Book Review - 'The Night Circus'
I don't normally read this type of story but at my bookstore it was all the rage before Fifty Shades of Crap took over and swamped the market. As part of my job I try to have at least some familiarity with the current popular titles so that if a customer asks me about I'm not left looking like an idiot. As far as I can tell my fellow staff members are pretty much evenly split on whether or not they like the book.
The premise is unusual and interesting - two rival magicians compete using their students as proxies with a magical circus as the arena. One area where the author really excels is in the descriptions and I just love the mental imagery she manages to conjure up. The Night Circus is almost like a character itself, a mysterious entity that began as something relatively normal and gradually took on a life of its own as the magic of the competition was woven throughout it.
Compared to the circus itself, the human characters actually pale in comparison. The two main characters (the competing proxies) Marco and Celia were rather dull and insipid, in my opinion, and their romance felt cliche and predictable. I found many of the secondary characters to be far more interesting - such as the mysterious, tattooed, contortionist Tsukiko or young Bailey whose desire for magic in his ordinary life is something many of us can relate to. Some more background on Alexander and Hector, the two magicians pulling the strings, would be nice too, as would an explanation on what the heck they're competing for/over in the first place (based on the vague explanation, the only reason I could discern was 'for shits and giggles'). I also have some issues about how the Victorian era setting was portrayed as many of the characters' mannerisms and attitudes felt too modern for the time period. In a book like this it might be splitting hairs, but the history buff in me wishes that the author had done a bit more research.
What really annoyed me though is how long it took for anything resembling a plot to get into gear. It basically boils down to: *mysterious vague hints and non-sequiturs about the magical competition* *descriptions of the mysterious circus* *Marco and Celia making eyes at each other while being mysterious* Wash, rinse, repeat - for more than 3/4 of the book. The atmosphere is wonderful and very well-drawn, but it doesn't keep me from wishing that the story would just get on with it. The last quarter isn't too bad and manages to wrap things up in a relatively satisfying, although slightly rushed way.
So ultimate 'The Night Circus' isn't my thing and I doubt I'll bother with a re-read. It isn't too shabby for a first book though, and the story definitely had potential, so I'll be keeping an eye out to see if Erin Morgenstern publishes anything else in the future.