The Night Circus

Because we are all readers, we decided to start monthly book discussions. As an introduction, we picked The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern as our very first book. These are our opinions and in no way, shape, or form do we credit them as reviews and/or critique. Just some good old-fashioned blabber mouthing.

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 both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

Okay, I am going to make this short, simple, and to the point; if you don’t like this book, you’re a fucking chode. This book IS a five star book.

A great story should carry you off into something that isn’t familiar; it should offer you a chance at a different perception than your own. This book does that, it most certainly did for me. Let’s not forget how well written it is. Her execution of all three 1st, 2nd, and 3rd POV is brilliant and adds to the depth of the story.

I’m so glad I downloaded this book despite the bad reviews. I feel like people who don’t see how good this book is, and/or nitpick it, are unimaginative and not worthy of a good story.

My only issues with this book is the way it plays with time, and how descriptive the author is from time to time. I hate over description, however, Erin did a good enough job that NOT ONCE did it slow me down, or upset the flow of the story from paragraph to paragraph, page to page.

While my stance isn’t as strong as Vail’s is in regards to whether you like the book or not, I must agree that the book is a five star book.

This book does exactly what what Vail says. It takes you into the unfamiliar, while allowing you to keep a toe in the familiar, and gets you to question just what is “real” which is always a great feat in any story.

The 2nd POV threw me a little since it’s not a perspective I’m used to reading but after awhile I didn’t even notice her bouncing from 1st to 2nd to 3rd. That was how well thought out and written this book was. It flowed and I just went along with it.

Well, call me a Chode!!! While I did enjoy the story, the elements of the world and the characters, I HATED the style of writing!!! I know I'm going to cop a shit load of flak from the other whores for this, but I cannot stand to read a second person POV. Once I got through those parts and it kept jumping all over the place with dates and times and places, I kept on having to go back and work out where the hell I was up to and who we were reading about at a specific time. Now, this is nothing against the author, but I'm clearly not an intellectual reader. As far as I'm concerned the only saving grace for this book was the world and the love story element.

This book is a piece of art. From beginning to end it’s one epic, magical tale that is like no other. I was pulled into the story from the first page, every moment was pure awesomeness.

It was so well written that I didn’t notice the switches between point of view. The transitions between past and present were integrated seamlessly and kept the story moving instead of stunting the momentum.

I have not read anything so beautiful as The Night Circus. I agree with Madame and Gypsy, it’s a five star book. Why this book is not a global best seller is beyond me. To look at other books that are selling crazy numbers worldwide in comparison to this one makes me sad for humanity. If you haven’t read this book, fucking get a copy. You will be richer for having read it.

The world in this book was, by far, is my favorite character. The whole world is made of magic and that is why, Lady Scarlett, I’m really shocked that you didn’t like it. We’ve discussed how we both love fairytales. This book was exactly that down to the, bound to be together, love story.

It does pull you in, that is what is unique about second POV. That is what it’s supposed to do. Address you, the reader, and invite you in. There is no, through the eyes of anyone, she allows you to see with your own. Immediately she begins to build a picture.

I agree with Scuddlecunt. If you haven’t read the book, you need to get a copy. Especially if you enjoy a well thought out, beautifully written, magical, fairytale.

Vail, I did enjoy the world created, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters as well and, like I said, the mystical and magical elements. The thing that brought it all down for me was the thing that you all agree was amazing...the writing. As I said before, I'm clearly not an intellectual reader, but I just couldn't stop focusing on the way the writing style would jump from second, first and third. I struggled to focus and connect with the characters the way I wanted to, the way I needed to to fully immerse myself in this story. The more I think about it, the more I tend to agree with you about the world being my favorite character, cause though it is not a living, breathing thing, it was the only thing I could recognize without having to go back and work out who the fuck I was reading about at each particular point.

Another thing that aggravated me, which it admit for those who know me will think is highly ironic, is the amount of description that went into everything. Again, I know the other whores will no doubt disagree with me, but there were a lot of sections where things such as meals were needlessly over described. I agree, for things such as the clock, the tents or the circus itself, but there were so many other elements such as coats, buckles etc that we're just over done. Or perhaps not done the right way.

I know I will be showing my trashy romance side here as far as taste levels go, but I still would only award this book between 3-3.5 stars.

I didn’t feel that the book was over descriptive. In comparison to a lot of other books out there, it’s was balanced. Though in the author’s defence, a lot of things did need detailed description for the reader to feel as though they were surrounded by the magic of the circus.

The ice garden was my favourite. The intricacies of that tent could not have been brushed over. It required delicate detail that was exquisitely executed.

The dinners, as Scarlett mentions, needed to be over the top. That was the entire point of those scenes. They were lavish beyond comparison. A highlights reel of these events would not have had the same impact. This book is a true example of show, not tell. The author showed us through the magic of words the world she had created. To tell would have been to sell this story short.

I personally did not find the amount of description to be overdone as a whole. I will admit that there were sections where I wanted the descriptive portion to end so that we could move on, but when looking at the novel as a whole it was necessary and am in agreement with the Wench. The author was not telling us, but showing us what was going on. Including us, if you will allow, in the scene so that we could smell, see and taste it all as if we were there.

While I found the ice garden amazing, my favorite was Widgets tent. We didn’t get to spend much time there, but what a wonderful way to be able to save and revisit a memory.

I loooved Widgets tent! The entire book had to be as descriptive as it was. The circus needed the details because the circus itself was a character. Each of those tents were add-on via magic, which was the entire point of the story. There were parts where I just wanted to move on from something she described. That being said, even with all the details, I read every single word. I didn't skip not one.

I'm a circus freak, so there wasn't anything in circus I didn't love, but I favored the front gate. That moment when you first walk in. You look around and try to absorb everything at once, but the truth is, in The Night Circus there is so much it's impossible to do it in one single night.

The giant clock was my immediate draw, from the moment it was mentioned. I wanted to climb inside and hide.

I read this book to my small human, and I will read it to my grandkids, I loved it that much.

If this whore ever spawns offspring, then I too shall read it to pass along the beauty of this creation. This book has become my favourite of all time, knocking other books of the pedestal. No story has made me feel as much pure joy as this story did.