Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it...it is simply there, when yesterday it was not
Review: I loved this book. It's different to books that I usually read as it is incredibly descriptive - it reminded me almost of how classic novels are written, and I usually find it very difficult to read and enjoy those books, but Erin really nailed it for me in this book.
Don't get me wrong, you definitely have to be awake to read this book as we jump around a lot in the book through different time periods and see things from multiple characters perspectives, and with the mass description it's not a book you can speed read! To really enjoy this book and understand it, you have to take your time with it.
I thought the plot was really interesting. The concept of this challenge intrigued me from the first moment it was mentioned and I really liked how no one really knew what the rules of the game were which meant it was all up to interpretation. The idea of the Circus being built and created almost specifically for the purpose of this challenge (even if it's creator didn't truly know it at the time) makes it even more interesting because anything really can happen in this venue. On the flip side, the plot is quite slow moving. If you think about classic books, this does tend to be the case because the heavy description slows everything down and I know that the fact that the plot in this book is quite slow has turned a lot of people off reading this but, I actually liked that it was slow. It meant we got to spend time with the multitude of characters and spend as much time within the Circus as possible. Like I said, this book isn't a book you can speed read so it's something to bear in mind.
Speaking of the Circus, I kind of want to live there. It's just a place full of magic of all kinds and everything from the lighting of the bonfire, to the different tents full of crazy, wonderful acts to that incredibly awesome custom made clock just drew me in and made me want to stay in these tents. Having the Circus only open at night, and disappear and appear at whim just made it all the more magical and mysterious.
There are so many characters in this book, but I thought Erin handled them all beautifully. She keeps you guessing even with the characters because we hear from a character once and, in most books, that character will have played their role within the story and we wouldn't hear from them again. But, actually, those characters that were mentioned in passing, ended up becoming integral to the story and the characters that you thought you'd hear from over and over again in the story, were actually minor players. It kept me hooked and guessing because you never knew exactly what a character was going to do next.
I did like all the characters that we heard from in the story - they all brought something different to the story and they all had secrets of some kind so that mysterious nature of the Circus itself was replicated in the people involved in it. Saying that though, I fell in love with Poppet and Widget, the twins of the Circus. Their characters just came alive to me in a way that the others didn't and I loved reading about them.
This book is full of twists and turns and lots of magic and I absolutely loved every second of it. If you're looking for a book to relax with this summer, then I'd definitely recommend The Night Circus!
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