Monday, April 28, 2014

Book Review: Night Circus

"You're in the right place at the right time, and you care enough to do what needs to be done.  Sometimes that's enough."
-Erin Morgenstern, Night Circus

I finished reading Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern a few weeks ago, but decided to save my book review until the end of April since it was the April book choice for Bon's Book Club.  I had a difficult time getting into the book.  It seemed as if there was a lot of unnecessary fluff to the story line.  After the first 100 or so pages, my interest was peaked and I ended up enjoying the read.  


Night Circus is the story of two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who are bound together in a "game."  To begin with, neither of them know the identify of the competitor.  Eventually, they discover they are competing against each other and the night circus is their playing field.  Most of the other members of the circus are not aware of the "game" in which they are participating; they are simply there to perform their acts.  This novel definitely falls in the fantasy genre. Below are the answers to some of Bonnie's questions for her book club.

Who is your favorite character in the novel and why?
There are so many characters in this novel to choose from, but I would have to say Bailey or Poppet.  Bailey is an outsider who happens to sneak into the circus as a young boy and meets Poppet.  Years later, the circus returns to Bailey's town.  Late that night as the doors open he enters and searches for the young girl, Poppet, he met long ago.  They become friends and learns the ins and outs of the circus.  I really enjoyed the story line and the relationship between these two.

What about the main romantic relationship (Celia + Marco), did you like it or not?
I really did like the relationship between Celia and Marco.  I liked how the author developed the relationship as the novel progressed and as time passed.  It reminded me of the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet (one of my favorites).

Did you like the writing style? Why or why not?
As I stated earlier, I think there was a lot of extra fluff to the novel and I think the story could of been told in far fewer pages.  I also found parts of the novel to be confusing, particularly her reference to various characters by different names.  It also took me a while to figure out that the short descriptions she has throughout the book describe different tents within the night circus.  Morgenstern's writing style definitely took some getting used to, but I think the novel is worth a read.

That's all I have for today folks.  There will be another book review sometime next week on The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls.  Happy Monday!

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