★★★★★
Putting words down for how I feel about this book, how it made me feel reading it, is proving to be an incredible challenge. It is intriguing, dazzling, beguiling, wondrous, mesmerising and whimsical. It was soft, gentle and absolutely nothing like how I imagined it, and I am so incredibly glad.
“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”
Erin Morgenstern
The book is about a circus, which isn’t really anything like a circus. It all began with a challenge, a girl named Celia and a boy named Marco. This challenge has rules, but Celia and Marco don’t know them, and it takes them many years to fully understand the stakes upon which they are battling. However, it is the most thoughtful, gentle and elegant challenge, with each move made with purpose and intention. There was no action in this book, it was an incredibly slow burn and the romance is subtle, yet fits in perfectly with the book.
It was written out of time, with the beginning of each chapter probably in a different location, day or year than the one before. Its disorienting, like the entrance to the circus; you don’t know where you are, or where anyone is but you know if you keep going, you’ll be in the circus. The writing was so spellbinding, just as the magic in this book. It’s impossible to describe my feelings about this book, its soul is the circus, and the circus is nothing without those making it what it is. The Rêveurs were such a wonderful idea, and I will be a Rêveur for this book, forever.
“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
Erin Morgenstern
I want nothing more than to experience a circus like this, and I know I haven’t done this book justice with this review, but it is truly impossible. The characters, every single one (and there were many), were fleshed out, unique, and utterly pivotal to the story. They were (almost all), morally ambiguous, which heightened the level of ‘realness’ to this. People aren’t purely good or bad, people make bad choices, and the actions of the characters in The Night Circus, were so incredibly believable within this dazzling world. I will have to shout out my two favourite characters, Poppet and Widget. They brought something to the book that no other characters did, it’s an indescribable quality, but it’s there nonetheless.
From the first chapter, and the obvious link to William Shakespeares The Tempest, I knew I was in for a story about spirits and illusions, magic and performances, and that’s exactly what I got. This book is much like Le Cirque de Rêves, it is beautiful, mystifying, and unique, and only with you for a short while. This book will not be for everyone, there is no action, it is not fast-paced, and there is no steamy romance, but it is probably one of the most intricate books I have ever read, and I implore you to give it a try.