I so wanted to love this, everything about this book is visually arresting, the book looks beautiful, the descriptive writing is beautiful, no it's magnificent,lush and breathtaking; it reads like a Tim Burton film looks.The black and white striped tents of the Night Circus hold wonders such as an ice garden, acrobatic kittens, a cloud maze and bottles that release stories when uncorked complete with smells, sounds and taste.
The imagery is overwhelming and begs to be made into a film so the amazing scenery and costumes can be brought to life
The whole book is a feast for the senses and so stylised that Pinrest and Tumblr accounts dedicated to The Night Circus are springing up everywhere
The Night Circus
Within all this imagination and creativity, for me, and the author, the the characters and story came a poor second.
I just couldn't connect with the two leads, I felt no insight into their characters, I never knew them, in fact I didn't even like them. I thought their story was weak and never felt that the 'duel' was a matter of life or death. It is a shame that Marco and Cecilia were the main focus of the story and felt that the author missed an opportunity as there were far more interesting characters in the story.
I liked Bailey's story which took up a huge part of the book but then as Celia says at the end Bailey was basically nobody who happened to be in the right place at the right time.....so why...?
Also the story never fully describes how the magic in the book works or even how the competition itself works. For example how do they set up the circus and where do they all go during the day? I know you should just go with it but I can't ...I want to know!
A triumph of style over substance.
