tsar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.”
In the world of magicians, it is wise to ingrain the essential rules of performing magic tricks in front of the spectacle that you would like to entertain, in which one of the customs requires you to perform them under the right circumstances while keeping its secrets to yourselves. The consequences, as its tirelessly reminded on stages, could be dire effects on the well-being of the performers or to the audience that attend to their shows.
Taking the phrase "magic tricks" in the most literal manner, Morgenstern transforms the engaging competition between aspiring magicians into a vicious rivalry that languidly drains the soul of the performers, binding them to a never-ending contract of a magical contest that lasts until the timely death of one of the competitors. In constructing the life-long magical battle, she composes a chronological tale that chronicles the respective contestants from their childhood learnings to the moment where they have mastered their respective specialties. Consequently, regardless of the plethora of characters written in the book, the encircled focus transpires The Night Circus to be exclusively Celia and Marco in every aspect of their staggering evolution.
As each chapter takes a turn in highlighting the tremendous achievements acquired by the young performers, it subtly imbues the personal conflict of interest that is as passionate as their desire of victory, which is a burning romance that intensifies the climaxing battle of morality that has been mentally trained to avoid such precaution for years to come. Its seeping romantic angle is likely expected as a delectable element to heighten the pressure of the conflict, however, Morgenstern does not let its love affair constrains the exploration in playing the deadly circus game. Instead, it opens to new possibilities where Celia and Marco could force the competition to play in the way that they desire to execute to reach the ultimate victory that frees them from the impending years of wicked torture.
Conclusively unique, its form of narrative could be perceived as an uncommon construction that might not be the cup of tea of casual readers as its penchant of utilizing the time jump element could be distracting to be followed rather than being acknowledged to be an intriguing story-telling arrangement. To speak from personal references, I find that the time-skip factor as the most crafty feature to draw the readers into the mystical journey of Celia and Marco in The Night Circus, as it brings a fascinating look on their characters that analyzes each of their moves without the feeling of invasiveness but serene enlightenment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
Moderate: Blood
hannas_ink_prints's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Taianominen ja hätkähdyttävä lukukokemus, jonka aiheuttamaa tunnetta on vaikea kuvailla. Ylipäätään tästä kirjasta on vaikea sanoa mitään. Yösirkus on unenomainen ja vangitseva tarina, joka lumoaa lukijan. Pitkästä aikaa kirja, jota paloin halusta lukea eteenpäin ja joka jäi pyörimään ajatuksiin. Tarinassa on uskomattoman uniikki tunnelma, joka on selvästi kirjan paras asia. Tarina on täynnä yksityiskohtia sekä tietynlaista runsautta. Se kulkee eteenpäin eri hahmojen ja eri aikatasojen kautta, joka tekee tarinasta erityisen herkullisen. Itse ainakin palasin vuosilukuihin jatkuvasti pysyäkseni kärryillä.
Yösirkuksen taianomaisuudesta huolimatta, siitä silti puuttui jotain. Celian ja Marcon rakkaudesta puuttui mielestäni syvyyttä eikä hahmoihin muutenkaan kiintynyt. Vaikka nämä olivat persoonallisia, niin silti hahmot jäävät etäisiksi. Lopetus oli omaan makuun ehkä turhan pliisu.
Lopulta Yösirkus on moniulotteinen teos, jsota löytyy varmasti pureskeltavaa vielä seuraavallekin lukukerralle.
Yösirkuksen taianomaisuudesta huolimatta, siitä silti puuttui jotain. Celian ja Marcon rakkaudesta puuttui mielestäni syvyyttä eikä hahmoihin muutenkaan kiintynyt. Vaikka nämä olivat persoonallisia, niin silti hahmot jäävät etäisiksi. Lopetus oli omaan makuun ehkä turhan pliisu.
