The Daughter's January BOTM: The Night Circus

"The circus arrives without warning."

My choice for January's BOTM is The Night Circus by Erin Morgensten. And I know, I know! I understand that I am YEARS late to this book but I am incredibly happy that I finally jumped on this bandwagon! I am not traditionally drawn to "magic" books but this book could have changed my whole reading repertoire.

I will try to stay high level without divulging anything too deep about the plot and it's deeply complex, enticing characters. This book primarily revolves around beautiful Celia and Marco, two amazingly talented and charismatic characters, who at extremely young ages are entered into a deadly game against each other by their care takers. Care takers may not be the best description of these two older men conducting the teaching of Celia and Marco, but they greatly shape the story. Celia and Marco's lives are forever changed by their bondage and game they were inexplicably entered into, and this game's stage is called Le Cirque des Reves. The night circus.

This is not your usual elephants-balancing-on-balls, clowns-on-stilts, kind of a circus. Le Cirque des Reves is an entirely different circus and set apart in a world of its own, even enticing a cult following as the circus travels the world. It is so difficult for me to describe how this circus is laid out, let alone how it was created, but the author's impeccable imagery and descriptions is impossible to put into a short synopsis. The best way I could relate to the circus is like if you had a large glass of wine...and then started hallucinating - it's that fantastical! You have to read it to believe it.

"People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see."

There are so many characters in this book where you start to question if they will all have relevance and keep you interested throughout, but somehow the author keeps everything together and highly intoxicating. I found myself really developing attachments to each character despite each of their quirks and flaws. I loved this book! The characters are complex, the plot is deep rooted and imposing, the writing is excellent.

“You're in the right place at the right time, and you care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that's enough.”

I loved that this story was propelled by romance, and not the traditional "good versus evil". I felt the ending sort of disappeared(?) or and did not have as much "wow" factor as the rest of the book. It really tied back to how characters would feel when leaving the notorious circus...

I would highly recommend this read, if you haven't already experienced this exceptional book!

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TEA paired with this book was very fitting. A dark, black tea (some ominous, right?) that was purchased from The Tea Market in Kansas City. I can't say this enough...drink loose leaf tea when you can, and support small businesses!

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If you are wanting to purchase the book mentioned here, please use our Amazon affiliate link listed below here:

The Night Circus - https://amzn.to/3fWLKqu