The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

[jolly shadow]

Forum Discussion

[near fable]

BR duration: <t:1672704000:D>-<t:1676592000:D>
BR leader: @fading scroll
Link: #buddy-reads message

[dusky girder]

I will be starting this tomorrow 🌙🎪

[fading scroll]

@near fable @warped crescent @north surge @dusky girder @short sky @red iron @polar palm @azure granite @crude wagon @fading scroll @pseudo wedge @lime mauve @fresh maple @livid spire

Hello! Welcome to the buddy-read of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 🌃 🎪

This BR starts today and ends on the 17th of February. I hope that’ll be plenty time for all to partake in this enchanting magical journey ✨

To start off some discussion -

📖 Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?
🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?
Are you a dreamer or a realist?
💜 When do you plan on reading? (I hope you get loads of cozy time to teleport yourself into the magical realm of The Night Circus )

Happy Reading!

[azure granite]

📖 first time reading. I’ve just heard it’s really good
🌟 I have read Starless Sea, I loved it. Gave it 5 stars
I am realistically dreamy
💜 May not start until next month, but I do have my book and I am excited for this buddy read!!

[red iron]

📖 first time reading. it gives me caraval vibes, so im expecting something along that line
🌟 yes i hv read starless sea, and i absolutely loved it.
realist
💜 um, end of jan

[dusky girder]

📖 Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?
First time reading and no expectations

🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?
No I haven't

Are you a dreamer or a realist?
A realist that's a little bit of a dreamer

💜 When do you plan on reading? (I hope you get loads of cozy time to teleport yourself into the magical realm of The Night Circus
Soon!

[livid spire]

📖 This will be my third time reading this book as you may be able tell, I quite like this one.
🌟 I have not. I was really debating reading it or not, please anyone do let me know if it is a good read
Definitely a dreamer
💜 I might be reading this one either a little late in the br or towards the middle perhaps.

[fading scroll]

Wow, third time?!! I hope you enjoy it just as much (if not even more )

[livid spire]

Yess I just enjoy the magic vibes they give me warm, cozy feelings

[fading scroll]

📖 It’s my first time! Hoping it to be a magical escape from reality
🌟 Yep! It was sort of confusing ngl but I loved it all the same cuz it felt like a mesh of everything magical
dreamer definitely with bouts of realism that keeps me sane and safe
💜 mid-jan mostly

[crude wagon]

📖 first time reading !
🌟 no but its on me tbr
dreamer for sure
💜 i plan on starting about a week from now

[north surge]

📖 I already read the book back in 2015 so it is technically a re-read but I don’t remember anything :D
🌟 Yes, I did (as a BR here in the OBC, twice!) and I absolutely loved it!
I wanna say dreamer but the hard truth would be realist
💜 Gotta finish two other books first, then I will start

[near fable]

📖 This will be a reread!! I have no expectations but I'm just hoping to enjoy this!!
🌟 Yesss, I did and really enjoyed that one!!
A dreamer who likes to keep it real
💜 Soon!! I already borrowed the book on libby and all, so I've got a bit less than 3 weeks to read it now

[polar palm]

📖 This is going to be my first time reading it
🌟 i have read some of it but DNFed it because i wasnt in the mood to read that kind of book but i will pick it up again sometime this year
A realist in most parts
💜 Tomorrow

[ashen beacon]

📖 First time - fits my r/fantasy bingo square. No expectations, I forgot the synposis and don't plan on re-reading it and I'll just start the book fresh.
🌟 Yes - really enjoyed it!
realist
💜 When do you plan on reading? I'd like to start it next monday

[lime mauve]

📖 first time!
🌟 nope,, trying something new
a bit of both? idk heheh
💜 going to start in mid jan!!

[dusky girder]

Starting this now!

||I didn't realize it was gonna take place in the late 1800s so thats pretty cool||

[dusky girder]

Magic Lessons- ||I feel so bad for these kids. This is definitely a very strange book so far lol. These kids have sheltered lives and are basically being raised to do God knows what when they're older 😔||

[polar palm]

||They seem like they are being raised more like tools for a game than people.||

[dusky girder]

||yep I hate it 😡. Hope these people get what's coming to them||

[dusky girder]

Condolences- ||I low key am kinda happy that Hector died. I hate the way he treated his daughter, not letting her eat so she can look a certain way. This poor girl, I hope things get better for her||

[dusky girder]

I'm now up to Part 2

||this is a very easy going read with lots of characters to learn about. Marco is so nervous over Celia, I have some ideas of what might happen as the story progresses. I also need to know what kind of challenge they have to face each other in, and why lol||

[pseudo wedge]

📖 Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?
Yes! this is my first time reading this book but it is not the first book I have read written by Erin Morgenstern. no expectations :)

🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?
I have read it, and I loved it! the way it was written was so creative and different from other books that I wanted to read this book!

Are you a dreamer or a realist?
I guess im a mix of both? no idea

💜 When do you plan on reading? (I hope you get loads of cozy time to teleport yourself into the magical realm of The Night Circus )
ummm, next week?? this weekend? I guess we will find out

[molten tartan]

📖 Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?
Yes. It is my first time reading. From the vibes here, I think this one would be a good mystical read. Excited! 🤩

🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?
Not yet. Would plan to read it sometime.

Are you a dreamer or a realist?
A dreamer who is very realistic about making dreams turn into reality

💜 When do you plan on reading?
Sometime soon I suppose when I get this book.
Can anyone share some links of online free e-book libraries where I can find this book.

Thanks! 😊

[dusky girder]

Collaborations- ||I really wish Hectors ghost or whatever he is would leave Celia alone 😡. I like her and Marco a lot, I want them to get the show on the road already lol. I kinda feel bad for Isobel cause she can see the connection Marco has with Celia||

[polar palm]

Up to Bedtime stories ||I feel so bad for Isobel trying to talk to Marco but being completely ignored and then having to witness him publicly kissing Celia. I'm not really sure about how I feel about the book so far its very mysterious so I think my final opinion will very much be defined by the ending||

[dusky girder]

The Magician's Umbrella- ||I love how Marco's like you want a drink and Celia's basically like lol nah and walks off. He's standing there like wuht 😳.
🤣🤣||

[polar palm]

I finished ||I feel like the book had sooo much potential and I really loved alot of the parts of the book but then there was some things I really an not a fan of. Firstly I didn't really like Celia and Marco I couldn't really feel their whirlwind romance and it kind of felt like Isobel got stepped on in the process also who leaves a circus to a bunch of 16 year olds like the ending felt really impulsive and chaotic and also you don't give pets as gifts least of all if the are not in a mental state to take care of them self.||

[fading scroll]

I’m hoping to start this sometime this week

[fading scroll]

Maybe try Overdrive/Libby?

[uncut elk]

Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?
1st time reading this!

🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?
i have not read that before

Are you a dreamer or a realist?
dreamer- im a Pisces, it's blessing and a curse!

💜 When do you plan on reading?
should be able to grab this tomorrow to start shortly!

[neat tree]

You and I had very different takes on it! ||I absolutely loved the love story and really, I think Isobel knew having Marco was wishful thinking. I loved the dreamy vibes and when I read this I took my time to immerse myself in it. Also, did you like Tsukiko? I think she was one of my favorites ❤️||

[gritty hazel]

📖 Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?

First time reading. I read Starless Sea first and loved it. Curious to see what her other work is like. Hoping to like it, but no other expectations.

🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?

Yes, it was so good! Erin Morgenstern is a vibe and you will find that vibe in Starless Sea, too.

Are you a dreamer or a realist?

Yes.

💜 When do you plan on reading? (I hope you get loads of cozy time to teleport yourself into the magical realm of The Night Circus )

Just started the other day after finishing I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteukbokki (also a good read, I recommend.)

[gritty hazel]

Part 1 - ||There are a lot of themes that cut across Morgenstern's works. The characters obsessed with books and reading, magical places, the in/significance of names, and extreme isolation and self-flagellation (I guess I wouldn't call it self-harm since these characters can heal themselves, though they do still feel pain and temporary injury.) I like how Morgenstern goes back and forth between the ways the magicians are full of s**t sketchy people and the ways in which they are authentic and honest. It makes you reconsider what you really value about honesty and authenticity. I also like the contrast in approaches to training between the two teacher(?) illusionists and their students. On the one hand, I expect the methodical approach to be successful since Marco gets regular lessons and practice whereas Celia's training is more erratic and psychologically and physically abusive. When she performed and really rattled Marco it occurred to me that Hector pushed her a lot more (way past ethics) than Marco was pushed and maybe fewer, but more intense training sessions and lessons has benefits. I'm not sure how much I want to root for abusive teaching tactics, but I do hope that it represents Celia's own approach more now that Hector seems more interested in his own thing.||

[red iron]

starting this earlier than i expected!

Anticipation: ||i now know why it is called the night circus. idk why i didnt guess before. giving me very mystical, magical vibes. im excited!||

[red iron]

A Gentleman’s Wager: ||looks like there is actual magic in the book, with fans turning into birds, the girl breaking the watch, etc. is it a genetic thing?||

Le Bataleur:|| i think isobel is celia, but im not very sure. either way, that encounter progressed quickly. is it normal to trust and kiss strangers on the street?||

False Pretences: ||erin morgenstern is one of those authors whose characters are all book lovers.||
||isobel and celia are two different people. i wonder how isobel plays into this. is she just a distraction or is she more?||

Darkness and Stars: ||more 2nd person narrative? is this going to be a recurring thing? i thought it was just the prologue||

Truth or Dare is set in 1897, but in the next chp, we jump back to 1885? okay…

[red iron]

Associates and Conspirators: ||they’re serving the food but no one knows whats in the food. what if someone’s allergic?||

[red iron]

Condolences: ||is he dead or…||

[azure granite]

Magic Lessons ||Those poor kids, Magic apparently has no use for love and kindness. And eventually they’re going to be pitted against each other||

[red iron]

Auditory: ||marco and celia have finally met! r they not the least surprised that celia’s ‘magic’ powers are very surreal? or r all illusionists like that?||

End of Part 1: ||so there r 3 narratives here - celia and marco, the 2nd person perspective and bailey.||

Opening Night 1: Inception: ||so penelope is the girl from bailey’s pov. nice to know she isnt some invisible girl that only bailey can see||

[azure granite]

Darkness and Stars and prediction for the book ||I think the circus is going to end up being the performance where Celia and Marco compete? Idk just a hunch||

Truth or Dare ||I just love the spooky vibe of Erin Morgenstern’s books! Who is the mysterious girl in white and how did she know Bailey’s name?!? Questions upon questions, precious||

||Also just noticed that was 1897 and now we’re back in 1885 for Associates and Conspirators||

https://tenor.com/view/conspiracy-theory-explaining-gif-13403485

Me trying to keep track of all of the names, characters, locations, and years of all of the chapters

[azure granite]

Associates and Conspirators ||I love this part about not knowing what is in the dishes or how they are prepared. At first I thought how sad it would be, maybe you’ll eat a dish that’s the best you’ve ever had and you’ll never have it again or know how to replicate it. But wouldn’t it make you savor the flavor more in the present, knowing you may never taste it again? ||
Starless Sea spoiler ||I can’t help but think of the bees in the library that make all the food, when it talks about the culinary geniuses Chandresh supposedly has locked away. I wonder if it will be a magical or mundane reveal, if the identities of the chefs are ever revealed ||

[azure granite]

Finished Part 1. ||I love her writing style, it’s a nice blend of descriptive and action. I can visualize the scenes very well, even when something fantastical is happening. She has some definite repeated themes I noticed from Starless Sea, which I know was written after this. But the artists, of all kinds. The man building the clock, the young boy who had a brush with something magical who seems to get a chance to revisit that magical world, love it! I’m really interested to know more about the contest. I don’t think it’s going to be what we think, like a wizard’s duel or something. I think it’s going to be more subtle than that||

[polar palm]

||I agree that Isobel knew that she probably wouldn't end up with Marco I just think it was very mean for Marco to not tell Isobel how he felt for so long. Tsukiko was fine she was very mysterious. I think the reason I'm not really a fan og this book is 1. I felt like it could have been amazing but wasnt and 2. Maybe I just wasnt in the right mood to read this kind of book||

[neat tree]

||It was very wrong of Marco, I completely agree. My heart ached so much for Isobel. And maybe it just wasn’t your type of book! There’s a lot of books I thoroughly did not enjoy but a lot of others did.||

[manic tundra]

📖 first time reading! no expectations aside from hoping the "rich, seductive prose" in the description is on point 😂
🌟 nope, never read it
a bit of both? more of a dreamer, i guess
💜 within the next two weeks

[gritty hazel]

I thought that, too! Glad I wasn't the only one.

