October 14, 2011 / Leslie

Review & Giveaway: The Night Circus

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: September 13, 2011
Format: Hardcover | 400 pages
Rating: 4 of 5

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

The circus itself is a stage, a venue, for a competition between two young magicians who have been trained in illusion and magic from an early age. They are destined to bring the game to its conclusion; neither is allowed to quit. But what was not supposed to happen was that they would fall in love.

This is a beautifully written story, a fairy tale filled with magic and mystery. Through Erin Morgenstern’s descriptive prose it was effortless to see the enchanting black and white circus. The imagery is so vivid I could imagine myself walking along the paths between the circus tents and entering the fantasy world she has created.

As beautiful and visually captivating the story was, I could not feel the same way about the characters. They were overshadowed by the brilliance of the circus itself. I could not feel the passion, the intensity, that was supposed to be there for Celia and Marco, the two young magicians. One of the many secondary characters, Bailey, a young visitor to the circus who is befriended by several of the performers, was one of the more interesting and developed characters.

This book was a slower than usual read for me, partly because I wanted to soak in the imagery and partly due to the confusing timeline. The story is not told in a linear fashion. There are many short chapters with no clue as to where we are in time or space other than the chapter heading with the date and city. Often I’d have to flip back a few pages to find out where we were. There were two stories that intersected in the final section of the book but we could have done with a little less back and forth in time.

In spite of my critique I genuinely enjoyed the book. I wish the characters would have been a little more richly constructed, but for me The Circus was the star and it shone brightly.

About The Author

Erin Morgenstern is a writer and a multimedia artist, who describes all her work as “fairy tales in one way or another.” She lives in Massachusetts. Visit her at her Website and Blog.

Giveaway Information

Thanks to Doubleday Books I have two copies of The Night Circus to give away to my readers.

Contest is open to US addresses only, no PO Boxes.
To enter leave a comment. You don’t have to be a subscriber to enter, but new subscribers are always appreciated. Be sure to include your email address in the comment form.
Contest closes at midnight, Sunday, October 23rd. I will draw 2 winners using random.org. Winners will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.
The book will be shipped by the publisher.