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The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern

Start date: February 1, 2016

Finish date: February 28, 2016

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone (August 2017)
By Mari · 15 posts · 44 views

last updated Aug 31, 2017 06:55AM

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Aug 25, 2019 Zev rated it did not like it

Star and a half because the book had pretty descriptions. I originally DNF'ed this book because I don't like second person, which the author opens the book with and uses as occasional chapter transitions. I really don't like second person openings that switch to first person, as I feel it makes the opening pointless and like the author was kind of trying to show off. Look how pretty I can write, it seems to say. There are other ways to show me, please. People raved about this book on BookTube wh Star and a half because the book had pretty descriptions. I originally DNF'ed this book because I don't like second person, which the author opens the book with and uses as occasional chapter transitions. I really don't like second person openings that switch to first person, as I feel it makes the opening pointless and like the author was kind of trying to show off. Look how pretty I can write, it seems to say. There are other ways to show me, please. People raved about this book on BookTube when it first came out, and--um, okay. I was really excited about it, and thought now about second chances. The cover is still beautiful. The art on the pages are still a nice touch. Right away, I realized this was going to be a lyrical story where the power and the focus would be in the beautiful sentences, not plot or characterization. With such novels, reads are meant to savor lush descriptions and beautiful chapter transitions. It's not intended as a character study, but to admire the author's skill. That was the case here, only I really have to be in the mood for -and- swept away by such book, and I wasn't here. I waited patiently to be engaged with the story somehow.

Prospero is a real jerk, and Chandresh is a creep. Among other things, he never tells guests of the midnight feasts what the ingredients are, and I can't suspend my disbelief enough to imagine that no one ever has allergies or dietary restrictions. Those existed in the 1880s, when the story takes place, even if this is a fantasy world under eerie-ness. New headcanon: he's a serial poisoner. One guest is described as wearing a gorgeous ruby necklace, and I delighted in imagining it until it was stated that it looked like her throat had been slit and it was beautiful. This occurred on page 57 of the edition I was reading. Instantly and irrevocably, I thought of how "The Hunger Games" series describes actual slit throats: still with prose, but not at all romanticized.

It wasn't until ninety pages in that I figured out all three timelines (Bailey, Marco/Celia, and the second-person transitions) the book whips back and forth between, were going to intertwine and the story would begin there. It was an impatient wait, as the entire novel read like multiple backstories for every single character until the integration. I delighted in the Ice Garden tent descriptions, though. The love triangle was barely there between Isobel, Marco, and Celia, but I found it still annoying. Nearly two hundred pages in, the story does begin. I wanted it to be over, but had resolved to finish it. The story is a slightly faster-paced character study that quickly becomes an attempt at a star-crossed romance, with side characters also being paired up. It was a chore to read except for pretty descriptions, and I was relieved when I finished. ...more

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