The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Synopsis: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

My thoughts: you know, I’ve read a lot of books, but this one is one of the best! First of all, we are presented to the whole circus, a dream come true place where everything that you wish might exist. Then, we’re presented to their “staff” and the people who made it came true: Alexander, the men in the gray suit; Hector Bowen, aka Prosperus, The Magician; Chandresh, the “owner” of the circus; Celia and Marco, our “main” characters; Poppet, Widget, Tsukiko, the Burgess sisters, Tante Padva and many others. Alexander and Hector made an agreement years before the circus was created: a challenge, and Le Cirque des Rêves would be the local of the challenge. Celia is Hector’s daughter and Marco is an orphan adopted by Alexander. They are the opponents.

                As the story goes, you just keep wishing that the circus actually existed, and that you were a VIP guest, with an invitation like Bailey’s “This card gives the bearer unlimited admission”.

                The sad thing is that I can’t say too much about this novel, otherwise I’ll just keep writing and writing until I tell the whole book, and no one will buy it. ;) What I have to say to future readers is: Read this book VERY carefully. As a illusion, nothing is what it seems. It is as if Celia were really taking care of the circus, and manipulating what you are reading. You can see things like the bonfire in the center of the circus and smell things like those hot chocolates.

I had to keep a calculator by my side at all times to see how old were the characters during the reading. That was the only flaw I could find: the author wrote the years on each chapter, but they don’t follow a correct timeline, so you have to keep calculating the ages of everyone.

                There are so many magical places inside the circus main tent that it’s almost impossible to choose your favorites. Mine are the Illusionist – Celia’s tent – (OF  COURSE!) and the Ice Garden. But the circus is much more then the local of a fight, it represents the dreams of many and the love letters of the opponents. Yes, despite all things, Celia and Marco fall in love, and it’s soo beautiful! Marco is such a romantic! Every tent that he did was only for her. He did the Ice Garden; in return, She did the Tree of Wishes. That was the only way they could be together, since he couldn’t abandon London to travel with the circus and because their love wasn’t meant to exist. Their love is so simple, humble and delicate that I couldn’t stop cheering for them.

                Another story is of Poppet, Widget and Bailey. Bailey goes to the circus during daylight because of a “true or dare” game and meets Poppet when they were 10. Six years later, they meet again, this time inside the circus. Poppet and Widget are twins and have special powers – she has the power to read the future through the stars and he has the power to see peoples past, and it makes sense since Widget was born before the bonfire was created and Poppet was born after the bonfire was done – and they invite Bailey to travel with them.

                Erin Morgenstern writes, as I said, without following a correct timeline, but incredibly, everything connects and everybody gets together.

                So, don’t forget: keep attention during the whole reading because it may seems like there is no sense at all, but don’t trust on your senses because since it’s a illusion, nothing is what it seems (as I already said).

Opens at nightfall,

Closes at dawn.

Rate: