"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
387 pages

Short Version: A fierce competition between two magicians is held within Le Cirque des Rêves; the mysterious circus that travels around the world and is only open at night.

Why I Read It: After reading a few reviews about The Night Circus I had to see for myself what it was about. The idea of a circus only being at night piqued my curiosity.

The Book: 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 amusements. 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.

My Thoughts: I LOVED this book! The imagination put behind it all is amazing. I felt like I was an onlooker of this exotic circus while reading. And when the book came to an end, I was disappointed like the circus just left town. The plot took a while to really get going but Morgenstern's writing is so beautifully done that this did not bother me. There are a couple story lines going on in the book, but they all revolve around the circus. Celia and Marco, the competing magicians, are part of the main story being the center of the competition. The second storyline follows Bailey, a young circus attendee, who returns to Le Cirque des Rêves as a young adult. The third storyline has the reader as a guest of the circus in modern day. I have to admit it took me a couple chapters to get the story lines straight. I was not sure if I should be paying attention to the location an date at the beginning of each chapter. I think my favorite part of this book was going inside the circus tents and feeling like I was experiencing them first hand. I was worried how the ending would turn out but it turned out amazing. Not what I was thinking would happen, which was great (I don't like when I can predict what happens). I would recommend this book to everyone no matter what their reading preferences are!

5/5 stars