Lopulta Yösirkus on moniulotteinen teos, jsota löytyy varmasti pureskeltavaa vielä seuraavallekin lukukerralle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Blood, and Child abuse
rosenau's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, and Murder
Minor: Body horror
maddie_may's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4.5 ⭐️
I fell in love with this book before I read it. The description alone had me. The hype drove me to buy it. I wanted something fantastical and easy-to-read to jump start my reading habit again. I KNEW I would love it so much... It sounded impossible NOT to fall in love with. It truly pains me to say: This book was a tad over hyped in my opinion. In some ways it completely met my expectations, in some ways it missed the mark.
First; the pro's:
It is fantastical, very well written, SUPER easy to visualize and imagine. It is every bit as fantastical as I had hoped with just enough reality to ground it. I fell in love with the circus as I imagined the Rêveurs do. In a lot of ways, I loved the build up to the actual competition. I liked the long winded and indulgent way Morgenstern describes the history of the two competitors and the creation of the circus. I loved the deep description of the circus acts. I have to tip my hat to the author, in this way she excelled. I liked the way the story collides with itself. The plot line sort of folds in on itself in the end; It jumps back and forth between viewpoints of characters to extend the story past the competitors - to the other minor roles in the story(ie. Baily, Tsukiko, Isobel). I loved the born-rivals-turned-lovers concept; and I didn't find myself bored one bit of the love story - which is amazing, because I am not a huge fan of reading about love stories. This was a beautiful story if nothing else. There was just enough magic to make this story a fantasy, but it wasn't trying too hard to be magical. (If that makes any sense) I loved the way magic was described in this book. The author has a very interesting take on how magic is trained and learned. I liked how we watch Celia learn to use the magic within herself through, albeit, sometimes gruesome means. In the end, I did like this book a great deal. I would recommend it to someone who enjoys fantasy or urban fantasy.
Now; the con's:
The book left a bit to be desired. The build up to the competition is OVER half the book, and we see very little of what Marco and Celia created within the circus. I got to the 3/4 mark and wondered how the HELL this story was going to wrap up with so few pages left... In my humble opinion: This book should have been TWICE as long. The author spent too much time drawing on about details that didn’t matter much in the end. The 2nd half of the book feels like things are just happening. The dots connected essentially, in the end.. just not a smoothly as I would have liked. I wish we had seen MUCH much more of the actual competition.. We get barely any glimpses into what Celia and Marco actually made. We can assume they made most of the Circus - or all of it; but I would have really liked to SEE more of the competition. Those are my only gripes with this one.
All that being said, I really did like the book. It was by no means a terrible book as other reviewers have stated. The cons above were annoying, yes, but I still liked the story and it kept me interested until the end. I am going to say despite all the con's I listed, it has made it to my list of favorites. Not all-time faves, but it is a fave and I will recommend it to anyone. Definitely worth trying at least once for those who like similar titles. =)
I fell in love with this book before I read it. The description alone had me. The hype drove me to buy it. I wanted something fantastical and easy-to-read to jump start my reading habit again. I KNEW I would love it so much... It sounded impossible NOT to fall in love with. It truly pains me to say: This book was a tad over hyped in my opinion. In some ways it completely met my expectations, in some ways it missed the mark.
First; the pro's:
It is fantastical, very well written, SUPER easy to visualize and imagine. It is every bit as fantastical as I had hoped with just enough reality to ground it. I fell in love with the circus as I imagined the Rêveurs do. In a lot of ways, I loved the build up to the actual competition. I liked the long winded and indulgent way Morgenstern describes the history of the two competitors and the creation of the circus. I loved the deep description of the circus acts. I have to tip my hat to the author, in this way she excelled. I liked the way the story collides with itself. The plot line sort of folds in on itself in the end; It jumps back and forth between viewpoints of characters to extend the story past the competitors - to the other minor roles in the story(ie. Baily, Tsukiko, Isobel). I loved the born-rivals-turned-lovers concept; and I didn't find myself bored one bit of the love story - which is amazing, because I am not a huge fan of reading about love stories. This was a beautiful story if nothing else. There was just enough magic to make this story a fantasy, but it wasn't trying too hard to be magical. (If that makes any sense) I loved the way magic was described in this book. The author has a very interesting take on how magic is trained and learned. I liked how we watch Celia learn to use the magic within herself through, albeit, sometimes gruesome means. In the end, I did like this book a great deal. I would recommend it to someone who enjoys fantasy or urban fantasy.