[gritty hazel]

||The Grey Suit implies it's a little nature, a little nurture.||

[gritty hazel]

||What do you think of it as a literary device or POV? I personally don't like the author trying to tell me who I am and then getting me wrong (e.g., I wouldn't think that.) Or telling me I'm me, and then telling me I'm someone else (sometimes a character.) It disappoints me every time. I'm glad she keeps it to a minimum here.||

[gritty hazel]

Yesssssss!!! ||And the child(ren) born in that magical place (i.e., Mirabel and the twins)!||

[red iron]

||i think she's trying to show us the night circus from another perspective, and its narrated in 2nd person. i wonder how thats going to progress as the story goes on||

[red iron]

Wishes and Desires: ||uh oh. marco and isobel’s relationship seem to be on the rocks.||

[red iron]

Reveurs: ||the reveurs remind me of online communities. a bunch of ppl from all around the world bonding over something that they all love.||

[red iron]

Temporary Places: ||i think the person arguing with Mr. A H is Celia’s father. i was under the impression that he was tied to celia but i guess not||

[red iron]

Tete-a-Tete: ||idk why i love this chp so much. probably because its the first chp where they actually talk, with each other knowing that they are supposed to be fighting against each other.||

[gritty hazel]

||The fandom!||

Part 2 - ||I feel like each part could be its own novel in a series. I just hit halfway through the book at this point. Morgenstern has a thing about depicting the decay and end of an era (same in Starless Sea.) Though, in this book, we got an entire section giving us the build up before the decay. I feel worse and worse for Isobel in this section. She had already lowered herself by offering to serve as Marco's mole rather than function as his peer. It's like everyone sees her as a whole person except him. I found him more relatable when his insecurities about his looks came out in Tete-a-tete. I wonder how much of my prior dislike of him was because I actually disliked his inauthenticity. Tbh, I'm surprised the opponents haven't tried to rebel against the exhibition/competition yet. They've been so unhappy with this whole thing for so long and they're adults now.||

[red iron]

Thirteen: ||no, i think they celebrated the thirteenth anniversary so that that can do it on friday the 13th||

Invitation: ||…a betrayal?||

[gritty hazel]

Part 3 - ||Well, things are certainly coming undone! I'm surprised but not surprised that Hector had basically no reaction to Herr Thiessen's death. Was he that cold all the time or has his botched trick made him worse? Honestly, Isobel went easy on them imo. Marco rescinded his connection to her. Not sure why he'd expect her to continue supporting him the same. I'd love to know how Chandresh knew Alexander would be there. Curious about Bailey's deal. I don't think I totally agree that everyone is 'caught up in their game.' Everyone was who they are before or separately from the game. Chandresh would be putting on his shows, Mme. Padva was doing her thing before Chandresh was born...I think suggesting that all these people exist solely for the game is not giving them enough credit. Such a Marco thing to do!||

[azure granite]

Popcorn and caramel tho

[gritty hazel]

But the cinnamon things!

Part 1-3 spoilers ahead --> Hear me out, ||if this was always a game of endurance and not skill, wouldn't it make more sense to give your player the happiest, most satisfying life possible so that they would want to live as long as possible?||

[azure granite]

What cinnamon things! Do tell! Unless I just haven’t gotten there yet

[gritty hazel]

Oh maybe you haven't gotten there yet! Apologies for a very minor spoiler!

[azure granite]

No worries, I’m looking forward

[gritty hazel]

Part 4 - ||Hooray for...one ending. This is like American Gods, which seems to end and then there's another end and another... This made me think more about the reversal of the fairy tale trope, where Bailey hopes to be whisked away. The women keep trying to protect or save men in this book. It sounded like Celia's mother even tried to protect her memories of Hector and his image for a long time after he abandoned her. It made Isobel appear to demean herself to Marco's lovely assistant. It was non-consensual when Celia literally threw herself at Marco. Kinda yuck either way. Collaboration on equal terms seems like the only good option.||

[gritty hazel]

Part 5 - ||Shakespeare (at least the later years, including The Tempest) was roughly 200 years before the characters in the book, and the book is roughly 200 years before its readers (except for the very very end.) It sort of hearkens back (similar to what Alexander was saying about stories) to a different era of storytelling that doesn't fit with the current time. Morgenstern does a similar thing in Starless Sea with a 'once upon a time' style story woven into her more comlex, more 'now' story. What do you think stories in the future will be like? I think the immersive experiences are one possibility.||

[red iron]

Part 3: ||idk if im noticing it just now, but there seem to be a lot of other ppl’s perspectives in this part.||

[red iron]

Technicalities: ||does hector hv absolutely no love for his daughter?||
||“She is bending herself into knots in your precious circus.” oh!||

[red iron]

Stories: ||is this whole book widget narrating the story of the circus? i love it when books do that. its like a full circle moment.||

Bon Reves: ||just bailey’s email address popping up in a book set in the 19th century.||

and im done! ||i found this book just as magical as the starless sea (although since i've already read erin morgenstern before, it doesnt hv that new, never-seen-before feel to it). of course, the part i looked forward most to in this book was the romance (tbh, i always look forward to the romance) and it met my expectations, both marco and celia and poppet and bailey (i feel sorry for ivy tho. the way marco just lead her on like that)||

[gritty hazel]

Yeah, I felt like just writing from different characters' perspectives gets the job of showing different POV done better than the second person perspective.

[gritty hazel]

Edit to preface: Lots of Starless Sea spoilers ahead in this thread. ||How do you feel about the romance in Night Circus vs Starless Sea? I kind of like the addition of Isobel here since adding in messy break ups feels more realistic to me, but I didn't root for Marco the same way I rooted for Zachary. I wouldn't put Marco in a mysterious oil painting in my office, you know? Like doesn't he feel bad for ruining Chandresh's mind and creativity? I guess I just like Marco less than Zachary. ||

[red iron]

||yeah i shipped zachary and dorian harder than marco and celia. maybe becuz i knew marco and celia would end up together, but with zachary and dorian it was only a maybe? and i loved the side romances in starless sea much better than the ones here. ||

[gritty hazel]

||Yeah, I agree. Morgenstern really upped her romance game with Starless Sea. I mean the Keeper's romance was the literal definition of epic.||

[red iron]

||ikr! and simon and eleanor's story was so sad and beautiful, the way they weaved in and out of time||

[azure granite]

Did everyone know that oneirancy is the interpretation of dreams? I had to look it up

[gritty hazel]

No, and I was made to read Freud's Interpretation of Dreams in college (not actually a thing in psych now beyond very broad strokes of 'bad feelings' vs 'nice feelings' and stuff already kicking around your mind.)

And I def didn't know what Ailuromancy was.

[azure granite]

Ooo what’s that one? Learning so much

[gritty hazel]

Telling the future based on how cats jump and land.

[azure granite]

Shut up! Lmao that’s amazing

[gritty hazel]

For real. It's not even a fiction or fantasy element: not even fantasy fiction could make that s**t up. 😝

[azure granite]

I want to learn about this. Tarot and cat-fortune-telling, let’s go full crazy lmao

I assume it’s people’s future not the cat’s future, which seems very human-centric tbh

[gritty hazel]

::begins training pet cat to read tarot cards::

por que no los dos?

human AND cat centric!

[azure granite]

Yesssss

[regal lake]

If nothing expected happens, I'll be able to buy the physical copy of the book and start reading it tomorrow. My only fear is that it's tagged as 'slow-paced' on storygraph

[azure granite]

I don’t find it slow-paced at all, but that’s just me. My caveat with SG users is sometimes they say “slow-paced” when really they just mean “long”

[gritty hazel]

Agreed: it's long, but I finished it in a long weekend.

[azure granite]

Reveurs ||Ooo has Celia been encouraging the Reveurs? I hope so, that would be a big win on her side, I think||

[azure granite]

Ooo cinnamon things!!! Sounds like strips of puff pastry layered with cinnamon butter, twisted, and baked

[gritty hazel]

Yessssssssss! Cinnamon things unlocked!!!! haha

[azure granite]

Yessss ||it was just so nice to see them say what’s been in their heads for so long! A very exciting and well-earned chapter. I love these fools||

[ashen beacon]

|| I found starless sea better for me because the characters felt a bit more realistic, whereas in Night Circus they felt really exaggerated. Although I think both styles really suit their respective stories. ||

|| I'm reaching the end and I was not expecting the end, Bailey taking over made sense once we started it but I really felt Isobel would have a bigger role in the book. I do think that the book did an excellent job of making it feel like Marco and Cecilia got to know each other over a long period of time for how little they spoke to each other. ||

[azure granite]

Wait, you looked that up? Yesss I love the attention to detail!!!

[azure granite]

Bedtime Stories ||Hey Erin, if you could, go ahead and skip the pleasantries and just rip my heart out of my chest, ok? K thanks ||

Bookkeeping ||Why are they doing this to poor Chandresh?? Why is he deteriorating so much faster than anyone else? My theory is that it’s because he put so much of himself into the circus, it’s draining him somehow||

Oh I forgot to put my thoughts for Thirteen ||Im so happy Marco is standing up for himself to Mr H, and like fuck that guy for real. Just grabbing Celia and kissing her 10/10 (since she seemed to reciprocate, and I highly doubt he could have forced her into anything). But dude needs to talk to Isobel, she does not deserve this shit. Just ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away. Don’t be a dick Marco!||

[azure granite]

Invitation ||When I realized this chapter takes place exactly a year before An Entreaty ||

[azure granite]

Added tabs cause I couldn’t help myself, to show visually the different time periods

[azure granite]

Part 3 ||Im dying to know why the circus isn’t there anymore!!! Don’t leave Bailey behind! And what is going to happen in a year?!? At least Marco finally told Isobel||

[gritty hazel]

Cute, yet practical

[dusky girder]

Up to Part 4

||I think it was cute when Poppet kissed Bailey I like them together hehe. I think he's my favorite character. I wanna know why he's so important to the circus 🤔. I knew Marco and Celia were gonna end up falling in love and they seem sweet together too. I feel bad for Isobel despite what she did, she saw that coming from the beginning. They really should just end the challenge and run away together||

[azure granite]

Finished but I’ll have to wait til tomorrow to add my thoughts

[dusky girder]

I'm up to the last part

||I'm so happy Bailey became the new caretaker. I honestly didn't think of that when I was trying to figure out what his role would've been with the circus. Celia did a great job holding it together before he arrived, she's such a strong person, and saving Marco like she did||

[azure granite]

Finished ||Hoo boy. I didn’t not think I would like any book as much as The Starless Sea, but Night Circus was so so so close to being my favorite book of the year (3 books into the year lol). Idk I’ll let it sit awhile and see which one I keep thinking about.

