The Night Circus 🎪

This book had been on my TBR list for a long time, and finally, I just turned its last page. Before I move on to the next book, I thought to write down my thoughts about this one while it's still fresh in my mind.

The enigmatic title of the book was what caught my eye in the first place. I have never read anything about a circus—nothing that I can recall. If it weren't for this book, my childhood circus memory was limited to jokers.

But, what's a Night Circus? It sounds formidable yet alluring. Precisely, these thoughts made me want to read this book and find out what it's all about.

The circus arrives without warning.

I can't think of a more captivating opening line. More so, it wasn't only the first line; the whole first chapter was true to its name—Anticipation. The way the author built the anticipation, line after line, and perfectly described the scenes as if you are actually there, was something that immediately told me I signed up for a serious wordplay. I haven't read anything so rich in prose for a long time.

But. But. But.

Despite the easy sentence flow, this book is not a casual read. The author jumps to different time stamps in each chapter, which makes it hard to keep track of what happened and, thus, requires a lot of focus. Adjusting to different POVs throughout the book was also a little challenging. Having said that, none of this came in the way of me enjoying it. I was hooked till the end for some reason.

I would recommend everyone to give it a read but I won't hide the fact that it took me a year to finish this book. I thought that it was the prose, the little details that I wanted to savour slowly which I wouldn't have if I rushed it. But that wasn't it. Despite the enticing start and the thrill the plot promises, the story is somewhat slow.

I don't intend to write a bad review but when I reread the book description, I realized that the actual story wasn't anything like it. I was misled into reading a fierce duel between two magicians. On the contrary, there was no ferocity, no urgency, no spark. The author could have developed the characters in more depth, but she decided to focus more on visual detail and the atmosphere instead of on psychology and emotional depth. I'm not implying that one is more important than the other; rather, a balance between the external and internal details is what makes a book a good book.

I usually get emotionally attached to the characters but that wasn't the case this time. The author outdid the external element that I somehow didn't feel the lack of depth in the other. This is what I feel, other readers might not feel the same way.

Anyhoo, the book was about a challenge between two ancient magicians, only that they don't like to call their tricks magic but manipulation of reality. I don't know why magicians shy away from the word magic these days. They mentored two students of their choice, taught them magic according to their respective schools of thought, which was quite different and bound them into a lifelong duel which involved running a mysterious circus. The winner is supposed to declare only when the opponent dies.

The book is mostly about the circus which suddenly appears anywhere in the world without a notice, starts at twilight and ends at dawn. The tents and everything that comes under the vicinity are all black and white. Each tent and each element of the circus is a wonder. The author has leisurely described everything in detail.

So, before I spill more tea, has anyone read this book?