The Night Circus Review

Paperback, 502 Pages
Magic Realism/ Romance
By: Erin Morgenstern
Rating: 🌟🌟

“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.”

🌟 As you can see my rating for this book is not that high (which is not strange) but the strange thing is that this is actually quite a popular opinion! While the book has a good average rating, there is almost 135K person who gave it 3 or fewer stars! I think it is really a hit or miss type of book according to what a reader prefer in a book! I liked the parts written in 2nd POV so I am going to include parts of this review in this POV.

🌟 You have made a reservation at the fanciest French restaurant in town, you are going with the person you like the most in the world! You are welcomed by a waiter clad in white and black. You took a deep breath and take a moment to just enjoy the building with the marvelous chandeliers above and the expensive wood below. The waiter approaches you again with the menu and you take it smiling. You are still awed by the place but suddenly your stomach is making sounds, you are embarrassed by those sounds but more embarrassed by the fact you do not know what half of those fancy dishes are: Coq au vin, Flamiche, Confit de canard and others! You order anything because you do not want to look like an imbecile. Minutes later you get the dish and you taste it, you feel happy but it was so small like a sample and you are left unsatisfied and you certainly want more, you are asked to leave a rating for the food and you say Deux out of Cinq!

🌟 Back to reality now, but my experience was not much different from this French restaurant! This was a book with good writing which I think everyone agrees on, but the problem is that it focused heavily on the physical description of the Circus and I would dare to say that the circus was the MC in this book! Everything else was to help build this image in mind with boring characters and the plot was… wait a min, which plot?

🌟 You are sitting in your living room watching TV with your little daughter, she is watching Dora the Explorer when you hear her say “Hey friends, I can’t find the plot, can you help me find the plot?” you are relieved that you were not the only one who did not find the plot, your daughter points at the screen and you are pulled from this whirl of thoughts realizing that Dora was asking about a Pot and not the plot! You are feeling a little bit depressed again but you are happy your daughter liked it.

Where is the plot guys?

🌟 Okay, less ranting and let’s get serious! I think I do not mind slow books and this was probably the slowest book on earth but I like them when there is a redeeming quality that makes up for the slowness, like good characters or twists. I did not care about any of the characters and I already forgot half of their names! The plot was so simple and was only a small part of the book, I just did not buy the whole challenge thing and the romance was not my cup of tea!

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

🌟 Now the physical description of the world was amazing, I felt like I went to the Circus and that I am part of it, specially in those parts I mentioned that were written in 2nd person POV! What I don’t like is that the magic was never explained and that’s why I put the genre of this book as Magic realism and not fantasy because that is what it was.

🌟 Summary: I think I respect the author so much for doing something different and for not milking the book or trying to write anything to make money! Her 2nd book is coming this year and that means she prefers quality over quantity. Unfortunately, the genre of this book was not something I am a big fan of and the fact that I did not relate to anyone made the experience more boring! But if you want magical writing then I do recommend this book in fact!