Bailey coming in as the new caretaker, I was so excited and happy for Celia and Marco. Glad they could finally become part of the circus and stop wrecking people’s lives, lol. I thought their relationship was really beautiful and tragic, and I’m glad they got a semi happy ending.

The use of the second person interludes throughout was so fun to really put yourself in the circus, and get to see some of the tents firsthand that they alluded to in the main narrative. And then when they dropped that email address and I realized it was present day-Ishtar jaw dropped. So wonderful to know that the circus survived all the turmoil of the last venture

The reveal that Tsukiko was once a competitor was such a cool twist, and the secrecy of the event itself really helps explain why they stayed silent for so long. (Her and the architect). But why did she push things to a head by trying to set Marco on fire?!? Tsukiko was just like, I’m over this, times up, and I really respect her for that.

I’ll probably have more thoughts as I go along today. Just really good characters doing really dumb things sometimes but a very well crafted book and I can’t wait for her to write more like this.||

Also I have this head canon about the author. So if you’ve seen or read The Princess Bride, the book The Princess Bride that grandpa is reading is said to be written by S. Morgenstern, and I always thought she was his daughter or something until I realized the book is actually written by William Goldman. But I like it so I still keep it. She’s the daughter of the Princess Bride author from a pocket universe and that’s why her stories here seem so magical and other-worldly

[azure granite]

||I think it’a cause that part isn’t set in the 19th century. I really liked it, because it implies the circus lived on. Did you get a different impression?||

Maybe I am reading too much into your comment. ||Maybe you just meant it was startling giving the older timeframe of the rest of the story||

[red iron]

yeah this is what i meant

[azure granite]

Oh ok, my bad

I do kind of want to try and see if it works

[dusky girder]

I've finished!

||This book was a strange style for me, but I suppose to enjoyed the story overall. I'm usually not a fan of circuses which is why I'll be using this for "brings out the grinch in you" for the winter bingo lol. I really enjoyed Bailey the most, he was such a well written character and I'm glad he found his purpose. I'm also glad Marco and Celia stayed together, and I really hope Hector can just f off now because he really annoyed me 🤣. The concept of a traveling Night Circus is also really interesting to me, this book was definitely not what I expected||

[dusky girder]

You know I was thinking the exact same thing for the longest time 🤣🤣

[azure granite]

I’m glad it’s not just me

[azure granite]

Not me realizing Erin wrote this book in 2011 and Starless Sea in 2019 and extrapolating out how long it will be until we get another one

[brittle latch]

Joining as many group discussions as I can before their timers are up 😆

Starting this tomorrow.

[gritty hazel]

Same. I found this a quick read, though.

[pseudo wedge]

La Bateleur: ||damn that was fast, they just met and then they kissed. I mean love at first sight im kinda feeling like Marco and Celia are gonna be like forbidden lovers or something like that, but I might be wrong because of Isobel. ||

||edit : I just read the synopsis again and it says that Marco and Celia are gonna fall in love so love that ||

[ashen beacon]

That reveal was out of left field for me. I thought I'd clocked the rest

[azure granite]

Oh ||about the interludes taking place in the recent or present day?||

[ashen beacon]

How do you guys think the prose compares to Starless sea if you've read it? For me it feels more flowery a bit more surreal if that is fair to say

[ashen beacon]

||About contortionist being a previous competitor, I had made a guess about Bailey taking over eventually.||

[azure granite]

Ohhh yeah ||that was a fun twist||

[uncut musk]

Part 1 - ||The blatant abuse, physical/mental, and the negligence is triggering me a bit, I stopped for a bit everytime Hector harmed Celia. The first part has a nice build up to it, the back and forth between the three perspectives adds a bit of tension and mystery every time. The narrative flows smoothly, the conversations and interactions between the characters and their environment also feel really good. The time jumps are actually fun and well executed as well. Atm my favorite part is probably Celia's audition and Marco's reaction to encountering Celia was everything! Loved it so much and it rewarded the build up. Struggling to put it down :3||

[regal lake]

I'm gonna start reading it after I finish the first Percy Jackson book I'm reading, on my last few pages

[regal lake]

Finally started reading

[gritty hazel]

I thought it was ||one of Widgets story bottles or a description thereof but this makes more sense. ||

[gritty hazel]

Agreed. Starless Sea was more contemporary so it makes sense to use that type of language.

[azure granite]

I like that too! But since ||his bottles come from real memories, that would still have been someone’s experience, right? And pretty recent for there to be an email address||

[gritty hazel]

Yeah I realized that theory was wrong towards the end

[azure granite]

I don’t think it’s wrong, I like the idea

It’s kind of a different interpretation

[neat tree]

I’m sitting over here reading your guys’s takes and opinions on it it’s really fun because I read the entire thing before this started

[brittle latch]

https://tenor.com/view/schitts-creek-david-rose-lie-false-liar-gif-19979790

Starting tomorrow for real this time 😭🫂

[warped crescent]

Started tonight, I've heard such polarazing reviews of this one
I regularly see people calling this one 5 ⭐ while others saying it was a complete waste of time.

[neat tree]

It was a five stars from me!

And I would say most of the people here have had more positive reviews about it

[warped crescent]

Oh no worries; I'm excited, I'm only about 15 pages in mind - but I'm optimistic! I like books that have a mixed opinion anyway

[neat tree]

Have you read Caraval before? Because I would compare the writing style as magical, ethereal, and otherworldly, and Caraval to me had very similar vibes!

[warped crescent]

I've heard good things about Caraval too!

[neat tree]

If you like this book be sure to check out Caraval! It’s one of my faves ☺️

[lime mauve]

starting this today! i’m up to Shades of Grey: ||i quite like how the story is set up, i didn’t have any expectations going into this cos i’m completely new to this genre. fun concept so far, lots of suspense and short foreshadow sentences hahahaha.||

[lime mauve]

Condolences: ||???? omg? the way information is revealed is so so interesting,,, what is going on lmao||

[lime mauve]

AHAHAHAHA

[lime mauve]

Oneiromancy: ||the descriptions of the circus is just magical. what wonderful writing omg. also, in memoriam??????? who???||

no spoilers, just general writing style: ||i’m genuinely using a notebook to track timeline and characters the date / location of each chapter and the way the book is written reminds me so much of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, i don’t hate it but keeping track of everything is so hard ahahahaha ||

[red iron]

||i gave up on trying to follow the dates. i glanced at the year to hv some idea of the timeline and moved on with the story||

[azure granite]

It does become important later though

[red iron]

yes

that whole time i just flipped back to the table of contents

[azure granite]

There was a ToC? I missed it lol

[gritty hazel]

I mostly kept it at "before" or "after" whatever I was currently reading to keep it manageable.

[brittle latch]

Answering starting discussions (cause I’m starting, finally):

📖 Yes it’s my first read. I’ve never heard of this book before this br even thought my mother owned it a while. Her cope has a lot of pages tagged with those little post it notes so I’m expecting a really good read.

🌟 I have not but I’ll add it to my list. Is this connected somehow?

i am very much a dreamer but I’m quite realistic in which of my dreams will remain just so 😆

💜 I think I’ll be pretty cozy seeing as I mostly read in bed while wrapped up in a blanket 😆

[lime mauve]

i might too then hahahahaha

[lime mauve]

Reveurs: ||favourite chapter so far. this is so wholesome.||

[uncut musk]

i swear mine doesnt have a ToC either O.o

[regal lake]

is there a music playlist that I can listen to while reading The Night Circus?

[azure granite]

I like this one https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1fHL7zMm4q6mZUgbPC3htm?si=kIU3mAdfTR2HJJLxoyutVQ

Mostly classical/soundtrack, no modern music on it

[regal lake]

That's exactly what I was looking for

[azure granite]

I almost always have a playlist lol

[regal lake]

Part I - Magic Lessons, Le Bateleur ||OK! I'm finally starting to really enjoy this. I really liked this chapter, the back and forth between the two teaching their students. It was also interesting to read the differences in their methods of teaching. Prospero feels a lot more brutal in his way of teachings while Alexander (that's the name what I know him by right now at least) is a lot more composed as to how he decides to teach his student?? Idk why I can't find the right words right now, I'm talking funny, but I think I got my point out. I girl and the boy just had an encounter each other and for some reason I'm here trying this instead of reading what happens next even thought I'm quite interested to know how it's going to turn out. I'm at the part where the boy offers Celia a coffee. Imma go read again now.||

[brittle latch]

Can already see myself leaving this book adopting a whole new personality

[azure granite]

I said that about The Starless Sea too

[brittle latch]

Part 1: || I fear I am already obsessed with this although I’ve already given up on tracking the timeframe of everything 😂. I mean I know that this is happening well in the future and that is happening years in the past but the exact order of events? Yeah don’t ask me anything lmaooo 💀
I love the alternating perspectives and the writing style a lot. The descriptions of everything is so gorgeous you can picture it so clearly and I want to be there soooo bad! Im also embarrassed to say I don’t remember the last time I read about anything related to magic, and I LOVE magic so much. This is just so fun!! Can’t wait to pick it up again tomorrow||

[pseudo wedge]

Part II llumination : ||I really enjoy this book so far, I love all the different perspectives. there are so many characters and names, most of the time im trying to remember who someone is ||

[lime mauve]

oh. my. god. Temporary Places: ||In Chaperoned, Poppet said she didn't want the nice lady to die and that she doesn't know who she is and that "they look the same",,, it was Tara???? like she couldn't tell the difference between Tara and Lainie??? also grey suit Alexander KILLED TARA TO SHUT HER UP??? ALSKDJFHLASF screaming crying throwing up, diverting her attention so she gets run over by the train???||

[azure granite]

||Didn’t they look the same?||

[lime mauve]

||yeah but i didn't connect the dots until this chapter, i just thought she meant to say it was confusing because everything looked to same / like a blur or something,,, it was so on the nose i can't believe i didn't know she was referring to the burgess sisters HAHAH||

[azure granite]

Ohhh gotcha. Yeah I love those little moments that only come together later

[lime mauve]

In Memory...: ||oh oh oh the Snow Queen. this is what the in memoriam "statue" was about. also the phrase "the rain increases and umbrellas sprout like mushrooms" makes me laugh||

[lime mauve]

Tete-a-Tete:
|| such a cool chapter that they're finally meeting knowing who each other are!! also this dialogue

"But I remember the people who look at me the way you do."
"What way might that be?"
"As though they cannot decide if they are afraid of e or they want to kiss me."
"I am not afraid of you."
alskdjfhalksdf plot development plot development!! ||

[brittle latch]

The Hanged Man: ||can you imagine witnessing this live. I’d be scared shitless for him omg||

[brittle latch]

The man in the grey suit has the same aura I get from Death’s character in the supernatural series lol. If that makes sense 😆

[gritty hazel]

I never settled on an explanation here:|| murder or just negligence?||

[brittle latch]

Chandresh?

[brittle latch]

I would very much like to see this after 😭

[brittle latch]

Collaborations: ||Reminiscent of the letters red and blue began sending to each other in this is how you lose the time war, no||

[gritty hazel]

I hadn't thought of it at all, but yes, very similar!

[manic tundra]

thoughts through end of shades of grey: ||wow, i'm loving this so far! it draws you into the world so quickly while maintaining a lot of mystery. really enjoying the writing, excited to see what happens 👀||

[brittle latch]

The Wizard in the Tree: ||Widget is a very good storyteller. I adore him and Poppet. ||

[brittle latch]

Ailuromancy: ||kitten sighting means I can use this for the winter bingo square right? 😂||

[azure granite]

Oh yeah good point!

