The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Nigh Circus

     "In this mesmerizing debut, a competition between two magicians becomes a star-crossed love story.

     The circus arrives at night, without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within nocturnal black and white striped tents awaits a unique experience, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stand awestruck as a tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and gaze in wonderment at an illusionist performing impossible feats of magic. 

     Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves. Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is underway--a contest between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in "a game," in which each must use their powers of illusion to best the other. Unbeknownst to them, this game is a duel to the death, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will."

Only problem was, I felt there was no story of star-crossed love. Just a lot of jumping time lines, and a lot of characters that I was never sure if they were important or not. The premise is really interesting. It was just that, for me, none of the characters were very interesting. I never could figure out what the snarf was going on. And this battle that was supposed to happen never made sense, we didn't know the rules or what was to happen to the loser of said battle.

I didn't hate the book, I was just confused reading most of it. It may have had to do more with me having just finished Opposition and my brain was still with those characters. I guess this book just really didn't do it for me, and I felt that as a reader, I wasn't given what the book promised.