Le Cirque des Rêves, suitably named The Circus of Dreams, arrives without warning. However, once it is sighted, the anticipation from near and far cities, towns and villages builds, drawing patrons towards its black and white tents and the mysteries it holds. Trained from childhood specifically for a purpose, two magicians, Celia and Marco must play a game without being told the rules — only that they have no choice but to play and that the circus is their venue. This story spans many years. We follow these magicians through their training to the very conception of the circus and through the years of their magical duel. Both have a knack for charms, magic, and illusions. Both trained from a young age to be the best they can be for an unknown challenge against an unnamed opponent. Both are integral to the circus. But as they are pitted against one another, the circus, their magic, and their feelings shape how they challenge each other. However, there can only be one winner. While it may seem that this book is solely about the competition between Celia and Marco, it’s truly about the magic of the circus. The circus itself has a life of its own. It’s the main character of the story, the main attraction that draws you in with its allure, magic, mysteries, and the wonders it presents.

It is so incredibly difficult even to begin to describe this book because it has so many moving parts. It’s almost like a puzzle in a way, in the beginning, there are so many characters and storylines that are too separate from each other that it feels like you’re looking at a brand new 1000-piece puzzle and you have nowhere to start. But gradually as you read you get the frame of the story built, like the outside of the puzzle. Then you work on the inside and as it starts coming together you start seeing the brilliance of it and things you never noticed before that shock and surprise you.

I wholeheartedly believe that everything about this book was perfect. The plot, the characters, the dialogue, the description, and everything else made this my favorite book. I cannot stress enough how wonderfully written this book was. The entire book is written in this lyrical magic-realism manner that’s not too metaphorical, that you’re super confused, but it’s still eloquent and passionate and enchanting. “The stillness of the tent becomes a quiet melancholy. Memories begin to creep forward from hidden corners of your mind. Passing disappointments. Lost chances and lost causes. Heartbreaks and pain and desolate, horrible loneliness. Sorrows you thought long forgotten mingle with still-fresh wounds.”

Another aspect of this book that made it so enjoyable was the characters. While the main characters, Celia and Marco, have more chapters from their POV, we see the side characters such as Herr Thiessen, the twins, Poppet and Widget, Bailey, Mr. Barris, and many more grow and change due to the magic of the circus. Part of the reason the character development is so spectacular is because of how long of a time period this book encapsulates- it begins in 1873 and ends in 1902- and in that time the reader really gets to know all the characters. They grow up with Bailey, a teenage boy that’s first exposed to the magic of the circus in 1884, and ends up becoming the master of the circus in 1902. “[Baileys’] choice was made when he was ten, under a different tree, bound up in acorns and dares and a single white glove. He will always choose the circus.”

While I loved this book, I can understand that there may be many who find it confusing, and too complex. The POV switches constantly, without any warning or label, and at times it’s hard to discern whose POV it is. There are also a great number of time jumps, sometimes going from 1889 all the way back to 1884, or into the future to 1902. But, I think that this adds to the magic of the book, as the reader tries to figure things out and how all the characters fit into each other’s lives. At certain places in the book, it’s written in second person, and it’s as if you’re actually there, experiencing the sights and sounds of the circus. “And while moments before you were so close to your fellow circusgoers that you could have touched them, no you are alone as you feel your way tentatively forward through a mazelike tunnel.”

While The Night Circus is definitely for avid fantasy readers, I think anyone, even those who have never read a work of fiction before, would love this book. There’s something about this book that draws you in, and even though it is rather slow-paced, you just can’t put it down. I think it’s a combination of Morgenstern’s spellbinding writing, the intricate characters, and the magic of the circus.