[manic tundra]

end of opening night i: inception - ||i'd already realized that there are stories from two different times being told, but idk why it took until this chapter to actually hit me. 😂 very curious to find out how bailey ties into things!||

[pseudo wedge]

Okay im on part III ||its pretty good, a little slow but I can sense its going to get interesting I can tell. also not marco saying he loves celia ||

[brittle latch]

Tête-à-tête: aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

[pseudo wedge]

||WAIT TSUKIKO WAS IN A GAME JUST LIKE CELIA ||

[pseudo wedge]

Transmutation : ||ONG THEY BOTH SURVUVED ||

||or wait did they both die?? im a little confused here||

[pseudo wedge]

I finished!! || I rated it 4 stars, I really enjoyed it. compared to the starless sea, I liked it mostly the same but like night circus a little teeny bit more cause there is more romance in it,but thats just me. I still rated starless and night circus the same!! I really liked the different perspectives and how Bailey in the begining breaks into the circus but in the end is like the main conductor person. I thought the ending was perfect as well, how instead of one person sacrificing their life they both did. still a little confused on how Marco and Celia are not alive but not dead, so they are spirits of some kind?!?! or something like that, I have no clue ||

thank you hanzy for hosting this br!! I enjoyed this book so much and glad that i finally got to get this book off my tbr

[fading scroll]

thanks for joining the br and reading with us

I’ve been loving reading all the thoughts and comments shared here

I haven’t been much of myself lately which is why I couldn’t engage much, but I’ll post a mid-br check in today

[uncut elk]

just got my copy!

[fading scroll]

@near fable @warped crescent @north surge @dusky girder @short sky @red iron @polar palm @azure granite @foggy plaza @crude wagon @fading scroll @pseudo wedge @lime mauve @molten plover @fresh maple @livid spire @ashen beacon @obsidian solstice @uncut elk @manic tundra @uncut musk @brittle latch @regal lake @drifting fractal @slate umbra @loud knoll @dusky temple @winged glen @south rain @molten tartan @tidal torrent

Hello again fellow readers! I hope you've been enjoying the magical vibe of The Night Circus 🌃 🎪

This is a mid-BR check in (still about a month left as the BR ends on the 17th of February)
I have a couple questions if you're struggling to engage in or discuss the book, feel free to answer/not answer at your leisure -

🔀 "The Night Circus" does not follow a ||linear timeline||. Did you find the structure of the book disorienting? Do you think it was effective in mirroring the nature of the circus or did it just annoy you?
🎪 What was your favorite part of the circus? Which character would you most want to meet? Which tent would you most want to visit? Which food sounded most appealing?
Any favourite/ hated characters?

Some questions if you've finished:
🦾 ||Marco and Celia struggle with balancing the ever-expanding circus. Do you believe this to be a reflection of how we overextend ourselves?||
🪄 ||Like magic, the story is revealed through sleights of hand—juggling the past with the present, hiding pertinent information until the last moment, and providing misdirection. How was the story enhanced (or lessened) by the tricks?||
||Did you feel sorry for those who were being used in the game—Isobel, the Burgess sisters, even Celia and Marco? Why do you think some people, like Mr. Barris, don't mind being trapped by the circus while it drives others, like Tara Burgess, mad?||
🌟 How would you rate this book?

Happy Reading!

[dusky girder]

🦾 ||Marco and Celia struggle with balancing the ever-expanding circus. Do you believe this to be a reflection of how we overextend ourselves?

I definitely agree and this what I currently struggle with in my own life||

🪄 ||Like magic, the story is revealed through sleights of hand—juggling the past with the present, hiding pertinent information until the last moment, and providing misdirection. How was the story enhanced (or lessened) by the tricks?

I guess because of the way this book was written, I was easily confused at a lot of those parts||

||Did you feel sorry for those who were being used in the game—Isobel, the Burgess sisters, even Celia and Marco? Why do you think some people, like Mr. Barris, don't mind being trapped by the circus while it drives others, like Tara Burgess, mad?

I definitely felt bad for them, because to me it kinda seemed like the circus was a prison for them. Mr. Barris maybe felt a sense of belonging while others wanted to escape and not be held back||

🌟 How would you rate this book?

I guess like a 3.5

[manic tundra]

🔀 it took me a minute to realize it wasn't a ||linear timeline||! 😂 but so far, it's not disorienting. it's helping to draw me into the mystery, which is very much what the circus was designed to do
🎪 hmm, i think the ||ice gardens|| sound amazing; i'd definitely want to visit that tent! if i had to pick, i think i'd like to meet marco or isobel. 🤔 can't think of a food offhand… maybe the chocolate popcorn?
no favs yet, but also no hated characters. i'm enjoying everyone ☺️

end of "rules of the game" - ||oooh i loved this chapter! the description of the ice gardens was so amazing. and it looks like celia is falling in love with marco's work without even knowing who is behind it. i feel sorry for isobel here; it looks like she's trying to hang onto marco through any means necessary, while he's slipping away into the game||

[uncut musk]

🔀 I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS. ||I love the jumps, the little details, hearing about certain tents in "future" scenes and then finding out more about their origin/creation in "past" scenes.||
🎪 My favorite part of the circus is ||probably the ice garden or the cloud maze. They both have an eeriness to them, especially the garden that would very much be a vibe I'd indulge in.|| I'd like to meet ||Poppet or Tsukiko. Both intrigue me with their mannerisms and they way they handle themselves. It would make for interesting conversation ^^|| Hm i think within the circus, the best food would be||the CINNAMON TWISTS! Though the chocolate mice with the licorice tails sounded delish as well.||
Most hated characters are definitely || Prospero and Alexander. their demeanors and actions trigger in me trauma :D|| My favorite characters are || Herr Thiessen, I love the reveurs, and the whole club so much❣️||

[gritty hazel]

Are we only supposed to reply if we were tagged?

[fading scroll]

No, feel free to answer them
I’ve only pinged those who have reacted to the BR announcement. You can react to it in #buddy-reads if you’d like to be pinged in the future

I just checked and found that you did react to the announcement, but I’ve no idea why your name didn’t appear when I’d checked earlier

[brittle latch]

||I didn’t think of it as attempting to mirror the disorienting nature of the circus actually but that’s exactly right!||

||It definitely didn’t annoy me, I just didn’t really keep track. I knew what’s happening in the future and in the pass but I can’t pinpoint exactly which events take place in order lol.||

||It’s very fun though! The different perspectives coupled with the scribbled timeline of events is less frustrating than it sounds 😆||

Favorite part of the circus (so far): || I think is the cloud maze. It’s sounds like a dream!!||

I think I most want to meet Isobel! ||I have no interest in knowing my future but from what I’ve read of her so far she seems like someone I would like||

Fave 🎪 food ||I don’t have as much if a sweet tooth as I let people believe so I’m gonna have to say most of the chocolate stuff won’t appeal to me. I also hate popcorn lmao. But the cinnamon things! I love cinnamon rolls, I make them every chance I get, and these are (i imagine) similar.||

The tent Id most want to visit ||is either the cloud maze or the stargazer||

: ||all of the characters I dislike were I think written to not be great so I don’t count them in my “hated” list. I don’t like them sure but I don’t hate them lol, idk if that makes sense. I don’t have any hated charcoal for this book yet. Fave characters are definitely Poppet and Widget tho. I love when they make appearances!||

[manic tundra]

end of "the ticking of the clock" - ||👀!!!! ohhh this is so interesting! time is frozen for everyone involved in the circus (except for the twins)?? i'm so intrigued!||

[uncut elk]

literally 2 pages in .. || "Well, fuck." || lol

[brittle latch]

That’s just how you know it’s gonna be an interesting read.

[uncut elk]

oh yeah, im into it just from that 😆

A Gentlemens's Wager || i feel like Hector is a bad dad .. ? 🤔 ||

[manic tundra]

just finished part ii, absolutely loving this book! ||so excited to get some answers. and love the way that marco & celia's skin-to-skin contact was described 🙏 very eager to see what happens next!||

[uncut musk]

Part II - ||The Circus is finally operational. I love the way the various parts are coming together! There's so much to unpack in this Part, it covers so much detail and lays the groundwork for what feels like is the crux of this book. The vagueness of the rules of the competition is irksome for both reader and contestant haha. The Twins are such great characters, the writing really piques your curiosity on how they'll play in to all of this! Aaah the Reveurs are such a cool concept, I love them so much and Herr Thiessen is such a great character 🫶 I'm sad for Tara and curious if the Angel has further meaning later in the story. Also Bailey-Poppet-Widget are such a fun bunch to follow and experience more of the Circus through, I love the varied perspectives so much. Celia knows who Marco is finally and the conversation they have about the circus and the tents, they're so cute. Poor kids.||

[brittle latch]

||SAME. I was so excited to get into P3 today but I just woke up in a mood that wouldn’t allow me to focus on anything.

But I can’t wait to dive back in to it tomorrow, it’s so good!||

[brittle latch]

||Yes to all of this! Especially about Herr. He’s not talked about much but I love him so far! And Pop, Bailey and Widge are definitely a group I want to see more of later on ||

[uncut musk]

i hope you feel like continuing Part III tomorrow :> it's soooo good, I couldn't put the book down. I'm tempted to read Part IV right now but bed is beckoning :3

[manic tundra]

end of "bookkeeping" - ||😱 !!!! omg, i think chandresh might be even more broken after all that 😭||

[pseudo wedge]

🔀 "The Night Circus" does not follow a linear timeline. Did you find the structure of the book disorienting? Do you think it was effective in mirroring the nature of the circus or did it just annoy you?
||Not really? I actually really enjoyed it, it had a chaotic vibe which was really fun to read.what really confused and annoyed me a little was the switch between the so perspectives. I liked them and hated them at the same time. But I think the timeline and different perspectives fit the chaos of the circus really well||

🎪 What was your favorite part of the circus? Which character would you most want to meet? Which tent would you most want to visit? Which food sounded most appealing?
||My favorite part of the cirucs has to be the ice garden, I would totally wanna go to one in real life it sounds so cool!! I think I would want to meet Isobel, love her<3 also I wanna know what my future holds. the tent I would want to go the most would be the illusionist tent because like come on I would watch Celia do her magic stuff all day.||

Any favourite/ hated characters?
||Probably Isobel and Celia, I also really enjoyed the parts where Tsukiko was in it, I can't think of any hated characters currently||

[pseudo wedge]

🦾|| Marco and Celia struggle with balancing the ever-expanding circus. Do you believe this to be a reflection of how we overextend ourselves?||
||yes, I believe it is, I sometimes do this myself||

🪄 ||Like magic, the story is revealed through sleights of hand—juggling the past with the present, hiding pertinent information until the last moment, and providing misdirection. How was the story enhanced (or lessened) by the tricks?||
|| I think with all the different details, especially about the game and the circus it definitely made us gather more about those things, but there was still some things that were left unsaid. so it kinda both enhanced and lessened story||

||Did you feel sorry for those who were being used in the game—Isobel, the Burgess sisters, even Celia and Marco? Why do you think some people, like Mr. Barris, don't mind being trapped by the circus while it drives others, like Tara Burgess, mad?||
||yes, the ones who died I felt even sorry for, maybe because Mr. Barris and others like the limitations that the circus has???||

🌟 How would you rate this book?
I rated this book a solid 4 stars!!

