Book review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Book:The Night Circus
Author:Erin Morgenstern
File Type: Paperback
Release date: 2012
Publisher: Vintage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

WOW. THIS was magical.

I don't know about the others, but The Night Circus spooked the hell out of me, right from the very first page. It was mysterious, dream-like, captivating, confusing and frankly, very pretty. It was black and white fused with a tinge of scarlet and I honestly, can't think of any other adjectives since my mind is flying in a totally different direction and in an absolutely different world with no relevance to the present context. So let's just stick with the aforementioned words that I've used to describe this beautiful book and lets begin.

The writing is exceptional.
Morgenstern's writing style is a visual treat to the mind. We're easily transported to the world of the protagonists and we can easily visualise ourselves as one of the many characters in the book, because the detailing is so vivid and brilliant, that you feel like you're a part of the whole cycle. The Night Circus captures your attention and keeps you suspended into it's gooeyness of magic and awesomeness.

The book's one and only negative was the disappointing way things in the story played out. According to the storyline of the book, we were supposed to witness a fierce competition between extraordinary magicians and were supposed to see how this competition affected the lives of not only themselves but also of those around them. I don't exactly know where those 500 pages went but when it came to the competition it all fell flat because I saw absolutely nothing competitive about the competition. I saw the gruelling aspect of the competition because it was pointed out to me in the book, but how does any of it matter when the foundation element of the storyline itself was so weak. The end wasn't the one I was hoping for. I felt that it was too convenient considering the events that happened in the book.

But while the plot failed to deliver the essence of the book, it did include some defining moments of awesomeness that absolutely took my breath away. The characters redeemed the book to an extent. Each had a story of their own and each one of their story's played a pivotal role in the storyline. The romance, for a change, was something I absolutely loved. It was subtle, slow and believable. Whatever happened between the two protagonists, Celia and Marco made perfect sense and I loved every bit of it.

The Night Circus was a book, I thoroughly enjoyed. Its beauty lay in it's writing style and the author's imagination. While I did have my issues with the plot, the pros outweighed the cons and in the end, I was surprisingly satisfied.