The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The night circus is a place of magic and intrigue. It appears overnight, as if appearing out of thin air. It stays for an undetermined amount of time, and disappears as quickly as it appeared, no one quite sure where it will appear next. Though, it is not your typical circus; it consists of many tents instead of one. Each of these tents contains its own individual magical atmosphere.

This story focuses on two young magicians/illusionist, Celia and Marco. When they were both young, they were bound into a competition. Celia's father bound her while Marco was selected from an orphanage by his mentor to play his role.  The competition is vague, and only the mentors truly understand how it is played. The venue for this competition is the Night Circus. The magicians materialize fantastic feats of illusion and magic, each creation akin to a move in chess. Though neither of them know the rules, they know they must keep creating, trying to outdo one another. What they don't realize is that they are not the only two affected by this challenge; every member of the circus has become intertwined.

What was originally meant to pit these two against each other has instead brought them together. Each new tent creation bringing them closer, like the words on a love note. They are no longer competing, but completing, each creation a mixture of each of them. This threatens the contest, and neither can foresee how it is meant to end and what it means for the love they have created.

This story was so intriguing that I hated putting it down and I feel that my above description does not do it justice. There are so many things I could say, but I want to keep the mystery that propels the story forward. The concepts of their creations are fantastic, and described within the novel in such detail that you can picture it almost as if you have actually seen a photograph of it in real life.

The thing that drew me most into this book were the creations of the magicians. The imagination behind the tents is fantastic. The level of the illusions/magic make the reader have to doubt the basis that the attendees of the circus were so easily duped into thinking the real was fake and vice versa, but I still admire the creativeness of it all. I warn you, if you are the type of reader who needs everything explained and accounted for, you may not enjoy this. But, if you the reader who is able to see the forest beyond the trees and can create solid pictures with the help of well developed imagery, this novel should be a delight for you as it was for me.