Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Night Circus

I know a lot of people love this book but it just wasn't for me. Way too much vibes and not enough plot, it really struggled to keep my attention. Honestly it was like 80% descriptions of the Circus, so if you're into that this is the book for you.

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temi1008's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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ninahuynh's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

If you enjoy multiple storylines and interconnected plots, this is the book for you. Every character has their own breath and life. The jumping in timeline is a bit confusing, moreso since I listened to it. That ending was not how I expected it to end.

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strawb3rrysugar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

This book kept me company during a three-day power outage. As someone who doesn't typically gravitate towards historical stories, fantasy, or historical fantasy, this is a solid book. I didn't totally understand what was happening until the last quarter of the book, and it took some effort to keep track of all the events, but I was attached enough to this book that I was sad to finish it, and I hope to reread it at some point. I grew very fond of the characters and how they connected with each other, and I really liked the author's prose; immersive, but not needlessly flowery. A fun, emotional, gothic time, and definitely a rainy day read.

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saradoxical's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

It's hard for me to review The Night Circus. The world building is fantastic. I heard someone describe this as a vibes novel and that is a legitimate depiction. I felt at times that I had entered the world, I knew that circus. Which is why it made me super uncomfortable

when so much of the world was constantly being manipulated? On top of the entire premise which was chosen by taking two children and willingly dooming them to their fate of playing a game in which there could be no real winner, groomed from youth to compete in a competition for sport by two really weird, really old men? And this was supposed to be a love story?

The side characters of Poppet, Widget, and Bailey are fantastic. I want more of Tsukiko's story.

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filipacmiranda's review against another edition

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4.0

If my analyses of The Night Circus focused exclusively on its main storyline (the competition between the main characters in and outside the circus), it would get a lower rating. Out of all the aspects of the story, the competition is the one that less matched my expectations. It was always poorly defined and developing in the background. Despite believing this was intentional, it also made me feel less invested and care less about the outcome. The only reason I paid attention to this aspect of the story was to try to predict what the characters’ futures held.

On the other hand, I consider this book to mainly be about circus life and how the relationships between the characters came to be. In that sense, it is undoubtedly stunning… The writing is highly descriptive and engaging, one of the strengths of this narrative. I was fascinated by the parts in which Morgenstern assumes the reader’s perspective and describes the spaces and tents that compose Le Cirque des Rêves.

Finally, the fact that the story is told in two distinct timelines adds some suspense and works as an engine for the plot’s appeal. It generates expectation as the reader gathers the bits and pieces that allow them to understand how the story ends.

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5 ⭐ CW: abuse, self-harm, death, murder, suicide mention

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a standalone that is billed as a romance, but it is so much more than that. The romance is really secondary to the story.

We follow Le Cirque des Rêves, a circus that only opens at night and closes at dawn. This is your typical circus with clowns and bright colors. This is done in an elegant and restrained way, using only black, white and grays. We are the story from many different perspectives and jump around the timeline, but instead of it being confusing, each jump makes the puzzle pieces click together. The circus is the venue for an otherworldly "game" between two players that have been bound to each other since they were children, but never met.

This book is so hard to describe. The circus is a dream, and like dreams the story is ethereal and hard to pin down. There is magic, but it isn't heavy handed. It's more like bending reality and making the unbelievable believable. The prose is so beautiful. The descriptions are gorgeous without feeling heavy or unnecessary. We see our competitors creating tents and attractions as love letters to each other, though they don't know who they are competing against.

I loved everything about this. Romance does not do this story justice. You really have to read it in order to understand what I'm talking about. It was like walking into a dream. The clock was one of my favorite descriptions in the book along with some of the more esoteric tent attractions.I also loved the diversity of characters. It was all so subtle, but we did have a few sapphic and Achillean side characters. I feel like I could pick up something new if I read it multiple times. This would make for an incredible TV series.

If all of Morgenstern's books are this, I need to read them immediately.

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