“The circus arrives without warning,” and it is more than what it seems. “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern was my penultimate read of 2024. It was the second, and last, book I gave five stars to in 2o24.
The story is told through a non-linear timeline that progresses all the way from 1891 until 1902. So 11 years during the Victorian era. Throughout the book the reader is introduced to a plethora of characters with a handful of different perspectives, the true main characters being Celia Bowen, Marco Alisdair, and Bailey Clarke.
The book starts with the setup of a competition arranged by two men who possess magical abilities: Hector Bowen, a “magician” who uses his magic in flamboyant ways to make money and can cast spells by a simple wave of his hand, and The Man in the Grey Suit, another “magician” who chooses a more scholarly type of magic – he tends to write down spells and uses illusions more than physical magic, keeps his magic secret.
Both these men have lived long lives and have held several competitions with one another. But these competitions aren’t between them, nor are they physical. Instead, what these men do is challenge each other through mentees. Hector chooses his daughter, Celia Bowen, and The Man in the Grey Suit (or Alexander) chooses an orphan, Marco Alisdair.
The competition does not have actual rules (at least not ones which are shared with the reader), but it has a goal to only have one survivor. Through “competing” and improving their magic, Celia and Marco fall in love with each other more and more. This makes the game’s goal unappealing for the players, adding more conflict into the game itself.
Now that you have a good idea of the set up of the story, let me tell you what truly drew me in.
As mentioned before, the book is told in a non-linear way; because of this, the narration confuses the reader until the very last second when truth is finally revealed. I know that sounds vague, and I do this on purpose because I truly believe that you should read this book. I also think that this non-linear storytelling can be a reason why so many people can’t finish the book to begin with.
One character’s POV is truly frustrating; that character is Bailey, a simple farm boy who doesn’t really have a good connection with his family and is overall overlooked. This can also be said about his chapters in the book. They can seem redundant and boring, but pay attention because every detail in this book is important, and eventually his opinions and storyline become entertaining.
Personally, detail is one of the greatest things about this book. The plot and descriptions and settings–all of it was so detailed. All of my senses were constantly being used, and at one point I could have sworn I smelled the caramel apples and butter popcorn served at the circus. Not only were particular elements of the book detailed, but all the details that were given came together in a way that didn’t seem too overbearing and instead were purposefully open-ended leaving the reader to interpret the book the way they would like.
That leads me to talking about the overall plot of the book. You know when you read something, and it actually seems cohesive and well planned out? Yeah? Well this was exactly that. This book was so well thought out that when I closed the last page, I stared at the wall with tears in my eyes for a solid 10 minutes. Every piece fell into place, no detail was left out, and there weren’t any plot holes, but instead everything left unsaid was purposeful and didn’t leave me questioning but hopeful.
Overall, “The Night Circus” was a really good book. It was magical, entertaining, engrossing, and absolutely beautiful. I would totally recommend. 5/5 stars from me.
Finally, let me leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“You’re in the right place at the right time, and you care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that’s enough.”
“The most difficult thing to read is time. Maybe because it changes so many things.
“People don’t pay much attention to anything unless you give them reason to.”
Xoxo
Maya