[uncut musk]

Part III - These were great chapters . The plot is really moving forward and ||you can feel the crescendo coming.|| || I love Celia's gown during the anniversary party, that's such a cool concept. Also look at the two of them sneaking of and chatting , glad their relationship moves the way it does, there's that air between them that the magic vibes through them and they've known each other longer than they were acquainted, though I think I would've prefered if Marco had also been in the dark up to the last part when they finally acknowledged each other. Chandresh just unravelling through this part is a hell of a foreshadowing and the pinnacle of his actions is everything, i'm gutted. Lainie actually going to Celia, unlike her sister and the line she drops "Why didn't you stop it before it broke" foreshadowing the Circus' fate, as well as insinuating at Tara's blood being on everyone's hands that is involved with the Circus. Ah poor Isobel, aware of her situation, like many of us, wishfully ignoring and casting blind eyes, I feel for her and it hurts, the actions in a moment of fury and pain, the uncertainty and the wish to unleash it all ;_; Herr Thiessen, further collateral, ah I hate what I feel is gonna happen. And good 'ol Bailey, the mystery of mysteries.||

[red iron]

🔀 i didnt mind it, but i would hv preferred it to be in order
🎪 ||the clock, celia, celia's tent, anything chocolate||
||loved poppet, widget and bailey, hated prospero||

[red iron]

🦾 yes i do think so
🪄 oh i loved ||the tricks. u never know whats around the corner||
yes i do. ||they never asked to be involved in this game, and except for a few, they didnt even know the game existed! and for the second q, i think some ppl want to live in a magical, mystical universe even if its fake, but others prefer a more real existence||
🌟 i rate this book 4.5/5 stars

[brittle latch]

Thirteen: ||so why does Marco not just break up with Isobel instead of hiding from her or stringing her along or whatever he’s doing? It seems a bit cruel. I’m rooting for Isobel and Kiko endgame though ||

[north surge]

Finally starting! I’m so excited to re-read this book after almost 8 years

Anticipation
|| ohhh the subtle second person narration 👀 ||

[north surge]

Magic Lessons
|| those poor kids
they are being prepared to play a game of which they know nothing about and have no saying in if they even want to participate ||

[brittle latch]

Bedtime Stories, Bookkeeping: ||People being able to discern different flowers by scent is always so impressive to me. My senses could never. Also, Bailey and Poppet being besties mah heart Also also, Marcos kinda unhinged omg ||

[manic tundra]

||RIGHT?? that part with marco had me ||

[north surge]

Le Bateleur
|| nice so Marco chose a name for himself. and things seem to go very fast between him and Isobel xD

once again I absolutely love Morgenstern‘s use of language like I did in the Starless Sea. ||

[brittle latch]

I keep hearing of this starless sea, i fear I’m missing out on something extraordinary

An Entreaty: || ooohhhh. I was wondering how Bailey would tie into everything ||

[north surge]

If you like the prose and magical feeling of this book you should definitely check it out

[azure granite]

SS was actually my favorite of the two. It felt more timeless to me

[brittle latch]

P3: ||rip herr thiessen you will always be loved🫂 and chandresh’s steady descent into madness this was just—
and poor Isobel :c i hadn’t realized just how much she was keeping everything at the circus together.
i just read voqs comments on p3 and they are so right about the foreshadowing of what would become, i hadn’t clocked that. Lainie basically saying that her sisters blood was on all of their hands too.
Really glazed through this part, it feels like things (not everything tho) are all finally coming together i can’t wait to continue||

I love going back and reading everyone’s comments after I finish a part! You guys provide some much insight and other perspectives i hadn’t thought of myself while reading

[brittle latch]

Escapement: ||i presume this is the journey that was foretold for him. Also, i fear my paying no mind to the timeline is finally catching up to me because something is definitely afoot.👁👁 ||

[brittle latch]

Impasse: ||calling out Hector and Alexander on their bs love to see it. Alexander seems to care about Marco more than he lets on. I wonder if that’s going to come into play later ||

[gritty hazel]

🔀 It was a little confusing, but I was up for the ride. Which is probably the right attitude for the circus.
🎪 Part of the circus: ||the bad weather party. It felt like the circus family and work friends combination I hoped for. I would have liked to hear what Tara's thoughts were that she never really shared before she died. I'd probably want a reading by Isobel. ||Food? ||Definitely the cinnamon things!||
Favorite characters: Celia, Marco, Isobel...idk, I liked most of them. Hated: the teachers.
Some questions if you've finished:
🦾 Maybe,|| but it was also a competition and the point was to find their limits, so I see this as a different process than enforcing healthy boundaries or work/life balance.||
🪄 ||I honestly got nothing out of the second person sections. It was the most superfical of POVs here. Otherwise, I liked the way you don't know where the circus will be next or what year your next chapter will be.||
Sort of, but ||I commented earlier about how I give them more credit than just being pawns. I think they alluded to the need for belief for magic to work. I think those willing to believe and who enjoyed their belief had the easiest time of it. Those not believing or enjoying had a bad time. They were fighting something hostile.||
🌟 How would you rate this book? 4.5/5⭐

[regal lake]

[regal lake]

🔀 I found it a little confusing in the first few chapters of part I, but I really like it now. It's really easy to mess up a story like this ||where the story isn't always just moving forward||. I haven't read many books, nor watched many anime/movies where it's like this so it just took a bit of time to get used to it I think.
🎪 ||My favorite part is the clock behind the ticket counter. I wanna see that clock so badly irl... I would like to meet Mr A.H./Alexander, that guy is way too interesting. I don't have a tent that I want to visit, but I do want to see that 12 colors of fire thing they did on the opening ceremony. And as far as food goes I don't remember much, the sugar jars I guess? the thing that looked the same but each tastes different, cuz that was the most recent one talked about in the book.||
||Marco is my favorite so far, idk why, I just want him to win. And I get very annoyed whenever Hector makes an appearance||

Also, can I just say, I'm having such a hard time remembering the character names

I keep having to google "the night circus characters" and remind myself of some of the names cuz I keep forgetting them

[regal lake]

The Magician's Umbrella
||So Marco and Celia finally meet. I was thinking Celia wouldn't know about Marco being her opponent until the ending parts of the story||

[uncut elk]

part 1 Primordium
|| so far, I am enjoying how everything is described. I very much dislike Hector. I don't know much about Bailey, but he is sticking out to be my possible favorite character so far. I love how Celia gave him her glove as proof 🥰 feel like they'll be seeing each other again. I am unsure with Marco. I did like him at first. but something is starting to rub me the wrong way .. very curious what this game entails .. ||

[north surge]

I always have to go back and forth and check the dates while reading

[uncut elk]

that's starting to become apparent to me cos I was just thrown off by something

[uncut elk]

okay so I think there's 2 characters I don't like .. || Hector & Isobel. think she's going to get in the way or really screw things up .. ||

[north surge]

Auditory
|| so this is where Marco and Celia first meet?
do they know they’re playing a game against each other? wouldn’t the man who chose Marco know? but he’s not there, isn’t he?

the names and who is who is still quite confusing ||

Stratagem
|| okay, there are my answers ||

[uncut elk]

The Ticking of the Clock
|| Tara is really on to something questioning if it feels like a dream .. 👀👀🤔 ||

[north surge]

Done with part 1

[uncut elk]

hmm I'm having a thought while almost done part 2 .. || is it really all a dream state? like the acts and whatnot? Bailey being able to see the tents and whatnot but no one's there (being day time) and how you normally sleep at night .. hmm .. I had more thought put into it but having a hard time writing it out .. the time line thing i now see screws that theory up, maybe? .. ||

Cartomancy
ohhh .. okay .. || so it was poppet with the red hair, Bailey didn't meet Celia like I had thought before .. ||

but wait .. || the twins names weren't ever mentioned when they were born, right? Poppet and Widget were only nicknames, right? ||

[red iron]

||i think their names were mentioned in the chp they were born||

[uncut elk]

ahh you're right yes yes

I thought I was on to something 😅

this book really pulled me in fast!

[north surge]

Oneiromancy
|| the circus sounds amazing, i really wanna go there and experience it myself 😩 ||

[fading scroll]

||LOL I had thought the same
I went a teeny bit farther correcting Isobel in my mind that it was Celia and not Poppet||

[uncut elk]

|| i've created a mission to figure out wtf is going on before getting to the end! 🤣 ||

like legit i was in the kitchen getting food and that thought popped into my head and i ran to the living room to type out that thought lol running and thinking I HAVE TO TELL OBC!!! 🤣

[fading scroll]

||you will! I’ve found this book a lot more comprehensible and clearer than Erin’s other book The Starless Sea||

[uncut elk]

do they go hand in hand at all?

[fading scroll]

Not really, there might be some similar elements but they’re both quite different, at least imo

[uncut elk]

ah ok. might check that one out sometime then ..|| im really enjoying the description of things .. surprised it doesn't feel overwhelming or too much to me||

might be because im really into what is all being described and would be a world i would love to live in

[fading scroll]

Okay this might be a weird representation but the first image is how The Night Circus felt to me and the second is The Starless Sea

Each has a mystical enchanting vibe to it but somehow just feels different

[uncut elk]

oh shit. that actually makes sense to me without reading the other one

[north surge]

Chaperoned
|| magic twins! ||

Wishes and Desires
|| poor Isobel. she clearly loves Marco and he… it’s complicated ||

[uncut elk]

i hope i can finish today. i had to stop for work but will have a solid 1.5 hour to get pages in before picking my kids up

[brittle latch]

https://tenor.com/view/slander-meme-memes-funny-whiteboard-gif-22147047

P4 is realllllyyy doing my head in wait wait wait

[uncut elk]

oh boy .. can't wait for that 😂

[uncut elk]

Movement
oh no .. || Tara's death .. she was so close .. damn this gray man .. ||

[brittle latch]

Finished and all I can say is… what a ride.

Too much is bumbling around in my head to put in words right now

[uncut elk]

part 2
|| okay, that was a lot that happend and to process .. the last part-the interaction with Marco and Celia, i want to believe it's sincere and there are mutual feelings for each other, i just feel like one of them has ill intentions. i absolutely adore Poppet and Widget and really curious to see how that whole timeline with Bailey and them line up. i feel bad because at first i didn't like Isobel, i don't mind her now but something the twins said about her being in love with someone who wasn't real or was a dream or however it was worded, keeps bringing me back to Tara's dream concept .. i wana know what is going on !!! ||

[fading scroll]

these are literally the exact same thoughts I’d had while reading like I’m not even kidding

[uncut elk]

are you a Pisces?

[fading scroll]

no, I’m a Scorpio but I guess we’re just water-sisters?

[uncut elk]

seriously! our thought process says a lot about our character i feel 😆

oh man i cant wait to finish this

[uncut elk]

omfg .. that moment half way ththrough the book I realize Mme. Padava, the Mme isn't a drug out "me" it's abbreviated for Madame 🤣🤣🤣🤣

ooh I can't stop laughing

[azure granite]

Lmao

[neat tree]

I literally had the same revelation

[uncut musk]

aaaaaah i haven't finished yet. work and irl got in the way. i left myself at a cliffhanger near ptIV's end

[lime mauve]

finished!!

[lime mauve]

🔀 ||i spot this style of writing in a few different fantasy / mystery books. i'm meh about it. i think it's effective to keep you going but it's hard to keep track.||
🎪 ||i want to see the illusionist hahah and the ice garden and the cloud maze. and not in the circus, but the garden marco designed at chandresh's house he created in celia's mind.||
||i didn't care for isobel at first but i like her a lot now. i adore tsukiko. she's so cool.||
🦾 ||never through about this but i do find the contrast between the bonfire powering half of it and celia carrying it all with herself such a fun way to talk about endurance.||
🪄 ||aslkdjf i think it was to create suspense? short sentences for cliffhanger effects or poppet's stargazing as a hint to keep the reader invested? i'm not sure if the plot became more magical but i do think it suits the story given that even the main characters don't know what's going on||
||i felt bad for everyone that didn't have a choice. they got wrapped up in a brutal game with lots of reprecussions. tsukiko joined for herself but everyone else just had to deal with not aging and outgrowing their family and friends outside of the circus for a job HAHAHA. i feel especially bad for tara because i still think alexander killed her but mr. barris seems like a cool guy. would love to befriend. hhaha||

⭐ rating it 3.8/5 ? i guess

[molten plover]

📖 Is this your first time reading, or will this be a reread? Any expectations?

