating the reality around just enough to take the audience from ordinary to extraordinary. It begs the question: Is this wondrous spectacle derived from the mind of the illusionist (what they intended you to see) or is the illusion what your mind came up with (an illusion that exists only in the receiver’s mind)?

Also love, love, love the Murray twins, Poppet and Widget! They are kind, highly intuitive, and super adorable. They’re my favorite characters by far! The twin’s exhibits are some of my favorite ones in the book!

The Romance Between Two Star-Crossed Competitors

Hear out where I’m coming from and you’ll understand my unrealistic expectations for fictional romances. I read urban fantasy and paranormal romances more often than other romance subgenres. AKA includes steamy love scenes, witty banter between the lovers, and paranormal elements or love interests. I expect to laugh, cry, get angry, feel comforted by the romance brewing between the love interests.

While their scenes together were good and enjoyable, as a whole I didn’t care of Marco and Celia’s romance. Maybe because I had a bias against Marco in the way that he handled his relationship with Isobel, but you’ll have to read it to find out what he did!

Their romance didn’t captivate me. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting erotic scenes or Marco to magically reveal himself as a vampire in disguise the whole time. On the contrary, I preferred their sweeter, slower romantic progression over the typical smut I read. It was a romance that was beyond just physical attraction. It was between two opponents of evenly matched artistry, skill, and intelligence. Who fell for each other even though they were physically kept apart for years and didn’t know each other for a good part of the story. But they felt each other’s presence through their creations. They fell in love through understanding the other and communicating through their innovative tent exhibitions. And if this isn’t the most hopelessly romantic, tug-at-my-heartstrings-and-make-me-wanna-sing kind of romance to win me over, I can’t imagine what is! And this aspect of their relationship made me love them.

The Competition

And halfway through the story, I had gotten so angry that the true meaning and intention behind the challenge Marco and Celia were stuck in wasn’t revealed, well they’ll explain the challenge in detail at the end of the book. Yeah, I’m too impatient to wait until the end. Kind of wished it was clearer throughout the book. And their instructors basically gave little to no hints about whatever the hell these two were supposed to be competing for or about. Maybe there were blatantly obvious hints dropped about the true meaning of the competition but I wasn’t keen enough to catch them (ha ha, that’d be my bad!).

I didn’t get a sense of danger from the competition. Or a sense of urgency. I didn’t feel there were serious consequences for underperforming during the game. My feelings probably echoed Marco and Celia’s feelings about the competition because they were very confused as to why they were involved and what was expected of them. How can I take a game seriously if I know nothing really about it? And instead of competing to defeat each other, Marco and Celia used the game to build a connection together. To challenge the other’s skill and creativity. Ha ha, what a wonderful f*** you to their instructors and the game.

Final Thoughts

As you can tell from the thoroughly confusing review and constant mixed signals as a result of my feelings about this that I am ambivalent about The Night Circus. I’d like to think that I am able to comprehend my feelings on something pretty quickly. And I try to write from a place of honesty and thoughtfulness. Towards The Night Circus though, I feel constantly conflicted. I mean if this is what the author intended then they’ve succeeded.

I hope to revisit this book one day and examine in with a different eye. I believe this book is a gem but I have yet to discover how much it truly shines.

It did remind me of Black Butler: Book of Circus, Penny Dreadful, and Romeo and Juliet – all of which I really liked! So if you’re fans of those works, you might like The Night Circus. Either way, it’s a curiosity worth exploring.

Check out this book if it piques your interest. Hope you enjoy it as your next read or a re-read!

And remember, “Every story is worth the read. Someone (some poor, overworked, ink-stains-on-the-clothes lovely soul) took the time to write it.”