Spoiler-Free Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My obviously much loved copy.
Disclaimer: much of this review is based on my physical copy of this book, so newer editions might have different design elements than what I describe here.
This book is absolute magic.
From the first line, “The circus arrives without warning.” on the reader is swept up into a world that at once feels effortlessly real and impossibly fantastical. It captures that unique magic of childhood discovery inside of a story clearly meant for adults, which is a rare enough feat on its own. Each new twist and turn, each new POV character added, is like opening a Christmas present you didn’t see behind the tree until someone else pointed it out to you. A gift you didn’t know you wanted but cherish whole-heartedly nonetheless.
Part a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers and part a literary ode to magic and mystery and the awe of impeccable spectacle, this book has a beating heart of its own.
The small details of the book design immediately stand out. You can immediately tell that a deep amount of love and thorough consideration were poured not only into the writing, which is outstanding, but also the design. One example of this is in how both the design and Le Cirque des Rêves itself mirror the themes and reinforce each other.
The book is woven around themes of dream-like transcendence and bringing something magical and unique to those who can not only recognize but cherish that beauty and singularity. Le Cirque des Rêves in the book is designed in a winding and elaborate way, such that characters are never quite sure where they entered, or even where they are in relation to other things. It forces people to wander, to embrace the unknown. The design of the book mirrors and reinforces this by having chapter titles but no chapter numbers or table of contents. Just as there is no map to consult in the Cirque, there is no guide for the readers. The titles function as the signs outside of each tent in the Cirque do— they give a tantalizing hint of what might be inside without any explanation or context. In another work, this would be confusing and frustrating, but somehow Morgenstern infuses this with the same magic as the writing itself. It feels so natural that it took me several rereads to even notice this element that now seems so obvious.
Even when the book reveals that its opening is in second person—usually an immediate turn-off for me—it somehow only adds to the web of magic being woven by the words, like a spell that immediately captures the reader. The interspersed chapters in the second person throughout the book are usually only a page or two in length but they bring the novel together in a way that’s difficult to articulate even after contemplation.
“I am tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held. Trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter what we do.”
Yet the book isn’t all wonder and joy. In fact, I would argue it’s strongest when it focuses on the pain of the characters, the deeply relatable struggle underneath it all that builds complexity and empathy for the characters. Without it, the book might have been something like a fireworks show: stunning and impressive, well-deserving of the audience’s awe, but ultimately a shallow and forgettable pleasure. The balance of The Night Circus is perfected by the broken and very human protagonists at the center of it.
It’s a hard book to finish. To this day, even having read it many times over the years, I still find myself longing for just one more chapter, one more page. As Celia says near the end of the book, “I can not let a place that is so important to so many people fade away. Something that is wonder and comfort and mystery all together that they have nowhere else. If you had that, wouldn’t you want to keep it?” But all things must end. Just as Chandresh was unable to create as long he was bound to the Cirque, so too must all writers and readers move on from even the most beloved books if they ever want to discover anything new.
Recipes: The food in this book is so amazing, described so mouthwateringly, that I simply couldn’t complete this review in good conscience without adding a few Night Circus themed recipes.
The Night Circus: Make Your Own Midnight Dinner Desserts article on HuffPost
Bookish Baking #2: Cinnamon Things (The Night Circus) on rivermoosebooks
The Night Circus by FoodInBooks (This fig recipe looks amazing!)
Merch:
*I haven’t personally bought or tested any of these products and none of this is sponsored. But I always love buying little tokens of my favorite books so I thought others might too.
