Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was under strict instructions to enjoy this one, and enjoy it I did.

For an exceptionally long time – too long – The Night Circus sat on my to-read list. It’s one of those books that everyone speaks about, one of those books you just have to read. It wasn’t simply a case of jumping in on the hype – I was genuinely interested in the story. It screamed out to me, begging me to read it. It sounded like something I would love, especially with the promise of real magic in a circus. Despite this desire to read the story, despite being very aware of the book, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to receive.

What I received wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting.

Part of me had expected endless magic, but such is not what we receive. Part of me expected a lot of romance, yet such is not what we received. Part of me expected a lot of action, and yet we did not receive as much as I had expected. As a whole, all my prior conceptions of the book were turned around once I started reading. The book wasn’t what I had expected and I loved it for that.

We start off with our main characters being children, allowing us to move through time as things slowly come together. When young, we watch as the two main characters are thrown into some kind of challenge. Things are unclear at the start, the specifics unknown, and things remain this way for a very long time. Slowly information is revealed, regularly we are given glimpses of suggestions, and yet for the most part everything is shrouded in mystery. We know the challenge is of the magical variety, we know the circus is involved as a venue, and yet most beyond that remains in the unknown. To add even more to the mystique, we travel back and forth in time. We flicker between scenes of the two players in the game growing, to scenes of another individual in the future. It is clear that something big is coming, that something is going to happen in the circus, and yet our lack of knowledge makes it impossible to know what exactly.

Honestly, it’s hard to explain this one. There are so many aspects brought together, so many different themes and stories, and yet they come together so well that it flows perfectly. It’s a beautiful tale, a truly wonderful story.

I’ll admit, however, that very little actually happened. We’re given so much description, the travelling through time allows us to see so much, and yet the real action is never really there. We’re following a challenge that doesn’t really have the feel to it that I had anticipated. I’d expected the challenge to be a lot more heart stopping than it was. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the way things built up – I’d simply expected a more adrenaline-inducing read. It was a slow mover, a lot of build-up, and I feel as though people need to be forewarned of this.

Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun with this one. I’m not as crazy in love with the story as many people are, I can see why it is an acquired taste, but I certainly enjoyed it.

View all my reviews