Now; the con's:
The book left a bit to be desired. The build up to the competition is OVER half the book, and we see very little of what Marco and Celia created within the circus. I got to the 3/4 mark and wondered how the HELL this story was going to wrap up with so few pages left... In my humble opinion: This book should have been TWICE as long. The author spent too much time drawing on about details that didn’t matter much in the end. The 2nd half of the book feels like things are just happening. The dots connected essentially, in the end.. just not a smoothly as I would have liked. I wish we had seen MUCH much more of the actual competition.. We get barely any glimpses into what Celia and Marco actually made. We can assume they made most of the Circus - or all of it; but I would have really liked to SEE more of the competition. Those are my only gripes with this one.
All that being said, I really did like the book. It was by no means a terrible book as other reviewers have stated. The cons above were annoying, yes, but I still liked the story and it kept me interested until the end. I am going to say despite all the con's I listed, it has made it to my list of favorites. Not all-time faves, but it is a fave and I will recommend it to anyone. Definitely worth trying at least once for those who like similar titles. =)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
zoemaleah's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A creative, whimsical fantasy novel about a forbidden romance and a dangerous game. It had the aura of a fairy tale. The characters weren't unique or multi-dimentional, but that was okay because they served the purpose of the story beautifully. The main plot is romance, but in a way that creates this beautiful, complex story and layers that kept me intrigued. The writing style was descriptive and sensory, and it made me feel like I was there at the circus some times.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide
jednakniekinga's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Suicide
mxbluet18's review against another edition
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? No
3.0
Trigger warnings for The Night Circus include: child abuse, suicide, blood depiction, death of a parent and animal death.
☆
☆
This story jumps around between perspectives a lot, which I find a little difficult to follow.
~
I was interested in it, but I didn't have an easy time keeping the characters and the timeline straight, which meant I couldn't really work out what was happening a lot of the time, and kept confusing characters and who was who.
~
I think I enjoyed The Starless Sea more than I did this one because I cared more about the characters and events in that one. I'm sure it's a great book for someone, but I wasn't thrilled by it.
☆
☆
This story jumps around between perspectives a lot, which I find a little difficult to follow.
~
I was interested in it, but I didn't have an easy time keeping the characters and the timeline straight, which meant I couldn't really work out what was happening a lot of the time, and kept confusing characters and who was who.
~
I think I enjoyed The Starless Sea more than I did this one because I cared more about the characters and events in that one. I'm sure it's a great book for someone, but I wasn't thrilled by it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Suicide
nicole12's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Cursing, and Body shaming
gen_geeks's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I love this book so much. It’s just so whimsical. The prose is excellent and I constantly feel like I am within the story and the circus itself.
There is not really much of a plot, and you don’t learn that much about each of the characters, so if that bothers you, don’t read this book haha. But the environment and atmosphere in this story is some of the best I’ve ever read.
I love that there are multiple perspectives that we get to explore, and I especially love the framing device of the second person chapters before each act. It really exemplifies the circus atmosphere perfectly and makes you feel even more connected to the story.
The romance subplot (?) is not the best developed but I simply don’t care because the ✨VIBES✨
that’s my only thoughts about this book: the writing craft is impeccable, as are the vibes. The whimsy magical circus has a place in my heart 🥰
There is not really much of a plot, and you don’t learn that much about each of the characters, so if that bothers you, don’t read this book haha. But the environment and atmosphere in this story is some of the best I’ve ever read.
I love that there are multiple perspectives that we get to explore, and I especially love the framing device of the second person chapters before each act. It really exemplifies the circus atmosphere perfectly and makes you feel even more connected to the story.
The romance subplot (?) is not the best developed but I simply don’t care because the ✨VIBES✨
that’s my only thoughts about this book: the writing craft is impeccable, as are the vibes. The whimsy magical circus has a place in my heart 🥰
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
avie_j's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child abuse, and Injury/injury detail