By Erin Morgenstern

Reviewed by Miranda Boyer

I’ve picked up The Night Circus twice now. The first time, I was so completely and utterly thrown by the way it was written, that I got distracted by it. I’ve never read a book told in such a way. This only stopped me a short time though, before I found myself picking it back up again. I only made it 50 pages the first time. It’s a thing I do, give every book 50 pages before calling it quits. In my experience, many books need a little extra time and they are so worth the time. But if you’re not completely drawn in by that point then move along. After all there are millions of books in the world, and I only finish about 50 or 60 a year. I like to think that the 50 or 60 I do finish were worth the time. Besides, this book was calling me. I read 50 pages and walked away. Only it haunted me and called my name.

The Night Circus can best be described as Romeo and Juliet meets a circus filled with magic. It is the tale of two very old, very great magicians (for lack of a better word). They have to extremely different takes on how to manipulate the world around them. So much so that they have created a test or a game out of who’s way is better. Enter Marco and Celia.

Marco and Celia come from “two houses”, or two schools of thought. Pitted against one another to be the best, each plays their part well in the circus. Until they fall madly in love. With a backdrop of characters making up the company, the guests, and time, Marco and Celia must bend all the rules to break free of the game and follow their hearts.

I truly enjoyed this book far more then I anticipated. I tend to shy away from things that are overly popular and maybe that was my reason for shying away form this book for as long as I did. I’ve been entranced for days now and all I keep thinking is how beautiful it would be to attend a proper circus, a night circus. I imagine that nothing will live up to the images painted by Erin Morgenstern in my mind. The love letters that Marco and Celia send to one another in the form of circus tents, magic mazes, and wishing trees… I don’t know that any real circus could live up to this romanticized version.

There was part of me that wondered how different would The Night Circus be from say Water for Elephants. I loved that book as well for many different reasons. It was grounded in history and the former took a turn for mysticism. In the end, I will recommend this enchanting tale for years to come.