I have no idea if I'm allowed to do this, but I'm going to anyway. I am on page 50 inside a chapter called "Truth or Dare" and I've decided to write a review.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a marvelous little book. According to the book jacket its going to be a love story and a sorta fairy tale. It's more of an adult book than children's book, and filled with great characters. Even I get to be in this story. Portions of it are told in second person, and while sometimes a second person story is just a first person story in disguise, this one hasn't been. I've seen myself inside it, attending Le Cirque des Rêves.
The book has multiple points of view, so why not include myself, the reader, but also circus attendee, seeker of dazzling stories and performances that are impossibly, delightfully almost real. So far in the book there has been magic, illusions, young lovers, teacups broken and repaired, fake magicians and real magicians and a mysterious game to be played. Celia and Marco, the main duo, have yet to meet, but they will soon, perhaps they'll be at the circus I'm attending.
I don't want to give too much away, so think of this more as a preview than an actual review (and see my disclaimer below). Not that I can spoil much, since I don't know how the story ends. I know someone who likes to read the end, or at least peak at it, to take off some of the pressure of not knowing, and give herself something to look forward to.
I like to think of a story as a promise from the author to the reader. The Night Circus has promised me a magical performance. What will happen when Celia and Marco met? What are Celia's father and the man in the grey suit up to? How will Bailey sneak into the Night Circus - what will he find there?
The Night Circus only opens at night, and after waiting outside in the cold I've paid my admission and entered the circus tent. I'm in the audience now, waiting to be entertained. I don't think I'll be disappointed.
Find out more about Erin Morgenstern.
Other reviews you might be interested in:
Lunar Chronicles: Book 1 Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne Valente
Adventures in Space ca 1851: Mothstorm by Philip Reeve
(Disclaimer: Since I'm only on page 50 this review/preview/recommendation shouldn't be taken too seriously. I couldn't resist telling you about it though. I'm still in the delightful beginning stages, when nothing is certain. You never know, halfway through the book might change irrevocably The story might go somewhere unexpected. They do that occasionally They begin so well and turn out to be entirely different by the end. They can be disappointing. Lloyd Alexander's The Iron Ring was like that. The first half so marvelous and wonderfully crafted, then the story changed, infected by realness, consequences and war, and it was no longer the exciting adventure it had been. It was still a good book, a well told story, but no longer the best. I'm always looking for the best, the stories that make my heart sing and my head spin, the excitement so hard to contain I want to go running outside in the middle of the night; those rare five star stories, perfect from beginning to the end that I read chapter by chapter hoping they will never end.)
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