Right off the bat, the premise of this book caught my attention. Two magicians, bound for a life-and-death duel in a breathtaking circus…end up falling desperately in love. Who wouldn’t love a story so fairytale-like?
Reading this book, I was impressed at how smooth a read it was. A large portion of this book was describing the circus and its beautiful enchantments and illusions. So much so, that I felt that this book was focused more on the circus as a whole rather than its two protagonists, Celia and Marco. In fact, the characters seemed flat, and with no dimension. Despite the years that have passed in the story, they are exactly who they are, playing their given roles, without a change of thought. So when Marco, our male protagonist, fell in “love” with Celia, it felt all too artificial, all to extrinsic. In fact, his fascination begans when he watches her perform her illusions, and somehow, he begans to grow interested in her. So much so that he betrays his character as the intelligent and cunning protagonist.
Not only is that plothole unsatisfactory, the ending is somewhat satisfying but not at the same time. Sure, everyone gets a happy ending, but in my opinion, it just rendered useless all that building up of the life-and-death duel. In retrospect, the ending felt all too rushed. Yes, somewhat melancholic and bittersweet, but somehow the characters find a quick workaround in the system some 60 or so pages before the story ends. Mind you, the whole novel is about 500 pages. This quick ending also leaves unfinished some motives of other characters in the novel, such as why Celia’s father attempted the trick that ultimately destroyed him and how Tsukiko ended up as Alexander’s student in the first place. It just didn’t feel complete.
All in all, The Night Circus was a beautiful read, but the characters were flat, the ending seemed rushed, and not all knots were tied in satisfying closure.
~3 stars
