The Night Circus in The Challenge Factory

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The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern

Start date: January 23, 2012

Finish date: February 16, 2012

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Discussion leader: Shellbelle

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What Members Thought

Jul 17, 2019 Carrie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, magicians, favorite-authors, multiple-points-of-view, mgr, magical-realism

Enchanting
Magical
Wonderful

Welcome to the Night Circus where nothing is what it seems and it all that you that can ever imagine wanting.

A test
A challenge
A love story.

Two people pitied against the other in a game, a challenge endure.
Lives forever changed.
Within and outside of black and white tents of the Le Cirque de R锚ves

12 likes · Like · see review

Sep 09, 2014 Krissy rated it it was ok

Shelves: pgs-300-399, audiobook, read-before-2015, cover-color-black

First of all the narrator they chose for the audiobook version was all wrong. Most of the characters were young but yet the narrator sounded like a 60 year old man. He didn't do female voices very well and listening to him try and talk like a 6 year old girl was almost laughable. Plus all his female characters sounded the same. I just did not like him at all.

Now for the story itself. It took a very long time to actually get interesting. First you had all these characters thrown at you all at on ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 04, 2011 Logan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-bought-paper, borrowed-library

First impressions: Opening a debut novel in 2nd person narrative is ballsy. But, oh man, did it work in this case. By introducing the reader to the wonder that is this night circus through gorgeous prose and the immediacy of the perspective, we are hooked from the first sentence. The circus arrives without warning.

Lasting impressions: I relished this book in a way that rarely happens for me - slowly. For the week I spent reading it, I rarely thought of anything else, yet I prolonged the reading First impressions: Opening a debut novel in 2nd person narrative is ballsy. But, oh man, did it work in this case. By introducing the reader to the wonder that is this night circus through gorgeous prose and the immediacy of the perspective, we are hooked from the first sentence. The circus arrives without warning.

Lasting impressions: I relished this book in a way that rarely happens for me - slowly. For the week I spent reading it, I rarely thought of anything else, yet I prolonged the reading experience in order to get the most out of it. This is a book that inspires reflection in all of the best ways, and rewards you for taking the time to read every word carefully. The story builds slowly, but purposefully, until the exciting climax threatens to turn the entire world of these characters upside down. It's a beautiful journey to witness.

Conflicting impressions: I confess that I read all of the negative reviews of this book first. Surely no book could live up to the kind of magical hype this book has had heaped upon it, right? So I read the most blistering, scathing reviews, preparing myself for a slow, boring, overly dense novel with wooden characters and little action. And you know what I got? Subtle characters deftly written by a master puppeteer. Erin Morgenstern fills the pages with lush details, yes, but they all serve to inform us about the characters and the setting. I understood this world so well that I wanted to live in it for as long as possible, which is why I took so damn long to finish it. And why I bought a copy for my shelf the day before I returned my library book. I didn't want a single day to go by without having this book in my possession.

Overall impressions: This book is magical, but not because it contains magic. This is not Harry Potter. Our young protagonists learn magic through natural ability and frustrating lessons by their parental figures - no straightforward schoolteachers to be found. They learn through trial and error, cruelty, and their own perseverance and curiosity.

Celia and Marco do not spend a lot of time in each other's company, and as readers we are often much more knowledgeable than our characters. For me, this made the plot that much more enjoyable, as I had an inkling of where the story was going, but no idea how it was going to get there. As the story unfolded, I was more than willing to go along for the ride. This is a novel you either succumb to completely, or resign yourself to frustration. I think by the end of the first few chapters any reader will be able to tell if this is the book for him/her.

The Night Circus has rich period details, lots of colorful characters, and more than a handful of intrigue. This was not only one of my favorite books of the year, but one of my favorite books, period. If you're looking to be entertained by something truly fresh and surprising, you must get your hands on this one. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 10, 2017 Avigail rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, audiobook, physical-book, audible, 2017

This book an interesting one, even though when I read a couple of years ago I didn't pass the 20-page mark. This time I was interested to read before reading "Caraval", that I got on an "Owlcrate" subscription book box. Because I was afraid I wouldn't pass again the 20-page mark, I decided to listen to the audiobook and following it with my paperback copy. Jim Dale was the narrator and I absolutely loved his voice and the voices and accents he did for all the characters.
While reading and listeni ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 18, 2020 Ketutar Jensen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: magic

I don't like it as much as Starless Sea, but it is excellent, wonderful... I love it :-) ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 02, 2011 Aymee rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, dark-fiction, paranormal

*Four and a half stars*

I really, really loved this book - mainly because I got it as an audiobook from my library and the narrator was just wonderful. He brought the poetic style of the author to life for certain. A very different sort of book with surprises I didn't see coming.

If you enjoy books that are just a little left of center then you will most likely enjoy this one, too. ...more

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Jun 07, 2016 Carole Workman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: yrchallenge

I just loved this book. I felt that I was inside the fantasy land of the circus. This book kept me very intrigued with all the characters. It was not your typical love story it was so much more. I would highly recommend this.

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