A mesmerizing circus, two illusionists, and a deadly challenge.The circus arrives without notice, one day in a city, one day on another. A unique circus, special, that only opens at night. A place where every tent hides a priceless marvel, unmatched performers and unforgettable acts that challenge reality. Le Cirque des Rêves. The place where the impossible is possible, where the unreal becomes real, and where the magic, is magic.And in the middle, two illusionists trained from birth, matched in...

I wavered between four and five stars on this one but then thought that I should show multi-millionaire authors the same generosity I show the struggling variety. The Night Circus is very different from the kinds of fantasy books I’ve been reading of late. It’s not that it’s written in the present tense (I read the excellent Master Assassins recently and that is also in present tense). It’s not that is has a Victorian feel to it (the excellent Senlin Ascends has that). It’s not that it’s set in ...

“How can I excel at a game when you refuse to tell me the rules?”I guess “The Night Circus” is one of those books that make it especially hard to write a proper review and if I’m entirely honest I have to admit that I don’t even know where to start. It was unlike any other book I’ve ever read and therefore the usual structure of my reviews just doesn’t seem to be appropriate, let alone to fit. ”I would have written you, myself, if I could put down in words everything I want to say to you. A sea ...

I did not care for this book, which has sat on my all time favorites shelf for two years, AT ALL.https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...There’s instalove, because of course. Characters are either a) horrendous or b) flat or c) somehow both??? Every other sentence is actually two forced together by a comma, because we all full-on adore a good comma splice amiright. Predicates suffer without subjects. The whole thing is so horrifically, tragically, life-bendingly slow and so boring it took me 9 d...

Five Things About THE NIGHT CIRCUS.Ordinarily when I do my recommendations, I do a “five reasons to read _____,” but I think opinions will be so divided on THE NIGHT CIRCUS that I think “things about” will be more useful.1. This novel is not what it says it is. Well, back page copy is always a weird thing anyway, as it’s not written by the author. And a weirder thing because it is essentially a glamour shot of the novel. It is not a lie. But it isn’t really what the novel looks like when it’s wa...

Wedding cakes are typically the prettiest cakes, but they are almost never the tastiest cakes. I am not a cake expert (can I be one though? Is that a thing I can be?), but it seems to me that the tools necessary to make a cake exceptionally pretty -- a vat of fondant, to start -- also contribute to the cake not tasting all that good (unless you somehow really like fondant, which is incorrect).Don't misunderstand me, I have no issue with cake. The right decorations, the right frosting (buttercrea...

Aw hell, I'm going to rate this 4.5 stars. I can't resist this book was so freaking good. I don't normally change my ratings, so don't expect this TOO often. My feelings are so conflicted about this book. I don't know whether to immortalize it for all eternity in a frame on my wall, or throw it into the fire. So, how the hell am I supposed to rate this book? A million stars, one star, 837 stars, what? In the end I did some crazy, overly complicated math that really makes so sense in my head, an...

As a young girl, Celia Bowen is delivered to the father she never knew, a world famous magician whose secret is that his show is genuine magic - not illusions. He teaches Celia to manipulate the world in the same way so that she can compete in a high-stakes game against Marco, an orphan similarly trained by her father's nemesis. The arena for this game is an elaborate, surreal circus. Neither Celia nor Marco knows the extent of the game, nor their opponent, until they have fallen in love with ea...

The Night Circus will be a 5-star book for a certain reader. This reader likes a lot of descriptions, doesn't mind a very slow story and has a soft spot for circuses. I am not that reader. I prefer imagery to complement a plot rather than substitute it.The plot summary of The Night Circus promised many enticing things, but delivered, in my opinion, only on one - lush imagery of a mysterious circus that was a collaborative creation of two rivaling magicians. The book was good 80% description of v...

Contains some minor spoilers.I disliked this book, which means I ought to rate it one star, but it is not as awful as my one star shelf. One star books have to really repulse me to get that rating. The only redeeming thing about The Night Circus is that I didn't feel the one star compulsion to start a bonfire so I could properly dispose of it, hence two stars, but in this case it does not mean I enjoyed the book at all.From the Goodreads summary: "But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is u...