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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
paintedthree's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Looking back I did enjoy this book, but it is incredibly slow going. I had to pause reading it several times as the plot did not go anywhere until the second half of the book. The ending is good though, it ties everything together and the story feels complete. Unsure whether it balances out the incredibly slow pace, however.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Abandonment
li_reading's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Death, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Violence
horrorandmagic's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Death and Grief
darrellmalory's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I adored this book. I felt entirely immersed in the world and its details the whole time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Addiction
keen's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Stalking, Blood, and Death
Minor: Misogyny and Animal death
georgiapeach's review against another edition
There was too much of different forms of abuse occurring in the story and it felt disjointed overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Death
Moderate: Suicide
lainiereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
This book was definitely unlike anything I have ever read. I honestly am not sure what to say about this book beyond that it was great and very interesting. I have so much respect for Erin Morgenstern, based solely on the insane details that she added to this story. While reading, I found myself having a difficult time picturing what was going on, not because the description was unclear, but because my imagination is just not able to picture all of these intricate details that were going on in ever section of the book. It was really beautiful to read, and I hope that one day these details can be brought to the screen so we can really see the world that Morgenstern created.
My only "issue" with the book, for lack of better a word, is that I felt very disconnected from the characters. Due to the way it is narrated, I found it very hard to really connect with what any character was feeling or thinking. I usually read very character-based stories, so this kind of storytelling is very different than what I am used to. I still liked some of the characters, but I think that it was hard to truly care about any of them.
While this book was definitely a change of pace for me, I still did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a slower story with amazing world building.
My only "issue" with the book, for lack of better a word, is that I felt very disconnected from the characters. Due to the way it is narrated, I found it very hard to really connect with what any character was feeling or thinking. I usually read very character-based stories, so this kind of storytelling is very different than what I am used to. I still liked some of the characters, but I think that it was hard to truly care about any of them.
While this book was definitely a change of pace for me, I still did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a slower story with amazing world building.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Grief
aseel_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
2021: still a huge fan of the book, but I will say that I don't think I like Marco as much as I used to...
2020: 5 stars of course
Annotating my copy for a second time made me notice several reasons for why I love this book.
The fact that Celia and Marco fell in love with each others magic first, their magic being a representative of their minds and creativity is so beautiful. The juxtaposition between flowery sentences and abrupt paragraphs helps create a steady pace for the novel. The fact that the book, like the circus, attempts to hit all the human senses through words. The heavy feeling in the heart when I get to the final sentence. The conversation between widget and Alexander at the end. These are all moments I noticed and loved.
This books makes me feel a thousand different emotions. All from cleverly chosen words, we have a beautiful setting, quite complex characters, love, loss and friendship.
I will say that the first 150 out of 510 pages are quite slow but I think that is part of the book's charm
Reread 2019: doing my yearly annual reread of this beauty in my autumn
2020: 5 stars of course
Annotating my copy for a second time made me notice several reasons for why I love this book.
The fact that Celia and Marco fell in love with each others magic first, their magic being a representative of their minds and creativity is so beautiful. The juxtaposition between flowery sentences and abrupt paragraphs helps create a steady pace for the novel. The fact that the book, like the circus, attempts to hit all the human senses through words. The heavy feeling in the heart when I get to the final sentence. The conversation between widget and Alexander at the end. These are all moments I noticed and loved.
This books makes me feel a thousand different emotions. All from cleverly chosen words, we have a beautiful setting, quite complex characters, love, loss and friendship.
I will say that the first 150 out of 510 pages are quite slow but I think that is part of the book's charm
Reread 2019: doing my yearly annual reread of this beauty in my autumn
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Suicide
juliette_95's review against another edition
It sounded like such a good premise but I can't get over how much child abuse is present in the first 44 pages, even if they are instantly healed after with magic. I'm glad that I did not buy this book because abuse should not be tolerated at all, end of story. So I am not comfortable with reading any further.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse