The Night Circus

I regret staying up until five in the morning to finish this book, but really I do not, ha-ha. It was totally worth it.

In the book recommendation group that I am a part of on Facebook, a lot of people were saying that this is a really good pick. This was actually one of my husband’s books that I found when we first started dating; he says he read it but does not remember it. Too bad.

Celia is raised by her famous illusionist father constantly preparing for a “challenge” that he continually restarts with a colleague of his. Sealed with a ring brand, she does not have a choice in the matter, so she trains and perfects her talents until she auditions for a circus. The circus is created to only take place at night, and blows up quickly overnight with popularity because of its enchantment. A clockmaker who attends creates a league of people that I would describe are like fangirls for K-pop; they follow the circus and talk about it incessantly. There is also Marco, who is Celia’s competitor and also has a major hand in the development of the circus through his skillset of illusion. Together they fight against their feelings for one another, the weight of the world that is the circus, and the implications of the challenge that a couple of douchebag old men got them into.

I loved The Night Circus. I loved the writing style of it, the direction that Morgenstern projected it, and the world that she created. You know those books where while you are reading, you get the strongest sense that this was written purposely with the intent of being turned into a movie? This was one of those. Coincidently, if you go on the Googles, it will say that there is a movie that is pre-production for The Night Circus.

I find it interesting that Morgenstern did not put a whole lot of description in Celia and Marco; I mean, she does when they are introduced as adults, but comparing to other books I have read, she does not continually come back to describing facial expressions, or their looks, she talks about their clothes, specifically Celia’s dress and Marco’s bowler hat. Her dress I understand because she always changes the colors like it was a damn mood ring, his hat I do not.

A big thing was that the book is not about characters per say, that it rather is always is about the circus. The descriptions about the individual tents and the feelings that it invokes and how it affects the senses are incredibly heavy. All of the characters involved are a support to the circus, either as attendees, performers, or for Celia and Marco, literally the ones that keep the thing alive. Everything done and said is for and about the circus. It makes The Night Circus different, making the setting the pivotal focus and makes the story go forward and keeps the characters grounded.

I like that everything that the characters do is very intentional, even if some do not even realize it. Even the concept of the challenge and how it grows into an overwhelming monster is intentional, and when you think about it, it is a sick thing. It is no better than Romans pitting gladiators against one another because they love blood and violence. Two old illusionists who are stubborn as fuck and have a large enough ego to drown the earth continually pit two innocent people against each other until one keels over just to prove who is the better teacher while disregarding any human life that gets involved? It is ridiculous, and to be honest, I really do not think the events that happen in the book will change their ways; I think they will just keep doing it.

I seriously would read this again, and I hope that it does get made into a movie. I never saw the movie, but I picture the trailer for Winter’s Tale because of the whimsy. If you would like to read The Night Circus, I would start here.

10/10