Name: The Night Circus
ISBN: 9780385534635

Erin Morgenstern

Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways. A first novel. 175,000 first printing.

A Novel

The Night Circus

Kaitlyn Grace

ausra

The Circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Inés

Reese

Before you leave, the fortune-teller reminds you that the future is never set in stone.

Eilidh 

You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.

Grace Bennett

Cassidy Nolan

“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told to see.”

maddy

Tawny ✨

Kirsten Maliepaard

Ciara Janae ۵

Élise

Rina

Am I stupid or was the meaning of this book difficult? I really wanted to like it and the concept was amazing. But I didn’t understand anything 

taci

I really wanted to give this at least 4 stars. I love the writing, and the concept is great. I could have had more character development, and at times, some important turns felt rushed. Some events seemed to happen just as plot devices as well. Even then, some of those things that felt like plot devices were done well enough and given just enough context that I felt them in the moment. It is only after the fact that I wish there were just a bit more depth and build-up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I actually put it in my DNF pile, but I missed the story and the writing, so I picked it back up, and I'm glad I did. Would I recommend reading this? 100%. Would I read it again? I would, and I suspect there are things I missed that may justify bumping it up to a full 4 stars. 

David Marchante

I really wanted to give this at least 4 stars. I love the writing, and the concept is great. I could have had more character development, and at times, some important turns felt rushed. Some events seemed to happen just as plot devices as well. Even then, some of those things that felt like plot devices were done well enough and given just enough context that I felt them in the moment. It is only after the fact that I wish there were just a bit more depth and build-up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I actually put it in my DNF pile, but I missed the story and the writing, so I picked it back up, and I'm glad I did. Would I recommend reading this? 100%. Would I read it again? I would, and I suspect there are things I missed that may justify bumping it up to a full 4 stars. 

this is undeniably the most beautiful book I've i've read in my entire life. immediately, i was drawn in, attracted to the gorgeous prose and evocative world-building. celia and marco, their chemistry, the way they're drawn together despite it all. it had me in tears. the way everything ties together, and all characters being equally important to the story was so important. absolutely astonishing.

kaii

I really wanted to like this book - the writing is magical and I'd love to see the circus manifested into a motion picture - but ultimately I saw no point to it. What was the plot? The MCs were flat and the love at first sight thing didn't sell it for me. 

I'd still try another book of the author's because her writing is absolutely beautiful!

Hill

I really wanted to like this book - the writing is magical and I'd love to see the circus manifested into a motion picture - but ultimately I saw no point to it. What was the plot? The MCs were flat and the love at first sight thing didn't sell it for me. 

I'd still try another book of the author's because her writing is absolutely beautiful!

This book was fine, but it wasn’t for me.

Celia and Marco are chosen by their respective guardians to participate in a challenge. However, neither knows what the challenge is and are constantly told that they don’t need to know all the details. Celia is a performer in the circus, while Marco is more on the management/organisation side, but both add magical tents to the circus.

Celia and Marco were fine as characters, and I liked the scenes with the magic, but it wasn’t really explained.

The circus has a lot of performers, but it’s more of an atmosphere of lots of people than actually seeing them and their personalities. There were occasional perspectives from other people, and while they weren’t awful, since nothing is really explained in this book, it was annoying to read about things that aren’t directly linked, without knowing what the plot actually is.

I went into this book thinking that there was going to be a competition between the magicians at a circus show. Instead, the book spans many years and shows, without there being much of a direct competition/comparison between them. I didn’t like the ambiguity of the challenge (which turns out to be whoever survives the longest) and then I thought that the ending skips a lot of important details, but it fits into the theme of the book. Why and how is Bailey going to keep the circus going? What are Celia and Marco doing? What are Poppet and Widget’s roles?

This book wasn’t for me because it was a lot about the atmosphere, which was written well, but it wasn’t enough for me. I don’t think I’m going to try other books by this author.

This book was fine, but it wasn’t for me.

Celia and Marco are chosen by their respective guardians to participate in a challenge. However, neither knows what the challenge is and are constantly told that they don’t need to know all the details. Celia is a performer in the circus, while Marco is more on the management/organisation side, but both add magical tents to the circus.

Celia and Marco were fine as characters, and I liked the scenes with the magic, but it wasn’t really explained.

The circus has a lot of performers, but it’s more of an atmosphere of lots of people than actually seeing them and their personalities. There were occasional perspectives from other people, and while they weren’t awful, since nothing is really explained in this book, it was annoying to read about things that aren’t directly linked, without knowing what the plot actually is.

I went into this book thinking that there was going to be a competition between the magicians at a circus show. Instead, the book spans many years and shows, without there being much of a direct competition/comparison between them. I didn’t like the ambiguity of the challenge (which turns out to be whoever survives the longest) and then I thought that the ending skips a lot of important details, but it fits into the theme of the book. Why and how is Bailey going to keep the circus going? What are Celia and Marco doing? What are Poppet and Widget’s roles?