*It's been my all-time favourite book for forever. It's a reread. I look forward to falling in love with the characters all over again. *

🌟 Have you read The Starless Sea? If yes, did you enjoy it?

*I haven't let myself finish Starless Sea because I like knowing that I still have more of Erin's book to read. I don't want to get to the end lol. *

Are you a dreamer or a realist?

*I'm 100% dreamer lol. I recently found out that Erin Morgenstern has a tarot deck she created while writing The Night Circus! It's called Phantomwise! I just bought the deck this week!!! Feeding the dreamer within me. *

💜 When do you plan on reading? (I hope you get loads of cozy time to teleport yourself into the magical realm of The Night Circus

I'll likely take my time and finish at the 11th hour lol

[uncut elk]

I am so glad you shared that with me cos I felt like an idiot 🤣🤣🤣 I showed my bf a page and I was like what does that say?! nd he said the same thing and I was screaming laughing it was Madame 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻‍♀️

[uncut elk]

part 3
|| 😱😱😱😱😱 .. I knew Isobel was guna screw shit up. I didn't like her, then felt bad for not liking her, now, wtf .. omg how is this going to end?!! ||

[north surge]

Cartomancy
|| I’m really enjoying the Bailey chapters, I want more of those ||

Temporary Places
|| she dies?? ||

[north surge]

Tête-à-tête
|| so Celia and Marco finally meet officially and Celia realises he’s her opponent…
and then there’s immediately a magical dick-measuring contest to show of their skills ||

[uncut elk]

I've finished...

Some questions if you've finished:
🦾 || yes, I think it's easy to get wrapped up in things without fully looking around taking everything in. there's always a balance in life, work/family/social/self care .. each tent could represent different aspects in one's life. some tents you don't pay attention to, others too much attention too, some you don't notice .. ||
🪄 || 1st sentenceread, and the final sentence read .. 🤯 .. it really held to bulding the suspense and not giving away the whole trick at once .. ||
|| i felt bad for those who were clueless and didnt have a say in the matter. for other's ignorance is bliss, or their previous lives didnt hold up to what was contained within the tents ||
🌟 How would you rate this book?
I believe this has quickly become a new overall favorite book I have ever read. 5/5 from me. the writing, the descriptions, the characters, the twists, the magic .. perfection in my eyes. I would for sure run away and join the night circus.

wow .. just .. wow.

[regal lake]

it's 1am right now and I'm about to binge read this book

currently at page 183

[azure granite]

I love your username and how it fits in with this update lol

[manic tundra]

end of part iii/3 -||😱!!! murder! a vanished circus! a theft! i genuinely have no idea what will happen now. can't wait to find out!||

[regal lake]

I am honored

but unfortunately I was kinda tired yesterday and I fell asleep after reading a few pages

Ailuromancy: ||This was a really nice chapter. It felt more like a relaxed hangout of three friends. I like the Murray twins, and find Widget's power quite interesting. I kinda want to skip chapters and read the next night when Bailey returns (if he does return, that is).||

[north surge]

An Entreaty
|| Come on Bailey, you have to go with them!! ||

[north surge]

Intersections II: Scarlet Furies and Red Destinies
|| nooo not Herr Thiessen
i guess this is the moment everything starts to fall apart ||

Farewell
|| how long did he wait to miss the Circus depart?? oh no no no ||

[north surge]

Suspended
|| Bailey saves the day ||

[north surge]

I’m done
I loved it

🔀 I love that about Morgenstern‘s books, it just works. || Yes, I sometimes had to go back and check the year at the beginning of each chapter, but I feel like this non-linearity is the perfect way to experience the story. ||
🎪 I‘d love to meet Celia, I want to visit her tent and also Isobel‘s and actually just see what I’m stumbling upon.
I love Bailey and twins tbh. Also Herr Thiessen.

🦾 I don’t think that deeply about books
🪄 || While it is confusing at first and sometimes throws one off while reading it is also very rewarding to figure out how things are connected||
|| While I do feel sorry about most of the people just being pawns and side effects of a bigger game, it also created something beautiful.
I feel sorry for Celia and Marco tho because they never had a choice in anything. ||

🌟 Going with 5/5

[manic tundra]

finished! ||wow, i loved that ending! the way they showed how much time had passed/how long the circus had endured just by the email address. really liked how things tied together at the end, it was very satisfying and felt like the mystery paid off. great read!||

[manic tundra]

🦾 ||not particularly? beyond the 'putting too much of yourself into a project/relationship' aspect, i guess||
🪄 ||i think it was absolutely enhanced by withholding information until it was necessary. it kept me engaged and guessing 'what will happen next' until the very end. and it made the payoff of that email address (for example) sooo satisfying||
||i felt the most pity for isobel, who was only there for a man she believed loved her. as far as characters' reactions to being 'trapped' went, i think it makes sense that they wouldn't all react in the same way. just as people react to situations differently, some would see it as a blessing, others as a curse, etc||
🌟 i rated it 4/5 stars. ||gorgeous book with great writing, but imo it suffered slightly from a slow pace||

[brittle latch]

Answering the finishing questions:
🦾 || I didn’t think about that but I don’t see it that way.||
🪄 ||i liked that we could bring things together and figure everything out at the same time with the characters. The satisfaction of kind of predicting stuff or having just some crazy things you didn’t expect to happen, happen was a fun experience. ||
||Yes, we didn’t get the point of view of all the circus members but the ones we did see showed that they were really struggling with grasping what was becoming of them and Isobel deserved BETTER!! I think Mr. Bariss says himself at some point that he finds it easier to accept these things than most. Also Mr. A H at the end even said that all things must come to an end, the prospect of immortality seems appealing to some but even they grow tired of it in time, imagine being subject to it against your will? I ||
🌟 4/5 I had a fun time.

||i saw someone say Marco was their favorite character earlier and I laughed cause I think I was actively rooting against him at one point 😂||

[regal lake]

finished Part II (Tete a Tete)
||Did the two of them just have hand s**??? This was probably my most favorite chapter so far, idk why. The finally shared some of their secrets. I really liked Marco, and now I like him even more. Can't wait to see how the challenge progresses from here on.||

[fading scroll]

LOL saaaame
I|| mean it’s not that I dislike him but as a character there was a point where I couldn’t just get him, especially when it felt like he’s just stringing Isobel along||

[regal lake]

Thirteen
||I wonder if Widget saw anything from Alexander's past, tho I doubt he would let his guard down||

Bedtime Stories
||This chapter was interesting. So now this circus even has places hidden that only people who pay extra attention to the tents will find||

Bookkeeping
||Marco is my favorite... but I hope he doesn't start changing people memories easily and stuff just for the sake of Celia or the challenge||

||Also now there's someone who killed Tara?? But how did Laine know that? Honestly I don't care about that much||

Ok, now back to reading

[uncut musk]

Part IV - I finally found time to finish reading this part || OFC the ever mysterious Kiko was a past participant and yet throughout this part her motivations still manage to remain enigmatic yet her façade shows signs of cracks, too well done. Aaah Bailey encountering and joining the reveurs is such great progression to his story, I love this so much. They way they embrace this teenager, travelling alone, recognizing his pure love for the circus, welcome him into the club, the legacy of Herr Thiessen ❣️ , and how he realizes the true scope of the circus' influence on people, the way they are enraptured by this travelling wonder! And ah Isobel, the tragedy that was her character, I find myself unable to forgive Marco, the manipulation was clear, no matter what he may say to deflect (he never said he loved her), regardless that magic is involved, Isobel was another casualty of the game, a great one at that. I feel for her pain, and it stings very differently to the rest of the tragedies in the book. And the plot is slowly sown together, Bailey being the new caretaker has such great symbolism tying into his previous dilemmas and personality. I'm sad to move on to Part V ||

[uncut musk]

Part V - || Ah Chandresh, what a ride it's been. I love the fact that Poppy is the one to interact with him and the prospect of the museum. I'm not going to lie, I'm curious about the museum now... Widget and Alexander's conversation was great and an interesting penultimate piece. The answers and the musings that Alexander provides along with Widgets witty demeanor make for a great read in this final part of the book. I also really love the narrator walks us out of the circus at the end, it's very well done and a rare attribute in books to usher in a finality with what is almost empathy haha. It's a weird feeling.||

[uncut musk]

||Justice for Isobel And what A.H. says is such a blow to the normalized romanticizing of immortality, which is in perspective a prison that makes an unwitting prisoner of those who seek it regardless if they achieve it or not, to the point that the involuntary act of it is unjust imprisonment ||

[regal lake]

Stormy Seas
||"When all of this is over, no matter which one of us wins, I will not let you go easily. Agreed?" I hope this was not a read flag 💀 ||

[regal lake]

LMAOOOO

idk why but Widget saying ||"Should we kidnap him"|| is the most funny and adorable thing ever

I actually laughed out loud reading this page

I love Widget, everyone does

Intersections II
||wtf just happened???||

[uncut elk]

the relationship between Poppet and Widget 🥰

[uncut musk]

Some questions if you've finished:
🦾||That feels like a part of it, at least in the context of overextending ourselves for others/love/ambitions. There's a lot of parallels one can take from the symbolism of their relationship with the circus and this is definitely a deeper one :D||
🪄 ||This is a great question! I feel it added an extra charm and really gave it life. Much like any of the tricks, if you weren't careful you could miss details and the cohesion and if you were you could see the slow move of the hand into the pocket and out as it all fell into place and slowly the overarching plot came together!||
a. ||The slow realization that Tara reached was heartbreaking and her end was tragic. Isobel herself was a tragic persona throughout the book, as a lot of what transpired involving her was foreshadowed early in the book and Marco's behavior was very telling. Celia and Marco of course are unwitting participants, as the competition and their upbringing is pure coercive control on the part of their guardians.||
b.|| I think it has to do in part with having already been part to it and just succeeding all control, just being a cog. At the same time, it feels like it fulfills certain people, who want to be a cog of some greater machine or feel like they are contributing to something great and they find exaltation in this. Though others like Tara, see the machine or cause for what it is and realise the lack of control they have in the matter and the awareness that this is larger than they are which scares them, though it also delves into their unconsenting involvement, the effects it has on them and alludes to the eventuality of death and wishing for an end of things rather, the one human certainty, memento mori and how living on made her life emptier. The contrast of the characters of Tara - Lainie - Ethan was fascinating as they respectively form a spectrum.||
🌟 5/5. It charmed me. I really loved this book from start to finish.

