Book Review: The Night Circus

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This book was recommended to me by Jessica. She has never steered me wrong with a recommendation. 

I started reading this late at night on Wednesday. I spent all day Saturday and some of Sunday finishing this book. Every time I put it down I wanted to pick it up again. When I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it. I was hoping I could steal a few moments to read just a couple more pages.

You have never read a book like this.
You have never seen a circus like this one.

"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, 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."

This book is written so beautifully.  Erin describes every aspect of the circus world so perfectly without being overly detailed. You can see the circus. You can see the characters. It is a love story but not a mushy gushy one. Celia and Marco are bound to each other to complete the game. Neither of them really knew what would unfold as they played. They didn't expect their actions to touch those around them. 

I loved this story. I already miss the characters and I've just closed the book. I wish this circus was real. I wish I could climb into their world. 

*** I've just read this for the second time and I love it even more. The imagery in the book is amazing. You are THERE in the middle of it all. I want these people to be real, to know them, to ask them my many questions. You will not regret reading this book. You will only regret reading it so quickly that it's over and you want it to begin again.