Task 1: Find a redeeming quality in a book you read this year and didn’t like.

 

I had so high hopes for this book and in the end it was such an underwhelming read because of the lack of character development. But the descriptions of the Night Circus were absolutely and breathtakingly stunning. If there is one imaginary place that I wish would exist in real life, the Night Circus would be that place. 

 

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not"

My favorite read this year ♥

Within the black-and-white striped tents is a magical unique experience ♥

The book is about two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who, when they were children were arranged to be in a competition by their guardians, the venue for their competition is Le Cirque des réves, a circus that travels the globe, where Celia is the Illusionist, and marco is the assistant of the proprietor, the novel follows their challenges, their magical powers and their relationship with each other and the other characters.

I Loved The characters, each one of them was extremely interesting, Celia and Marco especially, i loved them, Poppet and Widget as well.
I loved the mystery that surrounded the circus, it was perfect, the story was beautiful, I felt connected to it, I felt like this could be a place I belonged to and loved.

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

This book gave me every feeling I ever wanted from a magic circus, it was a very very nice experience and I loved every second of it.
I definitely plan to check other Erin Morgenstern books.

“Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.... Do not forget that... there are many kinds of magic, after all.” ♥♥♥

The premise for this book is a simple one: two magicians are pitted against each other in a duel and the Night Circus is the venue for this duel. And the author could have done so much with a premise such like this, but, unfortunately, she didn´t.

 

The plot was pretty much non-existent and the little bit of story that existed was moving at a snail´s pace, I was constantly at the border of being completely bored by this book. And then the author didn´t even give me an explanation for the duel and the reason behind everything that has happened within the story.

 

In my mind, there can only be two reasons for Erin Morgenstern to totally disregard the plot. She either wanted to write a character-driven novel or she simply wanted to indulge in the beauty and lavish descriptions of the circus.

 

If this supposed to be a character-driven novel, it certainly didn´t resonate with me, simply because I didn´t feel any kind of connection to any of these characters. They are simply there, doing whatever they are doing. They didn´t make me feel sad or happy or any other kind of emotion that I can possibly think of. I was following these set of cardboard characters in an uninspired story and having come this realization, a big “meh” was looming above this book.

 

Which brings me to the circus, Erin Morgenstern´s main reason for writing this book. Don´t get me wrong, the descriptions of the circus are bloody gorgeous and absolutely stunning. It´s one of those literary places I really wish would exist in real life. And I can take a fair amount of descriptive writing. But this book is 500 pages long and those are too many pages only filled with descriptions over descriptions without any kind of plot and uninteresting characters.

 

So, what am I looking for in a book? A plot, interesting characters and compelling (and in this case magical) story telling. Erin Morgenstern only gave me the story telling part with this book and as wonderful this novel was from this perspective, it just isn´t good enough for me.       

This book really went down the hill after 150-200 pages. There are certain things I´m looking for in a book and Erin Morgenstern simply decided to ignore all of them. 

 

I have to gather my thoughts for a little bit before disclosing my problems with this book in a review. I really wonder, if I´m too nitpicky or if you guys will back me up in the issues I´m having with this novel (regardless of whether you have or haven´t read the book). 

I‘m still kind of enjoying this book. But tbh, it‘s far too long and I‘m really in the mood to read something completely different, something a bit more fast-paced.