From the Bookshelf of Crazy Challenge Connection…

The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern

Start date: April 1, 2012

Finish date: April 30, 2012

Why we're reading this: Book of the Month - April 2012
Discussion to follow in May 2012
[close] Book of the Month - April 2012
Discussion to follow in May 2012

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May 30, 2014 ☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ rated it really liked it

Shelves: z-carmen-s-rrrc-challenge-addicts, nbrc-fire-drake, fantasy, historical-fiction, romance, magic-realism, young-adult, fantasy-magic, gcac-2015, circus

Wow! What a really, really good book. It kept me trying to see who was going to do what, what was going to happen next and how it was going to end. Really well written book.

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Jan 16, 2018 Eden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My thoughts are finally together, so here we go!

This book is about a traveling circus that is only open at night. It isn't your typical three ring circus. There are tents everywhere and each tent has a different act inside. In one tent you may have the trapeze, and another a contortionist, or a card reader. There are tents without acts, that contain different scenery, an ice garden for example.

Now, this circus is more than what meets the eye. The circus was designed and created to be an arena, My thoughts are finally together, so here we go!

This book is about a traveling circus that is only open at night. It isn't your typical three ring circus. There are tents everywhere and each tent has a different act inside. In one tent you may have the trapeze, and another a contortionist, or a card reader. There are tents without acts, that contain different scenery, an ice garden for example.

Now, this circus is more than what meets the eye. The circus was designed and created to be an arena, or a venue, for a competition. A magic competition. Our two magicians are Marco and Celia, two magicians who have been taught magic very differently by two very different men. Celia was taught by her father, and he was a cruel man. Marco was saved from an orphanage and taught by a man that I call the "grey man".

Marco and Celia are unaware of who the other is, and they both operate in the circus in different ways. The point of the competition is to see who the better magician is, but it is to the death, which we the readers are aware of from the beginning.

This book was phenomenal! It is probably my favorite book ever at this point in time. It was so atmospheric. I smelled all of the circus food! I felt every emotion that our characters felt. I felt like I was there, experiencing the circus with the crowd. The tents were so well described! The ice garden was magical, and still. The Wishing Tree was almost eerie, but beautiful. I felt that I could make a wish on that tree myself and it would come true.

I loved all of our characters, except one. I think most people will feel the same, so I'm not even going to say his name.

To mention a few characters:
Poppet and Widget, twins whose parents are circus performers, are adorable and so likable. We see them grow up and mature throughout the story.

Celia and Marco grow as well. They are definitely what drives the story. In all honesty, this is a love story. You don't even realize it until you get to the end, and you're in tears at the magic and beauty of it.

This was an AMAZING book! I think everyone should read it. It was beautiful and magical and I can't say how much I love it enough. ...more

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Sep 29, 2014 Daniel rated it liked it

A fun and very atmospheric story that was wonderful at making me feel like I was in the world of the story, but I felt like the book relied too much on description and not enough on plot. Not that the plot that's there wasn't engaging and interesting, it just seemed to be bogged down in a swamp of descriptive writing. I would recommend this for any readers who enjoy magical fantasy or romance. ...more

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May 22, 2018 Jan rated it it was ok

Shelves: zz-finished-in-2018, fantasy-paranormal, audio-completed

I'm in the minority here - it just wasn't my thing. I was bored and not really mesmerized by Jim Dale's narration. Please don't throw rocks! ...more

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Apr 29, 2014 Brandy rated it liked it

Eh. I liked it for the most part I guess, but would I recommend it to a friend? No. The story was pretty good, but there was no WOW going on. It kinda just tinkered on without any magnitude. I think a great (or even good) book provokes feeling in a reader. This book certainly lacked that.
My recommendation? Move on. There are too many extraordinary books out there to waste your time on this one.

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Apr 08, 2015 Vickie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-2-3-challenge, jelly-belly-challenge, gemstones, fantasy, fantasy-magic, small-medium-large-challenge, 2015, 2014-2015-a-z-locations, 2015-a-z-book-titles, 2015-countdown

Wow, what a perfectly boring book. Quite a few of my friends highly recommended it to me, but it was not what I expected. I felt as if I was watching a foreign film and was so focused on the English subtitles that I missed many portions of the plot. I like circuses but this left me feeling less than bedazzled.

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