The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
(2011) 400 pages

Final Rating: 4/10

Blurb:
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 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.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Review:
This book makes me feel many things. It is a rollercoaster of emotion and situations, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was enjoyable.

1. The Plot

Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair are pitted against each other by their mentors, who stupidly decide that it’s a good idea to settle on who is more powerful than the other by teaching kids magic and binding them forever without telling them anything.

“‘Which is superior, then?’ she says. ‘A room full of trees or a room filled with sand? Do you even know which ones are mine? This is getting tiring, Papa. My opponent clearly possesses comparable skills. How will you even determine a winner?’
‘That is not your concern,’ her father’s voice hisses, closer to her ear than she would like. ‘You are a disappointment, I expected better from you. You need to do more.'”

It goes on like this for quite some time. Rules that are laid out but not explained and strange occurrences with no reason behind them are draped in sparkly words and misdirections. However, because of the fascinating and deliberate writing, I presumed that everything would all reveal itself. Sadly, I was left disappointed.

Celia Bowen has been raised since childhood under her neglectful father, Hector Bowen, otherwise known as Prospero the Enchantor. He has mentally and physically abused her in hopes that it would make her become stronger enough to defeat her opponent.

Marco Alisdair had been chosen by the man in the gray suit, who despite only talking to him when necessary, cared for him more than Hector had ever cared for Celia. Marco was always independent, teaching himself and reading whenever he could. Neither of them was ever given information on what they were learning magic for and what the rules of their challenge were.

And spoiler: They never find out the rules. The only thing they are certain about the challenge is that it was created on a whim by Hector Bowen and the man in the gray suit (yes I know he has a name I just don’t feel like typing it out for some reason) to see who is better.

And of course, this challenge the two of them face has high stakes where many, many other characters are forced to suffer the consequences of either of their actions.

2. The Writing

The writing is impeccable. It is detailed without being slow and boring. Many things of this world and of the characters are shown, and not told, because the writer is skilled enough to do so. Most of the time, I find myself trying to analyze every word within this book to make sure I don’t miss anything, for many times, there are tiny things that will pose a great deal in the future.

3. The Characters

Because of the writing style, none of the characters seemed to be dull or lifeless. They were all unique and had a desire to escape their past through the circus. However, as the story continued on, many of the characters did not grow as people as much as I would’ve liked. I realized that I didn’t know much more about each character at the end than when I first met them in the beginning. Yes, many interesting scenes unfolded around me, but many of the characters were stuck in time as if the world moved around them but they did not. I’m sure the author wanted to use the idea of the circus affecting each and every one of the characters directly involved with the circus to create a mystery that needed to be solved, but it was never explained, leaving the characters worn out and dry.

Overall

This was immensely immersive in some scenes, but incredibly slow in the next. The ending particularly disappointed me because this book felt like it had many ideas but no direction, and I was hoping that it would all come together in a satisfying conclusion, but I was left with nothing. The problem with taking such a big, imaginative world to make something interesting is that there is no explanation for why or how things happen. This is honestly the reason why I don’t immediately start writing an entire book-long story about every world that I daydream about during classes or when doing homework. I think, “Does this make sense? Will my world break apart if I ask this question about it?” If questions are left unanswered, it ruins the story.

And it makes my perfectionist ass rage.

But that’s just me.