The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus was published in 2011, but somehow I am only just getting the memo about it. And I’m a little annoyed about that, to be honest! As I wrote in an earlier post, I listened to this on audio and it was narrated by Jim Dale, which made this an even more magical journey, if that’s possible.

Set in the late 1800s-early 1900s, this follows the journey of The Night Circus – a charming circus decked in only black and white and that opens at dusk and closes at dawn. This circus travels around the world and collects admirers that follow them to each location. There are endless tents filled with as many wonders as you can imagine. Little do we know, this circus is a front for a battle between two very strong magicians – each grooms a person of their choosing to fight a fierce magical battle until one dies. This has been going on for many, many years and Celia and Marco are only the latest players. But these powerful magicians didn’t count on Celia and Marco falling in love and throwing their game into uncharted territory.

This book has atmosphere for days. And the best part for me? There are tarot cards! I haven’t found many books with tarot cards (other than The Wise Woman, I can’t even think of any) and I might have squealed a little bit when they showed up in the story!

Here’s my trouble with audiobooks: sometimes I get distracted and lose track of what’s going on. And I have to admit, that happened more than once in this book. So I spent a lot of time confused about where they were, what time they were in, and who all of the characters were. I wondered for a split second if I should stop listening on audio and just pick up the book, but the atmosphere pulled me through it. I felt so lulled by the descriptions and ethereal settings that I couldn’t bear to stop listening to Jim Dale! An audiobook theme for me is wanting to buy the book to enjoy even more, and I feel the same way about this one. I want to own it now!