This book wasn’t for me because it was a lot about the atmosphere, which was written well, but it wasn’t enough for me. I don’t think I’m going to try other books by this author.

i wanted to love this book i really did, but it ended up just being very okay. the writing was absolutely beautiful, and so easy to read but so little actually happened i found myself feeling dragged through this book. i did love how love was written between celia and marco, i found myself swooning over their relationship but other than that i just felt bored unfortunately 

this was such an adventure im so glad i took my time reading this it was so nice

Everyone said this book was “no plot, just vibes”, and tbh when I read this book that’s all I was expecting but I was shocked when I was hit with an amazing out of this world plot, with amazing world building.

The writing in this book was very lyrical, and romantic. It definitely gave a lot of vibes, it’s very heartbreaking.

It doesn’t feel as if I read the same book that everyone’s calling plotless but this definitely checked off many of the requirements of a perfect book. It definitely made me feel like I was in another world, living in a splendid universe. And I loved it, every second of it. Keep in mind the dates at the start of every chapter, don’t get lost!!🫶

OH MY GOD, THIS BOOK WAS GOOD!!!! I loved how it was so entertaining. The writing style was immaculate. The romance was heart-wrenching and I am so happy it ended on a happy ending. It was what I wanted and more. Literally could not put this down and read it in 2 days. DEFINITELY WILL REREAD THIS IN A FEW YEARS

Anna 

** spoiler alert **
           myslela jsem si, že noční cirkus se zařadí mezi mé oblíbené knížky, ale bohužel jsem na něj neměla náladu, a nebo mi styl erin morgenstern jednoduše nesedí, protože jsem se do čtení nutila a vůbec mě to nebavilo :/. po tři čtvrtiny knihy jsem nechápala, o co vlastně jde, co má být ta hra, která se v knize celou dobu řeší. hodně jsem se ztrácela a všímala si, že čtení nevěnuji pozornost a že čtu, aniž bych věděla o čem. chápu, že kniha neměla být o ději jako spíš o postavách, ale i ty mi přišly takové... prostě nijaké. celia ani marco neměli podle mě skoro vůbec vykreslené charaktery a já o nich ani po strávení s nimi 500 stran nic nevím. vedlejší postavy mi přišly zajímavější a mrzí mě, že se jim nedostalo tolik prostoru (sestry burgessovy, pan barris , A. H.). kniha skákala hodně v čase a já měla problém si zapamatovat, kdy se vlastně všechno odehrávalo, jak dlouho cirkus existuje, kdy se stala ta nebo ona významná událost. když bych se bavila o samotném cirkusu, nemohu říct, že by mě nějak výrazně okouzlil. myslím, že se dal popsat mnohem lépe a přesněji. já se bohužel ztrácela jak v magickém systému, tak třeba i v rozmístění stanů v cirkusu. autorka si vymyslela nějaká pravidla, kterými se postavy drží, nebo kouzla, která mohou používat, ale už nám nevysvětlila, jak fungují. marcův sešit plný inkoustových stromů je v tomto dobrým příkladem.
a samotný boj, který se měl mezi dvěma hlavními postavami odehrát? ten se vůbec neodehrál. nečekejte žádný magický duel plný kouzel a triků. jediné, v čem marco a celia 'soutěžili', bylo, kdo postaví hezčí stan. to není žádná magická soutěž. ke konci knihy zjistili, že vítěz = přeživší soutěže, takže se hned jeden pro druhého chtěli obětovat (protože se do sebe samozřejmě zamilovali). ale oni vůbec nemuseli. hru mohli normálně zastavit, protože jim nijak neubližovala, nikdo je do ní nenutil a oba, celia i marco, by spolu prožili krásný život v cirkusu, kdyby aspoň trochu přemýšleli. 
abych ale nemluvila jen o negativních věcech; autorčin svět je rozhodně zajímavým místem, ráda bych se o něm dozvěděla víc, jak tam fungují kouzla v praxi a kdo to vlastně byli alexander a prospero. konec knihy (rozhovor výlupka s A. H.) byl za mě rozhodně nejzajímavější částí knihy, co se děje i myšlenek týče. zároveň mě bavily pasáže večeří u chandershe, ty byly popsané hezky a opět, zajímala by mě backstory jeho a mnoha dalších vedlejších postav. podle mého názoru se autorka zaměřila na špatné hrdiny a nedala prostor těm, kteří si ho skutečně zaslouží :D.
.
knihu hodnotím jako průměr - 3*/5*

ploral

I've never read anything more beautifully written. The words took me into this new magical world that I couldn't help but love. It is all so intense and magical and beautiful that I simply just want to go back and experience it all over again. I have no words to describe how amazing I felt when I was reading it. The story felt so real. I could see it all in my head and it was beautiful. 

