Friday Reads - The Night Circus

[betta329]

The most FANTASTIC story I have EVER read!!! I was pretty skeptical about the hype but I loved The Time Traveler’s Wife so much and have been looking for a similar book for years, and this had a review by the author of TTTW so I couldn’t resist. It’s really fantastic and sweet and soft without being sappy. It’s just like cotton candy or ice cream

Comments

[betta329]

It's The Night Circus. Sorry. I forgot to copy and paste the title into the subject when I copied the review. LOL It depends on why you didn't like Time Traveler's Wife. If you didn't like it because of the somewhat disjointed nature of it, it's not so much like that. If you disliked it because you didn't like Henry and Claire, you might not like this. Well, that may not be entirely true. The romance is very subtle and doesn't take place until pretty late in the book, at least half way, whereas TTW it's the major element of the book all the way through, just done in an out of order way.

I loved the richness of TTW. Henry and Claire's relationship was so immediate. I loved seeing Henry struggling to push Claire away and keep her close at the same time. I loved Claire's struggle. Her agony to be with him and yet the pain at what it caused and meant. I loved watching her miss Henry. I loved watching their life develop over time in her linear perspective. The scene where he sees the cigarette burn for example, and the times he met her as she experienced her life linearly. I loved watching their characters develop, and their relationship develop.

Elements of the book are out of order, but it's not jarring like TTW. It's as though we are following the story of each of the characters, and some of those stories are in like 1902 and some of the stories are in 1891. But whenever it switches a chapter it stays with that character, kind of like Game of Thrones where chapters are not necessarily linear but go along with each character's individual experience.

I loved the imagery of the book. There are sections written in second person as though you are walking through the circus. I loved that. I loved how it was written almost like a dance. Each step looked at individually makes nothing, but when you see the whole dance it's remarkable. I thought the characters were really rich. I loved the setting and the description. I was completely enthralled by the magic as it was more a creation and illusion system rather than hitting each other with wands. I loved how the circus itself was everything that I love about Cirque du Soleil. This is not a plot driven story but more an experience wrapped in character development. It's absolutely beautiful and I adore it, but it's not for everybody. I think you'd like it, though. Your photography and compassionate soul show how much you see the world from an observer's perspective and I think that typr of person would love this story.