![]() They remain distant and unknowable, and maybe that’s on purpose, but to keep the protagonists of your story this far away from your readers is a mistake, in my opinion. Both of them, however, remain such pale cardboard creatures that I couldn’t have cared less if they fall in love or into a river and drown. That’s the premise and it sounds great with its Romeo and Juliet vibe. Celia and Marco, two magicians pitted against each other, fall in love. Take the characters that exist in this story. So there is a lot to discover in The Night Circus, but unfortunately it is all description. ![]() I felt a sense of longing, of wanting to go to the circus and try a caramelised apple, see the Murray twins’ performance with their kittens, get lost in the labyrinth. Be assured that they are beautiful and evocative, and they do exactly what they’re supposed to. I won’t list the many little ideas that the author has put into her magical circus. If you don’t fill it with interesting people, why should I keep reading? But despite all its black and white glamour, the wonders untold, the stunning feats of its acrobats, the circus is a setting, nothing more. Her descriptions of each of the circus tents, of the wonders created by the “rival magicians” Celia and Marco are imaginative and pretty much make you want to go there. Morgenstern chose style over substance in every single chapter. But that’s the only thing that makes this book even remotely readable. The night circus is as vivid and stunning as its various book covers. What plot was I following, which character did I care about? The answer to both questions is: none. I have asked myself many times, while reading this book, why I was still bothering. Unbeknownst to them, this game is a duel to the death, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is underway–a contest between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in “a game,” in which each must use their powers of illusion to best the other. Within nocturnal black and white striped tents awaits a unique experience, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stand awestruck as a tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and gaze in wonderment at an illusionist performing impossible feats of magic. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. ![]() The circus arrives at night, without warning. In this mesmerizing debut, a competition between two magicians becomes a star-crossed love story. If you ask me, it wasn’t whipped nearly enough because as pretty as the images painted by Morgenstern’s prose may be, there is very little that makes the novel readable or worthwhile…įirst sentence: The circus arrives without warning. It is no secret that The Night Circus was a NaNoWriMo novel that was whipped into shape so it could be published.
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