Review Detail

The Night Circus was an enchanting, mind-boggling story that enraptured me. It was confusing, lovely, frightening, elusive, all at once. There are times I loved this book, times I didn’t, times I wanted it to be over already, and times I never wanted it to end.

Put shortly, it’s a conundrum. A lot like the circus itself.

I don’t know what I expected going into this book, but I know I didn’t get it. Let me be clear: this is a purposely confusing book, but unlike many other confusing novels, this didn’t distract from the story. If anything, it enhanced the creepy, mystical atmosphere, and kept me reading. Morgernstern’s prose was beyond beautiful – it was seductive as her words draw you in and, even during the times where you have no idea what is happening, you don’t want to shut the book.

The characters were fascinating, yet almost two-dimensional in a sense. As there were so many characters, and the novel flitted quickly between their POVs, I couldn’t really get the best sense of each character. There were definitely a few that I could – the side characters – but the two main characters – Celia and Marco – were not as well-developed.

All in all, this was an entertaining book, although it was hard to read, and, not going to lie, my patience was tested a few times.