The Night Circus was one of those books that I heard about way back, through NaNoWriMo I believe. It was the first book I’d ever heard of that was written through NaNoWriMo (across the course of two NaNoWriMos actually, because apparently Erin Morgenstern is a bit of a rebel). It was such a cool thing to realise, because I’d only been doing NaNoWriMo for a couple of years myself, and I was really starting to get serious about the idea of publishing books, and The Night Circus was the proof that good things came out of NaNoWriMo. I bought a copy of this book a few years after it came out, and then it sat on my shelf gathering dust, always with the intention of reading it, but never quite getting around to it. Until this past December, when I asked my Instagram friends to recommend a book for me to read, and The Night Circus was the immediate answer. So I gave it a read, and let me tell you, this book absolutely blew me away.
The Synopsis
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.
My Thoughts
To be honest, this blurb really doesn’t do justice to the book. The Night Circus isn’t the faster paced intense battle between magicians that one might have expected from that description. Oh the magic is there, true magic hidden behind the veneer of a beautiful, mysterious circus, but it’s so much more than that. The writing is lush and evocative, capturing the otherworldly magic of a circus. For me, circuses and cinemas hold a similar power. As soon as I step inside, it’s like I’ve gone to another world, some place where the usual rules don’t apply and you are dazzled and delighted and confused in equal measure, until finally your time is up and you step outside, blinking in the sun and not quite sure where you are. The Night Circus captures that feeling perfectly.
The book itself isn’t fast paced, and in fact it’s told across more than a decade, with two separate timelines running simultaneously at some points, until all the strands finally weave together at the end. This isn’t usually my sort of book. I struggle to keep more than one timeline straight in my head, especially when there are multiple viewpoint characters as well. But in The Night Circus this absolutely works. There was never a time when I couldn’t remember where I was in the story, what timeline we were in, or which character we were following next. The story draws you through, as if this style of writing is the most natural in the world, and honestly, it’s like a big tapestry, where you start with all these loose threads, and by the end they’ve woven together so that every piece is an important detail in the whole. There was such a sense of everything coming together as we reached the end and dawning understanding. It was utterly delightful.
The battle between the two magicians was another thing that didn’t quite fit what the blurb promised, nor was the romance. It’s not a romance novel, which is good because personally, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the book so much. The battle is very loosely defined throughout most of the book, so much so that even the combatants don’t really understand the rules until the very end. Only one can be left standing though, and by the time you get to the end of the book, the two characters care so much for each other, and you care so much about them that you’re on the edge of your seat with dread, wondering how on earth they’re going to figure it out. It’s not a battle where they fight, but more a competition to see who is the better, the stronger, the smarter. It’s all confined within the circus, building up that sense of mystique. In a way, it reminded me a little of The Prestige, two magicians duelling it out by always trying to do one better, do a trick that the other might not be able to top. (Doing a bit of fact checking after writing this post initially, I was delighted to find that The Prestige was actually one of Erin Morgenstern’s inspirations, which I love)
Should You Read It?
If my gushing thoughts above didn’t make it exceedingly obvious, I highly recommend that you read The Night Circus, if you haven’t already. The blurb for this book really doesn’t do it justice. The Night Circus captures the absolute wonder of a circus, adds a sprinkling of magic, a world that feels like it could almost be real, and hands it to you with such beautiful writing that you can’t help but be drawn into this story until you never want to leave. Go and get yourself a copy at once. This is a book that needs to be experienced.
Need some more magic in your life? Why not check out my fantasy duology, The Crystal Tree and The Shattering Song? They are cosy fantasy adventures about magic, music, sisters, sacrifices, and strong friendships. Available now in both print and ebook forms!
