The Night Circus

★★★★★

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 the 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

***

To anyone that has already seen my past posts, it might seem as if all the books I read receive a 5/5 rating. I want to clear something out: it is not true. I am very picky when it comes to books, and if I dislike one, I’ll make sure my opinion is known. On the other hand, I do have a very good taste for books. I can identify I book I will love way before reading it, which earns me a lot of sour readings.

It is also a truth that I believe bad books do not exist. Different tastes, perhaps, but bad books are not a thing.

When I first read the Night Circus, I didn’t know what to expect. The cover didn’t call my attention that much, but for some reason the title did. I am very happy I followed my gut. At first, I was not understanding ANYTHING of what was going on. I must admit I was feeling a little lost. Just a very few things were clear to me, and those were the most obvious (ex. Marco’s and Celia’s identity duh). The way it is written may confuse some people, take me as an example. I usually read simple YA books, where the language is not so complicated or fancy or elaborated. It’s just non-pretentious sentences and straight to the point plots. The Night Circus was very different from what I usually read.

I think it okay for me to compare it to reading Shakespear for the first time. A lot of fancy terms that will surely cause you a headache. You probably will not understand it the first time, but after you re-read a sentence twice I’m sure you’ll get it.

While it was a kind of difficult reading, the story itself was great.  I don’t think I have ever loved a book so much as I love The Night Circus. The book gives me so many feelings. It’s dark, romantic, magical and unique in its own way.

The story is basically about two young magicians. Not Harry Potter style, but not quite Houdini either. For instance, they can do actual magic, but there is no Hogwarts, or wands or magical potions or weird mythical creatures. The setting is multiple, the story takes place somewhere in between the 1920s-1930s and has no fixed location. The most recurrent places are London, Germany and the United States (of course).

There is some kind of competition going on between the main characters, but I never really felt it. I mean, they were bound to it by their respective tutors at a real age, and afterwards, the book explains how their entire life was spent training for it, but when it all comes to the moment of the competition, nothing actually happens.

“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. “

And you know, somebody has to die. Like really, the point of the competition is like a complete nonsense. Kind of a rivalry between Celia’s father and Marco’s tutor. The competition is just for them to show off and see which of them has the better student. Those guys are vicious. I mean, they don’t even care one of them has to die in the end.

Despite what I mentioned above, the story also tells how Marco and Celia (who by the way are supposed to be enemies) fall in love with each other in what has to be the darkest and romantic and magical way ever.

“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. “

I think that quote explains pretty much everything you need to know about their love story. 

Anyway, thankfully Celia and Marco find a way out of the competition, (a loophole if you must) because since you know, it’s a magical competition, they are bound to completing it. Before you question anything, the magic that bound them to the competition is the same one that will give them a killer amount of pain if they even do as much as think about abandoning it.

In the end, everything falls into place. Things that confused me at the beginning were now clear, and by the time I read the last few words, I understood what was going on perfectly. I truly understood literally everything. Nothing was left loose, unlike other books which involve major plot holes. The only uncertainty I was left with, is why Celia’s father and Marco’s tutor (Alexander) do the competition. Like, really, it’s extremely random.

Why did I give this story a 5/5 then if the whole point of the book, which is the competition, is not taken across?

Well, dear reader, the book is written in a beautiful way. The characters are each distinctively unique, the story is filled with magic, wonders, and forbidden romance (which I’m a sucker for). I can not give any other reason but that I loved it. I really did. To anyone who read my past post on Caraval, I’ll let you know that with this story is how I stumbled across Caraval. Both books share a lot of similarities.

Go ahead, reader, give the story a chance to make you fall in love with it. You will not regret reading it at all, and perhaps, once you do so, you will realize why this book deserves a five out of five.