The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Despite the lack of entries, rest assured that I have been reading – and reading and reading. I decided, however, that it might be good for my brain if I read some adult books and revisited the classics I like so much.

Then I read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It turned out to be one of the best books I’ve read all year (yes, I say that a lot). The Night Circus is an amazingly original story with a feel unlike almost anything I’ve ever read. The author creates a truly magical world inhabited by magical characters. The plot (that means the events of the stories, people) is interesting and intricate (I’m using my big girl words), the characters both loveable and detestable, but most of the all, the setting, an extraordinary circus spun from magic and decked out in black and white, is out of this world.

The Night Circus combines several stories running both simultaneously and at separate times. It’s not at all difficult to follow, however, and gives the reader the opportunity to find out what is going on with a variety of characters. This also gives you the opportunity to develop favorites among the characters. I’m sure, for example, that I should be most interested in the star-crossed lovers, Celia and Marco. They are truly magical people in the most literal sense (that’s my way of saying there is something really spooky about those two). Each one is a master illusionist capable of creating whole new worlds and destroying and rebuilding those that really exist. Pitted against one another by their “parents” at birth, Celia and Marco ruin the plan – the way kids often do – by falling in love.

Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah. That’s all very nice, but my favorite characters are Poppet, the female of a pair of red-headed twins born on the circus’ opening night, and Bailey, a young man living who finds relief from his boring life once he discovers the circus.

As much as I loved the characters and the story, however, I loved the hundreds of small details painstakingly added by the author to give The Night Circus its magical feel. In the end, this ensures that The Night Circus ends up being more of an experience than a book.


LAME FACTOR: Magic is not lame, my friends. Abracadabra! A zero for lameness.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: Only if they’re super weird.

BRAIN POWER: Get a dictionary; take your time. That said, it’s probably a good idea to try it if you’re already a pretty decent reader.