[warped crescent]

Taking me forever to focus but I'm about a quarter of the way through

[near fable]

I started it a couple of days ago and finished it last night. Since it was a reread the reading experience is definitely different and i could appreciate this book a bit more than when i first read it. also excuse my lack of comments, i was sick and couldn't be bothered to write down any, so i'll just answer the questions

end of book spoilers
🔀 It was a bit confusing at first but since i first read i've read even more confusing books, so i thought it was very interesting. ||i'm not sure what it did to the plot/story really, but it added to the mystery of the circus i think? How everything goes in circles and all.. ||
||I don't have any faves or characters i hated.. everyone did some things i didn't like but nothing that would make me hate them. I liked Celia and Isobel a lot this time around||
🦾 ||yes, probably. It's a huge task to keep the circus balanced and they're supposed to compete rather than work together.. so maybe because they're always trying to outperform the other it can get dangerous if they don't consider how much the circus and the people tied to it can take?||
🪄 ||it was confusing but also sorta fun to have things revealed one by one like that. it adds to the mystery and magic of the circus maybe? and maybe it also reflects the secrets the characters themselves are keeping from each other||
||yes!! honestly, it's never a good thing using people and it's an endless cycle too because celia and marco also end up using people... I think it's got to do with one's personality. Some people feel comfortable with staying in just one place forever, discovering new and exciting things within that space while others hate it. They want to be outside of it, to have the freedom to go anywhere they want to and not have to do and look at the same thing all the time? ||
🌟 i rated it 3 stars this time around!!

Thanks for hosting, hanzy

[warped crescent]

Illuminations; Opening Night 1
||POPPET AND WYDGET OML This is so cute||

[fading scroll]

thanks for joining Lae, I hope you’re feeling better today! 💜

https://tenor.com/view/love-gif-25904467

Here’s a little hug

[livid spire]

I started reading this today The first few chapters (finished at A Gentleman's Wager as I'm typing this) are just such a good introduction. Perfect setting and descriptions just This is going to be my comfort read and I'm so excited to binge the rest with a nice hot drink and blankets. || I love how immediately it lays out the personalities of Hector and 'Man in grey suit' I'll call him for now lol, and the relationship of Hector and Celia; already showing the kind it will continue to be maybe who knows reaallyy || It's a perfect book for my mind rn.

[warped crescent]

Illuminations, Tasting
||I hate to say it but so far I'm actually a bit bored. ||

[regal lake]

I feel like it's a story that gets better as the story progresses, so I suggest you stick with it a little longer. I was also a bit bored during the first two parts, but I definitely think it gets better

[regal lake]

finished reading it last night, it was pretty good, but I don't like the ending

[regal lake]

🦾 ||No, not really. And even if it did I wouldn't think of it as a great way to portray it. Of course they were struggling to balance the circus, it was mainly the two of them only who were keeping a circus like that alive. I mean... look what happened when the fire Marco lit went out.||
🪄 ||I didn't think about anything at all while reading it so I don't have anything to say about this. I just read it (mostly) before sleeping every night and just tried having a good time.||
||I did care until Herr Thiessen died... I liked that guy...||
🌟 4.00/5 - I had a fun time, but I didn't think it was a perfect story, far from it, but it was quite good

[warped crescent]

I will! I'm just having a little trouble with motivation - I won't DNF it.

[fading scroll]

This BR ends on the 17th so there’s still quite some time
You’ve got this!

[warped crescent]

|| I so desperately want to like this, about 200 pages in and my feelings haven't changed much. The aesthetic is nice? But I don't really care much about anything that's going on.||

[livid spire]

I understand this, it's how I felt on my first read || Somewhere they start to focus on different characters and that's where it lost me because it didn't give me the basis to actually care about any of them properly. There's a lot of roundabout bits of the game and the rules are very...vague? for a good portion of it which can be fine but it's kind of difficult to care about. ||

I haven't got that far yet on this read cause life || but I'm not excited to get to that specific part. The theme at first is perfect for me, the aesthetic and all and the writing....but I have those hazy memories of the midway struggle ||

[warped crescent]

||I barely understand what this game is or why I should care; like I understand it's all very "ooh secretive and they sort of know that they're opponents" but like... why does this matter? What is the long standing scope of what this competition even is? As far as I can pull together magic is very much real and it's something that takes a lot of dedication to get good with - the circus owner knows that it's real but doesn't care and is more interested in making it seem like it's not so is allowing it to happen as a neutral party. I think my issue is that a lot of these chapters have the energy of vagueposting? If that makes sense? ||

[azure granite]

Yeah, you have to kind of be ok with not knowing what’s going on when you read this and Starless Sea and accept that it’s not going to be fully explained for a long long time

[livid spire]

Yess || I can't tell if it was purposely done this way by the author or not. There is a very vague air to a lot of things in the book and not much if barely anything is explained to you, which I don't mind as long as it's done really well ||

[warped crescent]

Don't get me wrong I'm not going to TBR and I'm not trying to hate on it but|| it's very verbose for explaining things that could be done much more simply? It's not even that I hate flowery books - the atmosphere is fantastic and so easy to picture but if you legitimately held me at gunpoint and said "describe 5 characters from this book that you are 200+ pages in with their correct names", I might get shot because I can only manage 2 off the top of my head. (Isobel and Marco if you were wondering). ||

[livid spire]

For my third time reading this book though all I can say is || apart from the two "main characters" and a couple side characters everything else with the story is a bit of a blurred memory and that might be because of the vagueness and late late explained stuff it really is the writing style and theme that sold the book to me||

[livid spire]

Okay yeah I completely get that, I remember reading one of the first chapters and seeing a line thinking... ||."well we didn't need to write something that could one sentence as five instead...did we? ||

[neat tree]

^^ ||I really liked how vague and mysterious it was, though I didn’t know all of the characters until I want to say 75%-ish(?) through. It’s kind of like that (with the whole five sentences instead of one) the entire book, but I enjoyed the magical feeling of the prose. I can see how some people wouldn’t love it though haha.||

[warped crescent]

In Loving Memory Of...
||Oh fuck something happened. ||

[crude wagon]

finally starting this lol

[regal lake]

I also got confused with the names a lot of times. ||I especially about Alexander and... shit what was his name again... anyways, it's Celia's dad. I mixed up the names of those two a lot of times while reading it.||

||I fucking hate Celia's dad btw||

[north surge]

|| Alexander is A.H. or the man in the grey suit and the guy who adopted Marco.
Celia‘s dad is Hector Bowen or Prospero the Enchanter||

[regal lake]

Yes, I know that now that I have finished the story. But while I was reading the first two or three parts, I was quite confused, that's what I meant

[livid spire]

I did finish this read over the weekend, I am sorry for not updating
🔀 The timeline gets a little better with every read, at the beginning I love the way in which the author writes the time passing very simply. It gets a little iffy later on but definitely now less confusing than the first time. || I'm not sure if it was done on purpose but I think it definitely correlates with "the circus arrives without warning, it is simply there when yesterday it was not", the going back and forth and sometimes randomness of it. ||
🎪 I think my favourite part might be || the Labyrinth or the Ice Garden||. The character I would most want to meet is probably either Herr Thiessen or Celia? I liked their characters most I suppose. With my sweet tooth I really should stay away from the food All this cinnamon, caramel, chocolate stuff..I would take it all.
So I remember I originally and still quite like the characters of Herr Thiessen and sometimes Celia. || I say sometimes because this time around there was a little less love for her...but I did like from the get go she had her temper as a sort of weakness with her magic and her failures that took a toll on her. For Thiessen I just really loved him and idek why, his clocks sound so beautifully crafted and I love crafty people Also I really liked his friendship with Celia. I noticed that in my previous reads I liked Marco a lot more than this read, he seemed a lot more...childish than I remembered, in his decisions (treatment of Isobel especially) and around Celia. I also liked Tsukiko but a lot of the other characters I still don't care much for reading about.||

[livid spire]

🦾 - || I think they definitely took on a lot more than they could both handle, it was interesting to see how they both did it their own way - Celia having a more hands on approach to things, etc. and with the fate of the circus and everyone in it and everyone who loved it in danger I suppose it became even more difficult. So it goes for the challenge I suppose, they were both being used until they were no longer useable. ||
🪄 - || This was mentioned before but the vagueness of the story I think ties into this question. Everything is kind of not as it seems, things aren't revealed much if even at all until the very last moment and while I do think it could work in advantage to the story in some areas, in others it caused a bit of a drag of words to get through. When it worked it worked but when it didn't it got a little boring. ||
- || I did feel sorry for them, they really didn't deserve any of it. The characters almost become a family but the constant weight of this game definitely pulled at all of them a little in one way or another. Especially at Celia and Marco who were tied to it. I've seen it mentioned a lot about the belonging and the wanting freedom and I completely agree with that stance. Perhaps there was also a fear to it, some of them knew magic was very much real but the majority of the world does not, I wonder if that too plays into it. ||
🌟 - I would still rate this book a 3.5/4. The vibes are really the driving force to this book for me, it's a 'sub-genre' I don't see much or at least not so beautifully written, and although sometimes it can be a little flowery I still very much enjoyed the writing especially in the context of this story.

[fading scroll]

I need to share my thoughts soon too! I’ve been procrastinating way too much plus I finally feel somewhat okay so yeah

[fading scroll]

Nothing to apologise for Sinaa
Thank you for joining!

[crude wagon]

le bateleur ||??????? how they already kissing bruh im annoyed||

||i do not like marco||

ailuromancy ||what is with the insta love in this book.. crink||

halfway thru and so far its vry interesting ||i dislike insta love lol||

[warped crescent]

Finally done and that was a very ||mid experience. ||
||It was just OK. It felt like a slog a lot of the time - the atmosphere was consistently good, the writing is well-written but so flowery- regularly I felt my eyes just glancing the long sections of text that were purely description. It also kind felt a little bit like it was padding itself to almost meet a word count at times??? Like there was the page where Bailey was trying to get into the Circus following the thing with the bonfire and it went on for a whole page and a half about him being too big to fit through the gate and being wary about scaling the sides. Like that could have been accomplished in like a paragraph... ||
||Honestly I kind of only really enjoyed Widget on a consistent level. Has anyone ever watched Black Butler before? It's kinda like that- long swathes of nothing happening then occasional interesting developments that happen for a chapter or half a chapter then it's back to nothing all that interesting (also set in the second half of the 19th century lmao). It's inoffensive and long I suppose? I don't really understand the hype but I don't understand the hate necessarily either. The story is fine but it feels like it drags forever to actually get anywhere. It's got a big focus on whimsy and aesthetic which in itself is a bit enjoyable. The romance isn't anything that I'd really write home about - I preferred Bailey and Poppet as opposed to Celia and Marco (LOOK AT ME REMEMBERING NAMES) but there was definite instant love vibes for both? Which is pretty eh. I'm glad that I got this off my TBR and I can form a proper opinion about it but far too much of reading this felt like a chore which occasional moments of excitement.||

[fading scroll]

lol, what’s ||insta love?|| I don’t think I’ve heard of it before

[crude wagon]

its just ||when people fall in love immediately after seeing each other with no explaination. i hate it so much lol||

[fading scroll]

Oh okay I get it

[azure granite]

Is it the same as ||love at first sight? Or slightly different?||

[crude wagon]

||yay love at first sight and insta love are the same ||

[azure granite]

Gotcha

And who fell prey to ||insta love, Marco and Isobel, or Marco and Celia?||

[uncut elk]

^I'd say all 3 in their own ways

[warped crescent]

For sure; I think that ||Marco and Celia are the most egregious though -it was out of nowhere "we're opponents but I love you". At least with Poppet and Bailey it recovers itself by having them spend time together and work towards a more authentic thing. ||

[azure granite]

I just don’t think attraction is the same as love

I feel like we read different books lol

[warped crescent]

It's not really perfect though, maybe I'm bias because I found ||Poppet and Bailey|| more interesting. I didn't really find much personality in|| Celia and Marco outside of stoic, twee and traumatized.||

[azure granite]

Hey that’s my emotional support ||stoic traumatized twee!|| jk jk

Is that how you spell stoic? It looks so weird now

[warped crescent]

||I did feel awful for them in regards to their mentors though - I can't tell which one was worse but they were both sociopathic. Is it worse to be physically/mentally abused to learn healing magic or completely ignored/treated as an automaton for the majority of your life? I'm pretty sure Alexander didn't even know Marco's name until he was in his mid 20s. Hypothetical question of course, it's all awful.||

[gritty hazel]

Re Marco and Celia I saw it more as ||trauma bonding ||

[crude wagon]

up to an entreaty ||like vaude said this is very mid to read ngl lol also all this insta love like im so annoyed its making it hard to enjoy the book ||

[crude wagon]

yesyesyes ||i agree with everything especially the long stretches of nothing, the book was fairly boring with a lot of nothing happening||

[azure granite]

I’m not trying to argue just for the sake of arguing ||and I get people didn’t like the romance, but how is like 300 pages of highly descriptive magic and performance nothing?!? There were murders and and the whole thing nearly exploded, like what more do you want? Again, no offense intended and if you don’t like it you don’t like it, but how do you justify saying nothing happened? Things most assuredly did happen||

[fading scroll]

While I do agree with you Kit, I ||think for someone who’s into plot-driven or plot-centred storylines, Erin Morgenstern’s books might not work… I mean I’ve loved them both, but I’m also really someone who lives for the experience.

