The book is whimsical and dreary at the same time. For a long chunk of it was actually not a fan at all, but at the end everything comes full circle - like the high black-and-white striped tents of the circus the book describes. At the end the random characters come together to make sense and a competition (which really never seemed like a competition to me at all) makes a little bit more sense, and an undeveloped romance explodes into eternity.
I quite enjoy the bluntness of unexpected swear words - and so I was amused when an enchanter called Prospero swears at the sight of his unknown daughter left to him suddenly. As his daughter comes into his possession he inserts her into a binding and morose magical game that will either result in her death or her empty victory. Her training for this "game," done in her formative years, reminded me of what one could describe as child abuse. Her binding ceremony involves a ring being burned into her finger where a scar will always remain. It binds her to her opponent, a man who she ultimately comes to fall in love with ... once she figures out who he is. The boy she is bound to asks what he is bound to and the reply he receives is simply "An obligation you already had, and a person you will not meet for some time." These game not only has consequences for its two players but also for all those involved with the game's venue - a circus. Those who experience the game from the outside are ultimately drawn into a battle that no one understands and whose rules are not clear.
If you can trust that in the end the journey each character takes will make sense and you are willing to put up with the book stating "this is love!" without actually feeling it yourself, this is a book for you. If you do give The Night Circus a chance ... it's pretty and smooth cover and flowing star-filled pages will taunt you with promises of grandeur and more often than not it will fail to deliver the written senses to your real ones. If, however, you are like me and at the end you feel that it redeemed itself somewhat from its overly complicated and yet simple at the same time plot ... then I suggest you also try picking up Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which is a much better written magical and fanciful book that actually made me feel transported to a world of magic, monsters, love, and adventure.
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