The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, A Review
I've been diving back into reading, lately, now that my eye surgeries have healed, I've adjusted back to life and gotten a chance to slooooowwww doooowwwwn. It's been about a year since my final surgery and I am a little embarrassed to say that The Night Circus is only the third or fourth book I've read since then. But, I've been bouncing my way through health issues and running a business, so I'll give myself a little grace 🙏
Alright, enough about me, let's talk about the book. That's what you're really here for, anyway.
No major spoilers.
3.5/5 Star Review for The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Let me get right to the point before I go into all the details: I didn't LOVE this book because I couldn't connect to the characters and emotional connection is very important to me, as a reader. BUT, the world building was so incredible that I couldn't wait to keep reading.
✨ This book fell flat for me when it came to character development (which is very important for my experience reading).
✨ I think there were more storylines than necessary.
✨ I found the time jumping to be unnecessarily confusing.
✨ The book really comes together in the end, until it doesn't.
✨ The world Morgenstern built was so incredible that I actually finished the book despite not caring for the characters.
✨ I'd love to see this turned into a television series.
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My book rating system
I know a lot of people have points-based systems to help them rank books but I am not one of the people. My hippy soul cannot be so confined. A book either speaks to me or it doesn't and the rating comes the emotional experience as much as the technical aspects.
I will never give a book fewer stars for basic errors like spelling or grammar. Though I know those things can really take us out of the experience as readers, I appreciate that nothing is perfect and indie writers, especially, often struggle to afford proper editors for their work (I'm one of these people).
I don't think I've ever given a 1 star review and I probably never will. A LOT of work goes into every book. Even if it's not right for me or if I find major plot holes etc., I feel like 2 stars are earned just from the effort that goes into creating a book and getting it out into the world.
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The Night Circus failed to make me care about most characters
There might be tiny spoilers in terms of character names, etc. in this section.
The main characters of this story, Celia and Marco, are introduced slowly as are their storylines. This provides plenty of space to make a connection with each character but I found that connection lacking. I wanted to care about them, truly. I just didn't. There wasn't much to make me cheer for them, cry for them - care for them.
It wasn't until Bailey was introduced, about a third of the way through the book, that I actually found myself eagerly wanting to read more to see where his storyline went. Especially when it came to him and Poppet 😉
Too many storylines watered down the experience when reading The Night Circus
I'm on to my second critique point about this book and I find myself with a few more to follow. I realize that it might seem as though I didn't enjoy it and wouldn't recommend it. I need to take a moment to say this: A lot of people loved this book and the world itself is worth diving into. More on that, later.
Throughout the story, we follow an assortment of characters. Understandably so, since there is so much that goes into creating and running the night circus. Many people are involved and every story is intertwined with the next.
The problem, for me, comes in when we begin to follow characters like the Burgess sisters. They get a brief highlight, then their stories quickly fade into the background and never really get picked up, again. Perhaps if these storylines were alluded to and told from the perspectives of the main characters it would have helped the reader continue to grow a relationship to the main characters.
Jumping from one time to another and back again made The Night Circus a little confusing
As you read this book, you will find that you jump back and forth from one day to another, one perspective to another, and sometimes even one year to another.
Toward the end of the book, the jumping around makes more sense since it helps bring the culminating moments together inside an air of mystery. At this part of the book, the jumping was executed perfectly 😚🤌
At the beginning of the book and through the middle, though, it seems excessive and I needed to go back again and again to piece things together. Maybe it's just my scattered mind, though, lol. Perhaps this is a me problem.
The Night Circus really comes together in the end, Until it doesn't
When I got to the last 50 or so pages, I found myself trying to read faster and faster to see what was going to happen next. The experience I had been waiting for was finally unfolding.
Unfortunately, the very end happened rather abruptly and without much emotion. Which left me feeling a little unfulfilled.
Erin Morgenstern is a freakin' wizard at world building
I cannot stress enough how much I love the world in The Night Circus. I mean LOVE 🩷 the world. Connecting emotionally to characters means a lot to me. If I don't connect, I stop reading. It's as simple as that. There are MANY books I have walked away from entirely. Life is too short to read a book that I can't connect to. But this one changed things for me.
I couldn't connect to most of the characters (especially the main ones) but I also couldn't stop reading. I wanted to go back inside the circus, night after night. And yes, I saved most of my reading for nighttime to keep with the theme 😄
You can really get lost in that place.
I would love to see The Night Circus turned into a television series
Whether in TV or as a movie, this book needs to hit the screen. The fantastical, visual spaces that Morgenstern created need to be brought to life for us to see and marvel at. I would love to see how a creative filmmaker would bring such a place to life.
I prefer the idea of a tv show, though. I think it would allow us the time and space to really get to know each character better. Those small side-stories about people like the Burgess sisters could grow richer and deeper. It would be much easier to navigate the time jumps from episode to episode than from chapter to chapter, as well. Even the way the book is written in the present tense led it to feel more like a screenplay - a blueprint for an epic television series.