The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“This is not magic. This is the way the world is, only very few people take the time to stop and note it.”
The Night Circus, at its most basic level, is about a challenge that takes place within the confines of a circus. It starts with two gentlemen who make a wager and then train their two students in this game. They are very coy about the details and we are left to take the clues that are dropped throughout the book to deduce what we think it entails. They move to the periphery but are ever present. The story then focuses on the students and the circus. The two students (one male and one female) are bound to compete. They do this using their unique abilities. Overall, the book is about the magical and the love that develops between two formal rivals. A circus is built as the arena in which the competition materializes and people get to enjoy it all over the world as it travels from city to city. We get to learn about the many people involved and how they interact and contribute to the competition. It is a fantasy novel but realistic in nature.
I have heard good things about this book and it did sound like something that was up my alley. It sounded magical, beautiful, and enchanting. When I started reading it, I could see all of it. I was excited to continue as I was intrigued and pulled in right away. The premise was promising and I was roused to continue by how Erin Morgenstern captured my attention. Now, I normally do not like books that take a second person point of view but the author did it right from the very beginning. Let me clarify, the whole book is not second-person, but there are chapters sprinkled throughout that really draw you in and make you feel like you are actually there. I could vividly picture myself walking around and experiencing what was being described. It made me think of those choose-your-own-adventure novels or a fantasy video game which I loved. The visuals that were invoked in my mind were stunning. I wish something like this really existed. There were many characters that were introduced. Each character was unique, and it was pretty easy to know who was being referenced but it did take a few scenes to get there. I really did like a lot of the characters and what they brought to the novel. Despite all those good things, it did take me a little longer than normal to get through this one. It might not have been the right book at the right time for me but I did finish and found some delight in it. It was a very slow and methodically written novel. At first, I didn’t find it boring though as it sounded ethereal and I still had expectations left in me. I didn’t mind the slowness as it was still early in the book and things were building but then excitement or a driving plot never materialized. I was forcing myself to pick it back up to read just a little more to finally finish it. I was hoping for so much more. I wanted a stronger story and I felt let down.
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Tag: competition
A Soggy Bottom Bake And A Spoon Full Of Unremarkable Characters
The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
The Golden Spoon is about a baking show involving 6 contestants held on the grounds of a manor who is owned by the host of the show. This season, a secondary host is brought in to help liven it up. It follows the competition as well as the lives of the people staying at the house during the taping. It technically takes place in Vermont but the entire time I was thinking it was England due to the obvious nod to The Great British Bake Off. There are secrets, murder, and some baking. The book featured chapters from each of the contestants in the first person but then the host was 3rd person. The sheer number of narrators and the change of perspective was grating. One character was young, full of herself, and unlikeable. Another was very two dimensional and fake. It seemed he was written as a caricature instead of a real person. 2 other characters were interchangeable to me. One had no impact on the story whatsoever. I had to constantly refer to the front where backstories and descriptions were written out. They just didn’t pop and were not unique. The writing bothered me as well. There were things that didn’t add up and didn’t make sense like a character described as doing something then completing that same action a few paragraphs later. Once, the phrase “this far into the competition” was used and it was only the second day. I rolled my eyes. The same silent scream metaphor was used too many times and the use of a wardrobe was cliché. It was all too predictable as well. I could see the connection a mile away. This was not a mystery or a thriller or any combination of the two. The inside cover provides false, leading statements about how the book unfolds. I would say one good thing was that it was a quick and easy read. I would say do not bother with this one as there are much better books dealing with baking and/or murder.
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