So perhaps they wanted some action like a show-down or something, but yes, I can’t fathom how saying ‘nothing happened’ can be justified||

[azure granite]

Agreed, it’s not plot driven

[warped crescent]

||It's not so much that things didn't happen - perhaps I've put forward the wrong impression on what it was like for me going through this - So I think it's a case where I'm a strong proponent for show, don't tell. I will 100% agree that Morgenstern did an incredible job describing the wonder and magic of the circus. Her elaborate descriptions of the world and all of the performers is lovely (overly-verbose or not). The problem is that the plot and character development takes places mostly through dialogue only. Most of the significant plot twists were revealed by one character just saying it to another, which killed a lot of the momentum/suspense for me. I had the same problem with the character development. There was practically no exposition to give insight into these characters, no sense that they acted with reason beyond the need to do what the story says to do. They didn't feel real. I guess if we're getting meta and we're enjoying the characters like performers on stage- I get that.||

||It's a really weird thing to review; I've read some really insubstantial, poorly written and awful things - this is not one of them but I think the crux of the problem is that I just didn't care. Hence my review as mid. Things did happen - When things did happen I was elated! Things are happening! Finally! Then the thing would stop happening and it would go back to being about descriptions for another 6 chapters and I would miss the things happening because I enjoy this setting but I'd just like to have things happen in it.||
||A massive problem for people going in moderately blind and just off what the blurb promises is that the blub is just lies. This isn't a plot or character driven book, it's a setting driven book but it's not really...pitched as such on the blurb, so that's a lot of where it just falls short and sets itself up to fail. I don't need constant thrills to be drawn into a book; but I do need to either care about what's happening/the characters/the stakes. Great example in comparison; Legends and Lattes was a book I read last month that I didn't care for immensely but had an easier time with- again it's twee and built on vibes kind of like The Night Circus but I gave a shit about the characters and what they were doing because it wasn't given to me in the same energy as vagueposting. There's a romance in that which feels authentic because it doesn't come across as sudden and simply is. The stakes are moderate to low but I care because I don't want the characters I like to have a bad time. With the Night Circus it was like "oh no, the competition? Uh I don't want them to lose I guess, maybe? I want them to win? Oh no I don't because one of them has to die apparently for it to end? Ok then." That's without getting into the issue of what would happen if they just played it slowly, Tsukiko and Hinata's competition went on for like 30+ years and only because Hinata ended it herself. Nothing really says that either of them has to die, they kind of just went along with that conclusion even though nothing is really said of what would happen if they just did but that comes under the umbrella of nothing really being truly explained about it all so hey-o.||

Extract from the blurb I read going into this:

||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||

[azure granite]

I get that, it’s a big part of the reason why I don’t read blurbs anymore

[warped crescent]

But like when it's pitched that way, even the start of the book is kind of erring on the side of being a little bit like that, it's easy to feel a bit deceived about what you're going in for when it starts to peter off into the much more slow-paced and atmospheric tone that it holds. I'm not even a massive fan of blurbs but when it comes to BR's and stuff it's all I really have to go off of.
Like I said, I wouldn't even say that I disliked it? I'm just hoping to shed a bit of light on what it's like when you enjoy the dressing but it's not enough. This extract from a review sums it up wonderfully about how I feel about it; plus it talks about cake.

||...a gorgeous wedding cake, covered in fondant and appliques, is only gorgeous until you cut into it, take a bit, and realize, hmmm. It's pretty and all, but you could do with a bit less artifice and a bit more of the good stuff. The cake part.||

||The Night Circus is a wedding cake with fondant that goes nearly all the way down. It is an exceptionally pretty cake -- captivating, intensely visual, ornate and delicately constructed, with unruly swirls of black and white and surprising splashes of vivid red. But what is underneath? Oh, there it is... a little bit of cake, way down at the bottom. It's pretty good, too. Light, airy, a hint of chocolate and smoke. But all that sculpted icing has lodged in your throat, and it's kind of hard to swallow.||

[azure granite]

I’m legit never going to rec this book to anyone now. This experience has been heartbreaking lol

[warped crescent]

Don't be discouraged because good books for book clubs are the ones that stimulate conversation - there's a reason this book is either on 5 ⭐ or 1 ⭐ and it's part of the fun! No word of a lie every time I see it on BookTok it's either "books that changed my life" or "books that belong in the trash", it's wild!!! Polarizing books are the shit. I hosted It Ends With Us last year - hated every second of it but there were other readers that were having a blast. HELL YEAH. That's what we want! If anything I'd put this down as a riveting success.

[brittle latch]

Vaude the way you explain things scratches itches in my brain I didn’t know I had.

[azure granite]

I do thank you for taking the time to explain your viewpoint

[warped crescent]

Ofc! I never want to come across as rude or dismissive; only to do my best to share how I engaged with a book. I went back and saw everyone's reviews at the end of their reads too and I really really love seeing how the journeys differed between people and it makes my heart very full.

[crude wagon]

yesyes everything that vaude said i agree with lol

[fading scroll]

@near fable @warped crescent @north surge @dusky girder @short sky @red iron @gritty hazel @polar palm @azure granite @foggy plaza @crude wagon @fading scroll @pseudo wedge @lime mauve @molten plover @livid spire @ashen beacon @obsidian solstice @uncut elk @manic tundra @uncut musk @brittle latch @regal lake @drifting fractal @slate umbra @loud knoll @dusky temple @winged glen @south rain @molten tartan @tidal torrent @unique cypress

Hello lovely readers! This will be the final ping from me as our BR ends soon (in like 5 days). It's been quite a ride BR-ing this book with you all and I have enjoyed reading every thought and comment shared here

Just to make sure;

**Those that have finished and discussed: **Amanda, Kit, KristiCatStorm, Sophie!, Mz.Cord, ravenclaw_bookworm, cen, butterscotch, Nyxtheia, Katto, windflowering, Voq, Laelia, Coffee, Sinaa, Vaude (lmk if I've missed anyone )

Alchemist, have you started? (asking cuz you've answered some questions but haven't specified if you're reading, lmk)

Northskys, have you finished? I saw you mention you were close to the end but I just wanted to make sure you've finished)

Still reading: iggy (I'm not sure if you're done reading as you haven't specified, do lmk)

**Finished but hasn't discussed: **hanzy

Special shout-out to blueyuppy1! I know you haven't joined the BR but have interacted with those reading and it was just nice having you around

Thank you so much for joining! Hope you have a nice day/night

Also Vaude, thank you so much for taking the time out to explain, the cake analogy just hits
Also yes, the blurb of the book (I just checked) is waaaaay off

Having read and loved The Starless Sea, all I wanted was to read more of the author's works and I'm glad I hadn't checked the blurb now

[azure granite]

I was like, hanzy discussed, and then I was like oh wait, you’re hanzy!

[crude wagon]

oh sorry ! yeah ive finished the book

[fading scroll]

it feels like I have since I’d been mentally discussing with everyone

I shall write my final thoughts down tomorrow

[azure granite]

Thanks for leading hanzy! You did a great job!

[neat tree]

Yes, thank you so much! I had a ton of fun reading your guys’s takes on it and talking!

[warped crescent]

For sure thanks so much for hosting it, I had a blast and I'm so glad that I got to clear it from my TBR with some friends I realize now that I didn't actually answer your questions so I'll do that now!

🔀 ||I have polarizing feelings where I didn't love the way that the timelines were not linear and I had to flip back a handful of times to see where I was in the scale BUT it fit the structure of how the story was written so it's not something I can complain about much.||
🎪 Honestly I like the cosy atmosphere around the front gate and the wandering performers in concept. The twins are the most approachable for sure. I'd probably like to visit Isobel's tent though. As for food I was trying to remember anything that was more savoury - I think I'd go with the mice because they seemed the least sweet and I like liquorice.
I think it goes without saying that everyone hated ||the mentors|| (though I did find ||Prospero|| a very interestingly written character). I loved ||the twins|| best.

🦾 ||Sure I can totally see that! There's likely a direct allegory for being raised to be perfect and their desperate need to not only prove their magical prowess but the ingrained overextension for constant improvement and I guess need to keep going bigger.||
🪄 ||I won't go into too much detail about how this choice in storytelling didn't click for me because I already brought it up in some previous posts - I think that it's completely accurate that the choices in how the story is told were meant to be complimentary to the setting and it definitely achieved that goal even if it wasn't particularly pleasing to me.||
||Honestly yes! This was probably the most interesting aspect of the whole book - more or less bound into a state of a constant unaging performance where you're always semi-sure that something isn't right and even if you find out what's happening it's not clear how to even escape it outside of leaving it - which in of itself isn't exactly straightforward. I guess the reaction to the truth and how it affects people in the long term depends on what someone would feel like to know that they can no longer age? I think that the affects on the mind may bit a similar to being in a Groundhog Day-esque loop - wouldn't you feel yourself start to slip if you were doing the same perfomances day in and day out, never aging like a purgatory? ||
🌟 A solid 2.5 to 3 ⭐s

[uncut musk]

thanks for the br @fading scroll https://tenor.com/view/catthankyou-cat-gif-24824893

[uncut musk]

we have such opposite opinions/experiences but at the same time.... damn the analogy :3https://tenor.com/view/meganyy-mind-blown-shock-disbelief-gif-25793493

[lime mauve]

thank you for the br 💗

[fading scroll]

My final thoughts:

||Okay, I LOVED this book. I read this when all I wanted was to escape reality because mere existence seemed to be such a pain. Reading The Night Circus gave me just the escape I’d needed and perhaps, this is why I loved it even more so. While I don’t think I can compare either of Erin's books over the other, I liked the romance in this one as I’m a sucker for happy endings and although MarcoXCelia’s ‘romance’ might have been more of trauma bonding, I’d been rooting for them for like the latter half of the book. (Also, when we first met Isobel, I’d assumed her to be Celia not wanting to disclose her name, but yeah, that was quickly cleared )

I liked most of the characters except the ones that were written to not be liked, but my favorites would most definitely be the trio of Poppet, Widget, and Bailey. I think I actually enjoyed their chapters while the ones with Marco and Celia were more like the progression of the plot to me (with the addition of wanting to end their misery and giving them a happy ending) I also liked the fact that as sad as it sounds, both Marco & Celia sacrifice themselves which in a way puts them in the same space (dimension?) finally putting an end to the fiasco that was being dragged on for so long, and yes, Bailey to the rescue! ||