Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

42 reviews

innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

This is such a lovely book, magical and delightful like a children’s fantasy but with a bit more grit and romance to keep it interesting for adults. The circus tents reminded me a little of the magical worlds at the top of the faraway tree. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Addiction, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

jobaji's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow! This is truly different from any book I have ever read. It’s so magical and interesting! All of the characters are so colorful, despite their black and white surroundings. If you are a fantasy fan, look into this for a fun deviation from the norm!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual content

sxndaze's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Gorgeous and intriguing!! It’s been a while since I’ve read this, but Erin Morgenstern’s books are enhanced in audiobook format. I could better catch details by physically reading it, but the atmosphere and the magic really feels captured by the narration in both The Night Circus and The Starless Sea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

tiernanhunter's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Grief

imaginaryalchemist's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

The Night Circus is pure magic!

Erin Morgenstern is a master of atmosphere, I felt like I was actually at  Le Cirque des Rêves, seeing the fantastical performances for myself. The circus itself felt like a character.

I do wish more time had been spent fleshing out Celia and Marco, but that's a minor nitpick. Ultimately the story was more about the circus and it's inner workings, as well as the hidden competition taking place.

Spoiler

The ending was bittersweet, in my opinion. I'm glad Celia and Marco were together in the end, and that the circus lives on, even if it means they only exist within it. I'm also glad that Bailey reunited with Poppet and Widget.

My favorite characters by far were Poppet and Widget, they felt the most alive to me. I enjoyed the scenes with them and Bailey exploring the circus. There was a lot of chemistry between Poppet and Bailey.

Overall, I was enthralled by this book. I was drawn into the circus and the world around it. I suppose you could say I've become a rêveur.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death and Child abuse

Some of what Celia's father, Hector, does can be seen as abusive. At one point he slices open the tips of her fingers repeatedly to get her to practice healing them.
There is a brief mention of a dove having its neck snapped.
There are mentions of blood and injury. In one scene, Celia stabs her hand with a dagger.

Spoiler

Two characters die pretty horrifically. One is hit by a train, the other takes a dagger to the heart. There are mentions of suicide as well, including someone setting herself on fire

abookwormspov's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Dementia, Suicide, Grief, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Confinement, Violence, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicide

purplepenning's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. His punishment? And his reward." —Oscar Wilde, The Critical as Artist

Undeniably beautiful writing in a turn of the century fairytale that is groundedly gritty and soaringly ethereal. I don't care for circuses, but it was the exact right venue for this story. This one didn't knock me off my feet quite as much as The Starless Sea, which I read first and with no expectations. Partly, I think, because I wasn't as enamored with Marco as I maybe was supposed to be and I wasn't as satisfied with the ending here, but mostly because:
"The finest of pleasure are always the unexpected ones." 

Definitely recommend for fans of The Starless Sea and Alix Harrow's Ten Thousand Doors of January.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol and Abandonment

Abuse of magic/violation of personal agency: stealing memories, advancing by magically enhanced charm and looks

Spoiler

sarah_plemmons's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is a testament to the power of language in storytelling. Every moment I was reading, I felt like I was fully there, walking through the circus, experiencing the white and black powdered ground and caramel-scented air. It was enchanting and intoxicating and strangely distant. It was like being fed maraschino cherries dipped in dark chocolate by my secret lover while they whisper old stories, only to close the book, wake up, and realize it was a dream and that nothing was real except the confusion and disappointment and longing that lingered. 
It's almost impossible not to wax a little poetic about it because this is a highly poetic book, which is wild considering it's at least partially about Disney adults. All that to say, it was a near-five-star read for me, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for what I can only describe as a luscious read.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Grief, Child abuse, Alcohol, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

tomoonarmy's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Death