by Erin MorgensternFic Morgenstern, Erin
The Night Circus is a very hard book to explain to someone what it's about. A few people recommended it to me but none could really capsulate a brief synopsis. All that I could really ascertain was that everyone I knew who was reading it loved it and that it had a pair of competing illusionists in it.
As the name would suggest the main setting of the book is a circus that is only operated at night. The book switches between the plot and general details about the circus, it's history, and anecdotes from people who love it. The magic used within this book is real, and there are hints of how the system works but not so much that it bogs down the story. There is very little that slows the story down and with the short chapter style used here it moves along very fast. All of the characters here and interesting and one of the drawbacks is that they are not given enough back story to really understand them. This actually leads up to a rather anticlimactic ending as I didn't feel the tension release in the denouement. I attribute this to the short chapters and how well the author built everything up so much it became pretty transparent where it was all going.
In the end I really enjoyed this book but I didn't love it. It's kind of like a night at the circus. It feels you with whimsy and wonder but by the end you are ready for it to be over.