My only issue with the book is that it lacked plot. There was one but it wasn't that good or solid. If you remove the experience you go through while reading the book, you'd probably not be impressed by this book. 

The characters were fine. They weren't spectacular or anything but they were fine. 

A book with a simple plot and not spectacular characters and yet here I am, sitting on my bed, exclaiming that I loved it. I really did. It'll make you fall in love with the night circus. It's so well written. I absolutely adore it and would give anything to be able to read it for the first time again. You need to read it ASAP, if you haven't already.

This was an an agonizing read. Everyone’s tastes are different, so if you love this book and enjoyed it,- I’m happy you did. That’s the beauty of books. However, if you’re on the same wavelength I was while reading it, and finding yourself confused, continuing the read hoping it gets better, allow me to save you the trouble: it doesn’t. 

I feel like the author had an amazing concept, but for a book so focused on the mystical world it exists in, there’s no world to explore. There’s no characters you get to know despite there being an abundance. It was a whole lot of words to say a whole lot of nothing. In the attempt to make a mystical and mysterious atmosphere, it just ends up falling short and not quite accomplishing what I believe the author intended. The only reason I finished it was to meet my goal of 200 books by the end of the year. 

Allow me to again state that I’m sure this book is amazing for others, but it just fell extremely short for me.

I 100% understand why people love this book. However, I did not. I LIKED it, but nothing more. It did have beautiful writing and was a very magical story, but it was soooo slow and soooo description heavy. Also sorta confusing. It just took me forever to get through. 

Jillian Roberts

read this circa 2017, and i still can’t get over the disappointment i felt over this book. i expected this to be ‘more’, but i got ‘less’. i even bought a physical copy after reading the blurb somewhere in tumblr lol. too many fillers, it’s annoying.

still, giving this 2 stars for the magical feels it gave me. may or may not change it to 1 star after i re-read soon.

Chloé

Just beautiful story and gorgeously written. The descriptions I felt like I was at the circus. These characters had so much life to them. CELIA AND MARCO OWN ME.

Such a fun book. It had been on my list for years and years, such a delight to finally read this book.

BC Hark

Gladys Marcos

Megan

I couldn’t finish this book. I’ve never not finished a book before, but I had to put this down. It’s slow and very description heavy. If you like that, you might like this book. It was too slow for me, it felt like the beginning dragged on forever. Maybe I’ll try to read it again in the future, but it just wasn’t for me.

Sarah Sammis

I'm skittish of overly popular books. I'm usually the one who doesn't like the book that everyone else is praising. So I steered clear of The Night Circus by Erin Morgensternuntil I could no longer give in to lure of the beautiful cover art. I opted for the audio version as I often do with longer books because I can listen a little bit at a time without ticking clock of the due date.

The Night Circus opens with a tour. It arrives without warning and is open only at night. It's only colors are black and white. Fans of the circus, some who travel around the world to follow it, dress the part but add a bit of red. Though none of them expect it, they hold the key to the circus's continued existence.

Morgenstern presents the chronology of the Cirque des Rêves out of order. Listening on audio, I had to keep track of the dates mentioned at the start of each chapter. At first I missed a few things but once I noticed that things weren't in order, I paid better attention. As a fan of logic puzzles, I enjoyed trying to piece the story back together.

The heart of the book, though, and the part that will either make it or break it for you, is the competition between two aged magicians through their student proxies, Celia and Marcus. They are bound to each other and the only way to win the game is to kill the other. Caught up in the middle of this battle to the death is the circus itself.

The problem with complex projects is that they take on a life of their own. The Cirque des Rêves is no exception. That the resolution of the novel hinges more on the continuation of the circus over Celia and Marcus's competition and ill fated romance is a bone of contention for many reviewers. I liked it. No, I loved that all that dramatic build up (so common in fantasy) ended up being a few nights of closure for the circus. There was no threat to the world or the universe — just a magical but still petty competition resulting in a personal tragedy.

For me, therefore, the true protagonists of this complex fantasy are Bailey — a boy who doesn't want to inherit the family farm — and the twins born at the start of the circus, Poppet and Widget. It's their story that caused me to make excuses to sit in my car for a few minutes longer.

I have also gotten a copy in tradepaper to re-read the book in print form, just as I did The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

chateau

it's actually 4.5, the half point lost in the ending where i specifically neeeedss something more with them, but it's alright i can cope up with that since the plot and the characters -that is beauutifully driven- are covering it!!! 

i loove this book. that's all. i love it. a lot.

Julia

Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways.

great vibes, but the characters felt very stagnant. some storylines felt rushed or underdeveloped, as they relied on relationships between characters that just didnt feel real, they just kinda…happened? i dooo understand why people like it but not for me

Stas

incredibly fun, i have a predilection w the circus it could never be bad. i love nonlinear storytelling. wanted more overt romance even though that’s antithetical to their whole thing

The Night Circus A Novel