Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Night Circus


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 RĂªves, 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.

4 comments:

Lauri said...

I started this book with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised by it. As you read it, you are sucked into the circus and are anxious to see what will become of the contest. However, the circus is the true main character of this book. This book is a slow read with ethereal feel that seems to surround you and stay with you when the book is finished. It has a very satisfying ending.

I didn’t like the masters of the contest at all. It seems like the quote from Spiderman pertains to them, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Mostly I want to go to that circus and am looking forward to when it appears some night in Chandler.

Quote p. 381: “It is important. Someone needs to tell those tales. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict.”

Anonymous said...

I liked this book. It does have a slow start and I had a different idea of what the contest would be like before I read it. The author's contest was slower, but way more magical. I loved the circus. I really want to attend it and visit all the different tents.

Like Lauri, I did not like the masters at all. But I did like all the other characters.

Even with the slowness of the story, I still really liked it overall.

Candy said...

To be completely honest, I couldn't finish this book. The vignettes about the circus were imaginative, but the plot never seemed to go anywhere. Finally, after the romantic leads finally met, I realized I didn't care about the book at all, so I gave up.

Annell said...

I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one. It did take me a while to get into the book and sometimes the different timing of the chapters confused me, but overall it was entertaining, full of magic and peaked my curiosity enough to finish it.

Favorite Quote:
"When put that way, it sounds rather like magic, doesn't it?" pg. 369