Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Goodreads rating: 4.04/5

My rating: 4/5

In 'The Night Circus', two magicians are engaged in a rivalry that takes place via their proteges. Each select an apprentice to serve as their proxy and they choose to make a spectacle of the duel by opting for a night circus as the venue. The students compete without fully knowing the rules of the challenge and by the time Celia and Marco learn that one of them has to die for the other to win the game, they've fallen in love with each other. The competition also affects the lives within the circus and with none of them wanting their mentors' arrogance affecting them, they strive to find a solution to not just stay together but to also keep the night circus alive.

I'm not completely sure how I feel about this book and how to write a review on it. I listened to an audio book version and I honestly would like to be able to read the physical book first before writing a proper review, I just feel like there's something missing in my experience of the story.

For now, I can say that the story was definitely magical and enchanting and the descriptive manner in which Morgenstern wrote it transports you directly into the circus and into the world of the characters within. I could smell the caramel popcorn and was left craving for mulled cider and cinnamon rolls that was so deliciously depicted. I wished I was Bailey, the only ordinary boy whose experiences with the circus was so vividly portrayed.

The whole story was written in the third person which I'm not particularly fond of because it makes me feel detached from the characters. I guess the reason it was written in such a manner was because there were too many characters to consider. However, I think I would have enjoyed at least reading the story from either Celia or Marco's perspective, even if my favourite characters were the twins, Poppet and Widget. There are also bits in between that are written from the aspect of the reader, making the reader feel as if they were there and although it was quite effective in the beginning, it felt unnecessary later on.

As for those wondering if this is a romance novel, it is not. The book does contain love stories but it is not a romance novel. It is more focused on the life of the circus and the purpose of it's existence - the duel between Celia and Marco.

Another thing I'm not very satisfied with is the magic itself. I understand that magic is not something that can be explained but I was hoping for some kind of explanation about the roots of the magic that exists in this story. Celia was born with a natural talent that was honed with the help of her father but Marco was an ordinary boy that was picked from an orphanage by his mentor and was trained to perform manipulations. There was no explanation for the source of their magic or how it was possible that anybody could simply learn to do what they were capable of doing. For comparison's sake, the shadowhunters created by Cassandra Clare have their abilities because their blood is mixed with angel's blood. I know it's not magic but the root of their supernatural abilities was at least defined and I feel that was what was missing in 'The Night Circus'.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book and I hope to be able to read a physical copy in the near future; I think I will enjoy it more that way. Quite frankly, it was both funny and annoying hearing an old British man trying to sound like Celia. He was a good narrator, except for when he had to create voices for the characters. I've also read about a movie adaption for this story so that's something to look forward to as well. I can already imagine how mouth-watering all the food is going to look.