The Night Circus

I was so captivated by The Night Circus! It's a slightly older book and I can't believe it took me so long to read it, but I'm so glad I did. The world Morgenstern creates is so evocative and vivid, I can see it all in my mind's eye so clearly. It was quirky, and dark, and sumptuous, and thrilling. The love story within it is like no other that I've read. As an author, I came away from this book deeply inspired!

Quite simply, Erin Morgenstern’s book is the finest example of urban fantasy I have ever read. Besides a plot rich in sorcery and romance, with a circus (think Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes) that appears mysteriously, vanishing just as suddenly and the shadowy game of two great sorcerers playing out their competitiveness through the lives of their young apprentices, this is a beautifully written book. The writing is elegant, rounded, and rich. What a writer! The imagery is transporting without clobbering the reader over the head. The characters are each fully drawn, but in slow increments as the… show more.

This book sat on my bookshelf for years, but I finally picked it up in 2023. From the first chapter, I was engrossed in this tale of a magician’s daughter, Celia, and her role in a strange and magical Night Circus. Celia had my sympathy throughout. Her dad controls her life from the limbo he’s stuck in because of magic. So, Celia and the other performers are trapped in the Night Circus. She knocks heads with another magical human named Marco. Little does she know that her dad and Marco’s employer have pitted them against one another in a macabre… show more.

This book is always on my list of favorite reads. Morgenstern invites us to inhabit a world where magic not only seems possible but wholly believable. I’ve read this book numerous times, and it always casts a spell over me so completely that the rest of my troubles disappear as quickly and mysteriously as the circus moves to another town.

The competition-turned-love story between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, moves the plot forward at a driving pace while enchanting subplots abound. Whenever I feel like I need to rekindle the magic in my own life, I pull this novel… show more.

By the time you finish the first page, you’re already immersed in a world of magic.

The author’s imaginative descriptions bring the story to life, and we believe that anything is possible. Wonder is woven together with the perfect amount of tension, while the twists and turns of the narrative keep the pages turning. After wistfully reading the last paragraph, I fervently hoped for a sequel.

I had been recommended The Night Circus for years, and I have no idea how I’d put off reading it for so long!

Fairytale retellings are some of my all-time favorite books, and while The Night Circus is no fairytale, it has the same quality that I adore so much in those retellings: lush, gorgeous atmosphere and beautiful prose.

The circus itself is a delightful confection that comes to life in such vivid ways, and as much time as you spend exploring its various tents with the characters, there’s always a surprise in store. And there are so many… show more.

This book is a study in imagery. It is so beautifully written that I want to reach into the page, grab the words and take a bite out of them.

Aside from there, there is a scene in which one of the characters create a forest out of love stories and it gets set on fire by their passion. Come on! Need I say more. The plot and fantasy of The Night Circus is just icing on the cake.

My all-time favorite book. (Don’t tell that other book.)

The parallels between the depictions of the Night Circus setting and the network of theme parks in my own book are no accident. The only thing more influential to my depiction was my actual four summers working as a performer in good old-fashioned American theme parks, where I learned the truth behind industry legends like [redacted].

The steadily escalating duel between the young magicians of the Circus is a pleasingly slow burn, as every maneuver by one of the combatants deftly and carefully raises the stakes. Then all hell finally starts… show more.

Morgenstern’s story pulls you in quite literally as it starts in 2nd person. This may be a turnoff for some, but she does it perfectly. Your visit to the Circus in the title only shows up between parts of the story, but it is relevant in the end. I originally read this as a sample and her 2nd person scenes were the first things that made me buy it.   

I swore I felt the chill of a late autumn breeze and smelled the caramel apples and popcorn as I headed into the circus. As you learn about the magical experiences… show more.

Celia Bowen is an artist whose medium is magic. She is an unwitting competitor in a contest where only one will survive. Her canvas is a circus that appears without fanfare. Its black and white tents conceal a fantastical world filled with sugar flowers, cuckoo clocks, chocolate mice, cloud mazes, and wishing trees. Its spectacles delight crowds and are performed only at night. Regular attendees are identifiable by their black attire punctuated with a single red accessory.

I love this book because it transports you to a place of wonder amidst the strain of an impossible situation. Morgenstern has created… show more.