The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning.

I saw the book, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern in Fully Booked and I was about to buy it, but I had misgivings because I don’t trust books with covers that look gothic and cool. ( I dunno, maybe based on the fact that I had to read Lauren Kate’s Fallen. Sorry to those who love that book. 🙂 )

Enihoodles, I remembered that I saw Blooey (who has a review on this book as well.. click here) reading this book during quiz and she told me it was good, so i texted her and asked to borrow the book. Of course she agreed that’s why you’re reading this entry.hehe… 🙂

I just read a terrible book before this—Angelology by Danielle Trussoni and that book is in the running for the worst book of 2011 for me. I’m still deciding between that or the book–Think by Mr. DeGault. But we digress, I read Night Circus right after that angelic tragedy of a book and I was just ready for something good.

And was this book good.

I love this book! 🙂

In its simplest sense, the book is about a challenge– a game between two schools of thought on the subject of manipulation or magic. It is a story about two people and how they are bound to something, in this case the Circus, and most definitely to each other.

I love how the characters are introduced and how they play with each other. All elements in the book from the chapter titles to the dates to the articles in between all make sense.. eventually. And the non-linear approach the author has in making the the things unfold just added to the excitement of reading it. I had to go back and forth a lot of times to figure out the dates and the way that things happen.

This book surprised me. Books that surprise me are always keepers (I really should have bought my own book). Just when I thought I had the whole thing figured out, the author injects another facet of a character that improves the story, even sometimes providing a crucial turning point.

Some things though are not explained, but looking back –most didn’t need to be. My favorite chapter has got to be the one titled Stories near the end. I love how that was written. The first paragraph of that chapter alone was golden. And it didn’t hurt that all my other questions were mostly answered in that part of the story. 🙂

The ending though was not needed but very appreciated. It added to the whimsy of the book. It made me wish that there really was a Le Cirque des Reves, and that I could also follow it around the world– be a reveres and purchase the experience of a lifetime with a ticket.

For a first book, two thumbs up to Ms. Erin! 🙂

Read it.