I first saw The Night Circus on a new releases / bestseller table at Chapters, just over a year ago. It was the cover that immediately drew me to the book -- the image from Goodreads really doesn't quite do it justice. Plus, the end papers are black and white striped, and there's really cool, almost optical illusion-esque, pages that divide the sections. I read the synopsis of the book and it sounded a little bit like Water for Elephants, which I loved, so I thought I'd give it a try. Ordered a copy as part of my next Chapters order ... and then the book sat unread on my bookshelf for almost a year. Sound familiar anyone? Then, my book club chose the book as our next read and I'm grateful that I was able to dive into this story.The Night Circus has a certain haunting, ethereal quality to it. It's hard to really talk about the story without giving anything away, but it definitely has an almost paranormal, magical aspect to the story (illusionists at the circus who can do REAL magic, not just tricks). The storyline centres around two characters who have been assigned to a competition by their respective mentors. Both Celia and Marco are illusionists and have been trained vigourously for this competition, which takes place at Le Cirque des Rèves (The Circus of Dreams), which is designed entirely in black and white and only opens at night. Neither participant knows exactly what are the terms of this competition, nor are they privy to the details surrounding who will be declared the victor and how this will be determined. So the story unfolds around this bizarre circus, which is so visually appealing and spectacular in its oddity that every patron is hypnotized by this rare beauty and returns night after night to visit the marvels that can be found inside its various tents.Unfortunately, our book club meeting has now been postponed until January, so I wasn't able to get my fellow book club participants thoughts on this book tonight. Since the book was so weird and wonderful in its own unique way, I am really excited to hear what others thought of this one. If you've read it, please leave me a comment below -- I'd love to hear your thoughts!Review also posted at: http://writergrrlreads.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-night-circus-erin-morgenstern.html
