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readwithria's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Night Circus intrigued me with its iconic opening line, and the rest of the story kept me going. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and completely understand why so many people love it.
The Night Circus flips back and forth between two main timelines and progresses through about 30 years of time. Erin Morgenstern is such a smart writer, she structured this novel so well and crafted so many lovely point-of-view characters. The book was very atmospheric, which was definitely its strong suit. I sometimes found myself wishing that I understood how the magic worked a little bit more, but I also felt like that air of mystery was intentional so I didn't mind that too much.
I think the biggest weak point was the relationship between Marco and Celia. I didn't find myself believing their feelings for each other amounted to love. When other people talked about them I could see it, but where they were together I didn't buy the romance. That didn't detract too much from the book, but I think that's what kept it from being a 5 star read for me.
All in all, this was a lovely book that I would definitely reread. 4 stars.
The Night Circus flips back and forth between two main timelines and progresses through about 30 years of time. Erin Morgenstern is such a smart writer, she structured this novel so well and crafted so many lovely point-of-view characters. The book was very atmospheric, which was definitely its strong suit. I sometimes found myself wishing that I understood how the magic worked a little bit more, but I also felt like that air of mystery was intentional so I didn't mind that too much.
I think the biggest weak point was the relationship between Marco and Celia. I didn't find myself believing their feelings for each other amounted to love. When other people talked about them I could see it, but where they were together I didn't buy the romance. That didn't detract too much from the book, but I think that's what kept it from being a 5 star read for me.
All in all, this was a lovely book that I would definitely reread. 4 stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse
hannasandmann's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Murder and Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
fallandfox's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
achingallover's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
kaitlynnnng's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a beautifully written story. My biggest critique is that it relies more on characters than plot, but there wasn’t a lot of character development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
laurareads87's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
After having The Night Circus sitting on my e-reader for an embarassingly long time, I'm so glad I finally got to reading it. It is a bit of a hard book to discuss without giving plot spoilers, so I won't discuss the plot at all except to say -- as other reviewers have mentioned -- the blurb for this book doesn't really capture what the book is actually about: the description of duelling magicians brings something like The Prestige to mind, but this is really not that kind of book. I would argue that the main character in this book is actually the setting, Le Cirque des Rêves. Some readers won't be into this, but I love it -- as a lover of circuses, divination, and magic, I was totally swept away by how Morgenstern has brought Le Cirque to life, conjuring up its sights, sounds, and smells in great detail. This is very much a setting-focused book. I also appreciated the effective inclusion of multiple POVs and the slow revealing of layers of the mystery at the heart of the circus. What I didn't love was the inclusion of an 'insta-love' kind of a romance that frankly, I thought the book would've been better without. Overall, though, I enjoyed The Night Circus and will look forward to reading more of Morgenstern's work on this basis.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
emliza's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Murder, Death of parent, and Death
lorendelponte's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A lovely way to end my Sunday afternoon. After five years, I finally finished an exquisite book called The Night Circus.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars
I would suggest going into this book with no idea what it is about as I did.
A person, let's call them The Moon. The Moon said this book had saved their life. The moon knew the Sun was experiencing hardships and so, The Moon parted with this book and gave it to the Sun.
The Sun gave me this book, a dear gift from a dear friend, and I didn't quite understand how words could have so much power. I didn't understand the need for magic because I couldn't yet see how dark the world was.
The darkness comes, as darkness tends to do (fleeting though it was) and I picked up this book again, five years later. The Sun, being so bright and special, had told me it was time. The Night Circus came to me when I needed it most; when I couldn't feel the magic in the world anymore.
"The Night Circus arrives without warning" and I am a happier person for it. Thank you to Erin Morgenstern for making me fall in love with books, with magic again. I didn't understand before but I do now.
This is a reminder that there is darkness in the world, but it is fleeting and that magic still exists. Thank you to the Sun, who was kind when they did not have to be, to the Moon for their strength and to the part of myself I rediscovered again while experiencing this book.
Perhaps I am projecting or being sentimental and romantic. Perhaps this review is more about my self-reflection while reading than it is about the novel itself. That's okay, I think. We are all chained to subjectivity. And that's what makes reading so beautiful.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars
I would suggest going into this book with no idea what it is about as I did.
A person, let's call them The Moon. The Moon said this book had saved their life. The moon knew the Sun was experiencing hardships and so, The Moon parted with this book and gave it to the Sun.
The Sun gave me this book, a dear gift from a dear friend, and I didn't quite understand how words could have so much power. I didn't understand the need for magic because I couldn't yet see how dark the world was.
The darkness comes, as darkness tends to do (fleeting though it was) and I picked up this book again, five years later. The Sun, being so bright and special, had told me it was time. The Night Circus came to me when I needed it most; when I couldn't feel the magic in the world anymore.
"The Night Circus arrives without warning" and I am a happier person for it. Thank you to Erin Morgenstern for making me fall in love with books, with magic again. I didn't understand before but I do now.
This is a reminder that there is darkness in the world, but it is fleeting and that magic still exists. Thank you to the Sun, who was kind when they did not have to be, to the Moon for their strength and to the part of myself I rediscovered again while experiencing this book.
Perhaps I am projecting or being sentimental and romantic. Perhaps this review is more about my self-reflection while reading than it is about the novel itself. That's okay, I think. We are all chained to subjectivity. And that's what makes reading so beautiful.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
scriptedsolstice's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
“𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌’”
I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of this book, but I definitely think it just didn’t match with my taste. To start with what I did like, the writing itself is beautiful, the circus was magical and mesmerising with incredible descriptions that really portrayed the whimsy. I adored some of the characters individually, especially Poppet and Widget. Their personalities were adorable, and I loved seeing the magic from their perspectives.
I think the reason I didn’t love this was the lack of action. The pacing was extremely slow, and i really struggled to carry on reading. I eventually switched to the audiobook just to get though it quickly. There were some beautifully strung sentences, the prose was intoxicating, but I just needed more excitement I guess! I did really like the way it ended ✨
Deffo recommend this for people who love a slower read, something you can take your time with.
(My experience with this makes me want to reread Circe, I feel like my taste might have changed 😅)
I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of this book, but I definitely think it just didn’t match with my taste. To start with what I did like, the writing itself is beautiful, the circus was magical and mesmerising with incredible descriptions that really portrayed the whimsy. I adored some of the characters individually, especially Poppet and Widget. Their personalities were adorable, and I loved seeing the magic from their perspectives.
I think the reason I didn’t love this was the lack of action. The pacing was extremely slow, and i really struggled to carry on reading. I eventually switched to the audiobook just to get though it quickly. There were some beautifully strung sentences, the prose was intoxicating, but I just needed more excitement I guess! I did really like the way it ended ✨
Deffo recommend this for people who love a slower read, something you can take your time with.
(My experience with this makes me want to reread Circe, I feel like my taste might have changed 😅)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts