The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a story of magic, romance and professional rivalry set in early 19th century in a mysterious circus tent that arrives without warning in fields around the world, between the hours of dusk and dawn. Hidden amidst the enchantments, unknown even to the residents of the circus, are two rival magicians, long dead, but living through a war that might lead to death or life.
Review of The Night Circus
A book with such a gorgeous cover is a tempting thing on the shelf. “People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.”. Here, it is splendid black and white décor with splashes of red around.
Le Cirque des Reves (The Circus of Dreams) is a maze of tents containing enchantments that surprise your wildest imagination – a fire-eater who sculpts the flames in her bare hands, a greenhouse made entirely of ice, down to the last flower petal; a pool of human tears that transmits memories and poems that run down the trunks of trees, to name a few. The circus appears at midnight and disappears by dawn, in different regions, masqueraded as a coal truck and holds magic that has the audacity to challenge the notions about circus.
While it spreads wonder and enchantments around, there are dark secrets that it holds within itself, for the Night Circus is the arena where two young magicians Marco and Celia, unknown to themselves, are pitted against each other in a contest put forward by two rival magicians, Alexander and Prospero, with no rules except that only one will survive. Marco is trained by Alexander who thinks that magic can be taught to anyone with reasonable intelligence while Celia is trained by her father Prospero who believes that exceling in magic is an innate talent.
Morgenstern can be truly called a visual composer of beauty. The world of The Night Circus is elaborately designed to take your breath away. There are parts in the book which are not as convincing as you want them to be, but the author succeeds with stirring delight with subtle chills throughout (like how Prospero slits Celia’s fingers and breaks her bones to make her perfect the mending spell). Read the book only if you are a big fan of magical realism, if not you might be heavily disappointed.
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I do really enjoy The Night Circus — the world Morgenstern creates is just so magical!
Yes, it is magical yet in a different sort of way. Heard she is working on her second book. Fingers crossed
I enjoyed this book so much. I’m glad you liked to as well. 🙂
Thanks for visiting. I enjoyed the read too. it was different from the usual magical books.
I am currently reading this book. Reading your review, makes me want to read more of it, all the time. I am glad I picked it up!
That’s lovely. Hope you enjoy the read. It is such a beautiful blend of magic and mystery in a circus tent like no other.
Oh wow, this sounds like the type of book I would love to read <3
If you like magic, you will definitely enjoy it. It has got magic, circus, mystery and a cold war going on within it!
I liked this one, too. The cover is gorgeous, I agree!
Prospero was the worst. Such a manipulative jerk, I couldn’t believe how he treated Celia.
And yeah, I had a problem with the jumping back and forth – the timelines. I could never tell which one I was reading, which was a bit confusing.
I was horrified too by Prospero’s treatment. I mean what kind of a father is her if he splices his own child’s fingers, Right?
I’ve read part of this book, hope to finish it this year! They say never to judge a book by its cover but some covers are too beautiful to ignore. 😛 Just today I bought another one partly because of how beautiful it was (it’s called The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender).
Yes. The cover of The Night circus is absolutely gorgeous! I have seen the book you are talking about. That one is a beauty too. i was very tempted to buy it, but restrained myself.
I love the photos you took! They’re really beautiful and showcase the book wonderfully! I agree with the magic realism – I DNF’ed this book in the end because it didn’t quite draw me in.
Thank you Geraldine. I agree it was less appealing towards the end. That is so annoying right? When a book begins good but then wavers off?
I loved this book! And I’m not usually a fan of magic realism but for some reason I was completely obsessed with this. Got to admit that it was the cover that drew me in – it’s so beautiful! x
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I agree with you on how gorgeous the cover is. The cover is what attracted me too. The Night Circus had good and bad reviews from those who read. I did not particularly love it, but I did enjoy the experience. Glad you loved it. 🙂
The descriptions of the circus were absolutely wonderful, I felt the plot lacked and all I wanted was to wander through the circus and experience all its magic.