Erin Morgenstern – The Night Circus
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
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.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
It’s one thing to watch a movie about magicians and illusions, and to watch those spectacular feats come to life right before your eyes. The Harry Potter series comes to mind as well as the film Now You See Me. It’s a completely different thing to live those illusions in your mind reading a book and to find an author who not only articulates them in a believable and eloquent manner but brings the magic to life in words. This is what Erin Morgenstern has done and as an aspiring author, I am severely impressed.
Let us appreciate the fact that this is as much a romantic novel as it is fantasy. What I enjoyed most was not having the romance smudged against my face continuously, and when those scenes swept into the pages, it flowed right in, whisked you away for a while, brought you back all emotional to move right along with the unfolding drama. The atmosphere is stunningly created and carried throughout the course of the book. The language is vivid and carries the story along from scene to scene. The characters are well thought out, personalities etched so you get a real sense of who each one is and how they have grown by the end of the book.
The Night Circus is definitely worth a read and I would strongly urge you to read it if you enjoy magic, fantasy and a touch of romance.
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Next Book Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
A-Scribe To Describe 
This was a great book. I have to re-read it, though. I read it a long time ago when it first came out.