Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Pages: 384
Published: 2011
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5

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 RĂªves, 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. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: It took me awhile to get into the book, but once it did, I was entranced with the book and felt like I was at a circus.  I really liked how the three storylines were tied up at the end of the book; it felt like one was in a managrie of sorts. One pet peeve of the book was that I didn't like the alternating chapters and got me turned around so many times that I didn't know where the story was headed and if they had been in three separate sections, then I probably could have made sense of the book a little more.


12718 / 15000 pages. 85% done!

5 comments:

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic said...

I have this one. I've been hearing great things but I'm not sure if I'm ready to read it yet.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Glad you had a chance to try this one. I thought it was well done.

Melissa Wiebe said...

Diane, it was well done; its just that the style the way the book was done was not how I normally read my books.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

My coworker is reading this one right now and I keep asking her if she's liking it (of course having seen all of the buzz online). She's still on the fence. I really want to read it but...

Glad you liked it overall. I enjoy storylines that interweave seamlessly.

Anonymous said...

I think I agree with you. I loved the book and the circus atmosphere, but got so distracted and turned around by time jumping back and forth between chapters, and sorting out the timing through the ensemble cast.
It was lovely, though.

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