From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern

Start date: October 2, 2015

Finish date: October 31, 2015

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What Members Thought

Dec 04, 2011 Logan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: borrowed-library, own-bought-paper

First impressions: Opening a debut novel in 2nd person narrative is ballsy. But, oh man, did it work in this case. By introducing the reader to the wonder that is this night circus through gorgeous prose and the immediacy of the perspective, we are hooked from the first sentence. The circus arrives without warning.

Lasting impressions: I relished this book in a way that rarely happens for me - slowly. For the week I spent reading it, I rarely thought of anything else, yet I prolonged the reading First impressions: Opening a debut novel in 2nd person narrative is ballsy. But, oh man, did it work in this case. By introducing the reader to the wonder that is this night circus through gorgeous prose and the immediacy of the perspective, we are hooked from the first sentence. The circus arrives without warning.

Lasting impressions: I relished this book in a way that rarely happens for me - slowly. For the week I spent reading it, I rarely thought of anything else, yet I prolonged the reading experience in order to get the most out of it. This is a book that inspires reflection in all of the best ways, and rewards you for taking the time to read every word carefully. The story builds slowly, but purposefully, until the exciting climax threatens to turn the entire world of these characters upside down. It's a beautiful journey to witness.

Conflicting impressions: I confess that I read all of the negative reviews of this book first. Surely no book could live up to the kind of magical hype this book has had heaped upon it, right? So I read the most blistering, scathing reviews, preparing myself for a slow, boring, overly dense novel with wooden characters and little action. And you know what I got? Subtle characters deftly written by a master puppeteer. Erin Morgenstern fills the pages with lush details, yes, but they all serve to inform us about the characters and the setting. I understood this world so well that I wanted to live in it for as long as possible, which is why I took so damn long to finish it. And why I bought a copy for my shelf the day before I returned my library book. I didn't want a single day to go by without having this book in my possession.

Overall impressions: This book is magical, but not because it contains magic. This is not Harry Potter. Our young protagonists learn magic through natural ability and frustrating lessons by their parental figures - no straightforward schoolteachers to be found. They learn through trial and error, cruelty, and their own perseverance and curiosity.

Celia and Marco do not spend a lot of time in each other's company, and as readers we are often much more knowledgeable than our characters. For me, this made the plot that much more enjoyable, as I had an inkling of where the story was going, but no idea how it was going to get there. As the story unfolded, I was more than willing to go along for the ride. This is a novel you either succumb to completely, or resign yourself to frustration. I think by the end of the first few chapters any reader will be able to tell if this is the book for him/her.

The Night Circus has rich period details, lots of colorful characters, and more than a handful of intrigue. This was not only one of my favorite books of the year, but one of my favorite books, period. If you're looking to be entertained by something truly fresh and surprising, you must get your hands on this one. ...more

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Aug 02, 2013 Rebekah rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-adult-fiction, genre-romance, genre-fantasy, genre-young-adult, genre-book-club, genre-historical-fiction, genre-adult, genre-magical-realism, genre-fantasy-paranormal, genre-fantasy-magic

I'm not sure what to write about this book.

The vast majority of the time I was reading it, I was annoyed.

Oh great, here's another 1000 pages describing the Goth circus....yippee

Every time I picked it up, I fell asleep! Seriously started to wonder if the "magic" of the book was not in its ability to put me straight to sleep, faster than a lullaby.

It took me forever to read, and nothing really happens. But it is beautiful writing and imagery and I stuck with it, even through the dreamlike stu ...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Cora rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, wizards, magic, circus, lost-in-fire

This story of a competition between two magicians and the circus that contains it is a beautifully written novel. The descriptions of the circus and the wonders found there touched all the senses. As I was listening to Jim Dale read, I was able to close my eyes and picture myself there and almost smell the caramel. Although I liked the two main protagonists, I found myself more interested in the supporting characters and wished that we were told more of their stories - but in a way the story of ...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Kelly rated it really liked it

Shelves: library

I absolutely loved this book. The descriptions of everything related to the circus were brilliant. I thought it was a fascinating premise, and it was easy to get caught up in the characters. The only negative I would say is that it was a bit hard to keep the characters straight. There were lots of characters with multiple names and one in particular that was hardly ever referred to by name. So, it was a bit of a challenge. However, what I normally would have thought of as a negative regarding no ...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Rachel N. rated it it was amazing

Celia and Marco are attached to each other in a game when they are children. Once they become adults they must play out the game in a special circus, the circus of dreams. It took me awhile to get into this book but by the end I was totally in love with it. I want to become a memebr of Le Cirque des Reves. A great love story and a magical book.

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Dec 06, 2011 Judy rated it really liked it

A fantasy that captures the reader immediately and doesn't let go for 400 pages. This book is on every "best books of 2011" list that I've seen and rightly so. I am generally not a fan of literary fantasy, but I loved this book and have recommended it to all of my friends. ...more

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Jun 26, 2019 Amber rated it it was ok

Finally. It took me 3 weeks to slog through this. While it wasn't terrible and particular parts were interesting by themselves, such as the descriptions of various tents, it did not hold together as a flowing story and I found it difficult to engage. It's an easy read on the surface, but I found it difficult to get through as it did not hold my attention strongly enough to want to keep reading more than a couple short chapters at a time. ...more

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May 17, 2020 Cambria rated it it was ok

Tears welled in my eyes at the frustrating and nonsensical ending. This took a piece of my soul and crushed it. But I gave it a 2 because it held my attention right to the bitter end.

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