Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Night Circus

If you enjoy multiple storylines and interconnected plots, this is the book for you. Every character has their own breath and life. The jumping in timeline is a bit confusing, moreso since I listened to it. That ending was not how I expected it to end.

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adyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

Beautiful book, the imagery and magic of it all was stellar. I wanted to read it during a blizzard while listening to haunting classical music. It’s not 5 stars for me because the characters weren’t particularly compelling, and that’s what I value most in a book.

But I don’t think this book was meant to have super deep character development. I think it was meant to sweep you off your feet with magic, to parallel the experience of visiting Le Cirques de Rêves. And it does that excellently.

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ramakn22's review against another edition

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The opening threw me so badly I felt like I couldn't find any piece of the story to latch onto. What I did get through was whimsical and confusing and sounded like it would build into something fantastical, just not for me.

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kathrynok's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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, basically about Disney adults. All that to say, it was a 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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