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A review by queer_bookwyrm
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: abuse, self-harm, death, murder, suicide mention
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a standalone that is billed as a romance, but it is so much more than that. The romance is really secondary to the story.
We follow Le Cirque des Rêves, a circus that only opens at night and closes at dawn. This is your typical circus with clowns and bright colors. This is done in an elegant and restrained way, using only black, white and grays. We are the story from many different perspectives and jump around the timeline, but instead of it being confusing, each jump makes the puzzle pieces click together. The circus is the venue for an otherworldly "game" between two players that have been bound to each other since they were children, but never met.
This book is so hard to describe. The circus is a dream, and like dreams the story is ethereal and hard to pin down. There is magic, but it isn't heavy handed. It's more like bending reality and making the unbelievable believable. The prose is so beautiful. The descriptions are gorgeous without feeling heavy or unnecessary. We see our competitors creating tents and attractions as love letters to each other, though they don't know who they are competing against.
I loved everything about this. Romance does not do this story justice. You really have to read it in order to understand what I'm talking about. It was like walking into a dream. The clock was one of my favorite descriptions in the book along with some of the more esoteric tent attractions.I also loved the diversity of characters. It was all so subtle, but we did have a few sapphic and Achillean side characters. I feel like I could pick up something new if I read it multiple times. This would make for an incredible TV series.
If all of Morgenstern's books are this, I need to read them immediately.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a standalone that is billed as a romance, but it is so much more than that. The romance is really secondary to the story.
We follow Le Cirque des Rêves, a circus that only opens at night and closes at dawn. This is your typical circus with clowns and bright colors. This is done in an elegant and restrained way, using only black, white and grays. We are the story from many different perspectives and jump around the timeline, but instead of it being confusing, each jump makes the puzzle pieces click together. The circus is the venue for an otherworldly "game" between two players that have been bound to each other since they were children, but never met.
This book is so hard to describe. The circus is a dream, and like dreams the story is ethereal and hard to pin down. There is magic, but it isn't heavy handed. It's more like bending reality and making the unbelievable believable. The prose is so beautiful. The descriptions are gorgeous without feeling heavy or unnecessary. We see our competitors creating tents and attractions as love letters to each other, though they don't know who they are competing against.
I loved everything about this. Romance does not do this story justice. You really have to read it in order to understand what I'm talking about. It was like walking into a dream. The clock was one of my favorite descriptions in the book along with some of the more esoteric tent attractions.I also loved the diversity of characters. It was all so subtle, but we did have a few sapphic and Achillean side characters. I feel like I could pick up something new if I read it multiple times. This would make for an incredible TV series.
If all of Morgenstern's books are this, I need to read them immediately.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide