Book Review: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern
Title: The Night Circus
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy 
Pages: 387
First Published: September 13th, 2011
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

"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. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance."

Wherever do I begin?

Well, this was another read for the book club I'm in with my pallios. I probably wouldn't have picked this up on my on. I would contemplate it, but I would probably bypass this. Who knows though?

Mmmmm....this was certainly an adventure and I was highly addicted to it. I could barely put it down. I would find myself reading oddly fast for myself. *shrugs* Perhaps it was due to the fact that I wanted to find out what happened next, because it was killing me how Marco and Celia gets out of this "game". I don't know time seemed to get away from me.

SPEAKING OF the "GAME". That was stupid....annoying....and boring. I was expecting at some point they would have to battle or something. Or a threat that loomed over them. No, no. This was a competition of who can endure longer and these two endured for nearly 30 years. MEEEEEEEEEH! This "game" was the boredness of two sociopaths who liked playing with people's lives and they didn't care about anything, but trying to prove each other's method of "teaching" and "magic" was wrong. >_>

Honestly...I was more involved with the Murray twin's and Bailey's story. I didn't like or trust Marco for many reasons. Especially how he went about with the whole Isobel situation. He was a jerk, but what do you honestly expect from a boy that was raised by one of the sociopaths, Mr. Grey (that is my name for him). Mr. Grey wears only grey and his heart is that color....if he has a heart at all. Celia? Mmmmm, she was alright. She was defiantly the stronger and better of the two and if they didn't "fall in love" she would've kicked Marco's butt. THAT, though, would have defeated the whole story. They were "destined" to be in love.

Why does this book's message seem familiar to me?

"All magic comes with a price."

HAHA! Rumple indeed rules the world.

The price of the two men teaching these kids magic is that they can not escape the game until someone dies and a victor is declared. Love is the price they may have to pay if they can not get out of this "game". I will not give any spoilers, but the ending surprised me. OKAY, one baby spoiler: *SPOILER ALERT* there is a huge loophole where no one technically has to "die". This loophole is haunting the book and no one thinks of it until the end and that is what causes the "game" to end. *END OF SPOILER* See? A baby one.

I have a lot of mix feelings for this book. It certainly was an adventure and I'm glad I gave it a chance. The ending was totally worth it. I must give some kuddos to the author for the twist at the end. I certainly didn't expect that. She didn't take the easy way out. *cough* look at spoiler *cough*. 

In the end, it was a good ride and even though I couldn't help but glare at the text sometimes, it was an interesting book. I certainly would recommend it to those that like magic and human drama. This was certainly human drama-filled. In the end, I shall stamp this with 4 stars. It is more like 3.5, but I don't give decimals, so I rounded. 

Favorite Character(s): Poppet, Widget, Bailey, Isobel, & Celia

Not-so Favorite Character(s): Alexander (sociopath #1), Hector (sociopath #2), and Marco (total jerk). 

P.S - This was nagging me until now. Both Alexander and Hector both never disclosed their real names (that we know of), but they just picked names they liked. They both picked these names - why? What do they mean? I finally realized it as I typed there names down up above...from Greek mythology! Alexander the Great and Prince Hector of Troy. It may not be right, but it's interesting and there are a lot of old references (like Billy Shakespeare references). Haha! Sorry for my ramble