Due to the unfortunate fact that I cannot decide between giving The Night Circus three stars or four stars, I’m going to be nice and give it four (of course, I wouldn’t give it four stars if I didn’t think it deserved it).

I’m going to be honest in everything I say and not sugar-coat this. I can see this book as an all-time favorite for so many people! So, if you ask me, I will recommend this. Whereas liking this book or not is up to you, I will say it will not appeal to everyone, but this is a masterpiece and deserves the high acclaim. When I say it deserves it, I seriously mean it. So what if the first 35% was unbearable for me to get through? I could see the effort and what made people like it, if the author can show me that even if I don’t like it, then that’s great!

Which leads to the next topic. From the premise of this story we’re told this: 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 Reves," and it is only open at night.

I think this part was done fairly well. There were quite long descriptions in the story that intrigued me, and I can see the prose and appreciate it. So thumbs up to Erin Morgenstern for that!

Then there’s this: 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.

Actually, what REALLY happens is that I’m reading this, going like. “Okay, they have to meet up SOMETIME!” by the time I reached 35%! The actual “competition” part of this story didn’t really make any sense until I got into the Bailey story—another subplot that ties into the story—and by then, I felt kind of stumped. Did anything really even matter anymore?

Then there was, finally, the love story. The thing that is kind of ironic is that usually, it’s the romance that ruins the story in some cases. For The Night Circus, it was romance that really moved things forward for me because after the romance started, Celia and Marco both reflect on some things that helped me understand the story better. The romance, while I thought at some points was cheesy and obvious, still was enjoyable to read about.

I think towards the end was when I really started to enjoy the story. Erin Morgenstern really decides to give this a “figure it out yourself” tone and I guess that this story will be different for everyone. I’m glad I still gave this story a shot though, because there were more things I enjoyed and appreciated that made up GREATLY for that first 35%—keeping in mind when I say that it’s unbearable, I mean plot-wise and character-wise, NOT the writing!—so that was great!

Overall, The Night Circus has an intriguing premise and plot! While I enjoyed the overall tie-in of the plot, the prose and all the writing, and the romance and main characters, I think the pacing and narrative style of this story will appeal to different people . . . well, differently! Give this a shot if you are intrigued by the premise!  

Thanks for reading this review everyone and hope you have a great day! Until the next one! :D

One girl. Two stories. Meet Fiona Doyle. The thick ridges of scar tissue on her face are from an accident twelve years ago. Fiona has notebooks full of songs she’s written about her frustrations, her dreams, and about her massive crush on beautiful uber-jock Trent McKinnon. If she can’t even find the courage to look Trent straight in his beautiful blue eyes, she sure isn’t brave enough to play or sing any of her songs in public. But something’s changing in Fiona. She can’t be defined by her scars anymore.

And what if there hadn’t been an accident? Meet Fi Doyle. Fi is the top-rated female high school lacrosse player in the state, heading straight to Northwestern on a full ride. She’s got more important things to deal with than her best friend Trent McKinnon, who’s been different ever since the kiss. When her luck goes south, even lacrosse can’t define her anymore. When you’ve always been the best at something, one dumb move can screw everything up. Can Fi fight back?

Hasn’t everyone wondered what if? In this daring debut novel, Moriah McStay gives us the rare opportunity to see what might have happened if things were different. Maybe luck determines our paths. But maybe it’s who we are that determines our luck.

I honestly felt like not much happened in this book. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m used to really fast-paced books! And the story about Fiona’s scars was done quite well up to a point. But then some things happened that I wasn’t really sure what to think of.

Honestly, if I had to choose stories, I would choose Fiona’s. Fi was kind of really rude and up to the point where she was plain insensitive to others’ feelings. And, since we kind of knew Trent’s role in the “real story” it was hard to read about him in Fi’s story.

Although the concept was nice of trying to combine how things could’ve been different for the same person, and definitely the thing about that scars, I didn’t connect. I didn’t really feel the story. I liked the way both stories ended . . . but, oh well. Maybe this book is just not for me.

“If we tried to analyze how every little thing changes us, nobody would get anything done.”

Overall, Everything That Makes You is an interesting take on what-if questions and if different situations are honestly better for us. Though I thought this was executed well up to a certain point, I felt no connection to other characters except sympathizing with Fiona. I liked the story, there were points where I would say I enjoyed it quite a bit. But, I didn’t love it. I would recommend this to people who want to try it out, but it’s just a simple read. I don’t think this has really changed my perspective on anything.

Thanks for reading my review on this guys, and hope you have a great day! Until the next one!