Although not all my reviews are spoilery, which I do not consider this one to be, here is a little warning just in case.

Review Written: 21st September 2012

 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

If I told you this book wasn’t complicated, I would be lying. And if I told you I didn’t judge the book by the cover, I would still be lying. Lying is bad. So, this is me, telling the truth. For point one, I can explain its complicated nature as the review continues but for point two, I would like you to glance up at the book cover above the text. Yeah. It really draws your eye doesn’t it? So, when I walked into Waterstones many months ago and saw this book with its ambiguous six line blurb, I knew I had to read it.

It’s not that the book is pretentious as such, it’s just that...at times it is clever for the sake of it. You know throughout the book that there is a challenge between the two main characters – Celia &  Marco but I never found out what the challenge was or why it even existed. Knowing me, I’ve missed the whole point of the book.  Meanwhile, you jump back and forth between years, places and characters that by the time you return to Celia & Marco, you’ve forgotten what you had previously read. Think Game of Thrones but with a LOT less pages!

The book isn’t all bad however. The chemistry between Celia and Marco really is electric, and although they are supposed to be enemies, you can’t help but want them to have a happy ending. Twins Poppet and Widget also bring an edge to the story, especially Poppet’s relationship with Bostonian young lad Bailey who leaves his father’s farm and dreams of Harvard behind to join the circus. We have Isobel, a fortune teller who drops clues throughout the story about the fate of characters within the circus; all while harbouring a love for Marco which will never be returned.  

It starts in the second person. I ADORE second person narrative because as a reader, I feel included in this little world and in this example, I believe that is the point. You are having a tour of the circus; clues are being thrown in now and again before you eventually encounter them in the story. 

Perhaps I’m not intelligent enough to truly appreciate this book. With people like Audrey Niffenegger and papers like The Times, Guardian and Independent telling me to read this book on the cover, I should have realised instantly this was going to be a complicated story. For me, it echoes parts of Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife; just as tragic but without the emphasis on romance. Romance appears, but it is not the point making The Night Circus a rather refreshing change. If you are looking for fixed endings, the book fails to deliver. It’s bittersweet but once fitting for the rest of the book.

With this review’s end, I will leave you with a thought provoking line from page 484. ...dreams have ways of turning into nightmares.

NEXT REVIEW: CAITLIN MORAN'S HOW TO BE A WOMAN