Sunny's Reviews > The Night Circus

This whole book made me so confused. Like it was so vague.

Sorry it didn't worked out for you <3
If the writing is magical and setting is beautiful, then I think I'll love this book since I don't really mind plotless yet magical books. Infact, I'm read Space Opera by Catherynne Valente and it's one of those books. I really hope I love this one too.
Hope your next read is a 5 stars <3

Devin wrote: "This whole book made me so confused. Like it was so vague."

Yessss! Like even when something did happen, I didn't get the point. I just couldn't find a specific plot for the book lol. Like where was it?

Sunny ✨wordslikefury✨ wrote: "Devin wrote: "This whole book made me so confused. Like it was so vague."

Yessss! Like even when something did happen, I didn't get the point. I just couldn't find a specific plot for the book lol..."

That is how i felt the whole time reading this book.

Thank you so much for this!

Hiba wrote: "Sorry it didn't worked out for you <3
If the writing is magical and setting is beautiful, then I think I'll love this book since I don't really mind plotless yet magical books. Infact, I'm read Spa..."

From what I've seen, this book is either a hit or miss for most people. But if you love whimsical writing then you'll definitely enjoy this one. I think the author is a talented writer, I just needed a better story.

Alexis Justine wrote: "Thank you so much for this!"

Haha! You're welcome!

El-uh-Kyoo-Shuh n wrote: "So wait? Are you saying nothing happened!! Just kidding!!! Erin Morgenstern, Nice try, Hunty! I am now well aware of your shenanigans! Fuck...I am still going to read it and buy it."

Haha. In my perspective, nothing happened. And the game that is described in the summary of the book wasn't as competitive as it was made out to be. But who knows? Maybe you'd like it!

Whaaaaaat. I've had this book on my shelf for 5 years. Looks like it will be another 5 years then.

V.J. wrote: "Whaaaaaat. I've had this book on my shelf for 5 years. Looks like it will be another 5 years then."

I know. It was one of the greatest disappointments. But don't let my review stop you from reading. We may have different tastes :)

This review is me, i am this review

Sunny, I totally agree with you like 200%. I was really intrigued by the style of writing, but then when it ended I was just looking for maybe a "To be continued.." or something. Huge disappointment.

Nasom wrote: "This review is me, i am this review"

Lol! Sadly we’ve both been disappointed by the hype of this.

Michelle wrote: "Sunny, I totally agree with you like 200%. I was really intrigued by the style of writing, but then when it ended I was just looking for maybe a "To be continued.." or something. Huge disappointment."

My thoughts exactly. The summary of the book state a “fierce competition.” I kept waiting for that part and it never came. So disappointed.

It is pretty slow and not as exciting as it promises to be, but there is stuff happening imo

Lola wrote: "It is pretty slow and not as exciting as it promises to be, but there is stuff happening imo"

I typically LOVE slow books, as long as there’s a plot and end goal. I think my main problem with the book was how misleading the blurb was. I got nothing that was promised in the summary. And I think the romance ruined it a little lol. The writing was beautiful tho. I wanted to be in the book.

I guess I'm weird, because O absolutely loved this book! I loved the magical imagery, creative characters, and the love story. I liked it so much, I bought the Audiobook too, and I listen to it at bedtime.

True :( Not sure where the competition element went. I remember being so excited about it when starting the book. I still liked it, because it's unlike other books out there, but you kinda need to manage your expectations.

Robin wrote: "I guess I'm weird, because O absolutely loved this book! I loved the magical imagery, creative characters, and the love story. I liked it so much, I bought the Audiobook too, and I listen to it at ..."

Unfortunately the romance is what partly ruined it for me. I don’t mind insta-love when it doesn’t disrupt the story. But in this one, them falling in love happened out of no where. There was no development to the romance. But I’m glad you enjoyed it!!

Lola wrote: "True :( Not sure where the competition element went. I remember being so excited about it when starting the book. I still liked it, because it's unlike other books out there, but you kinda need to ..."

I agree. I wish blurbs weren’t so misleading...

I was so disappointed. I liked the writing, some of the story - but you are right, nothing ends of happening or making sense. I was much more generous than you - with 3 stars lol. This book was hyped up so much by so many. I usually like "fantastic realty" (or whatever it's called) books. I also didnt like the jumping around of dates/years. Too quick and too close in time. Would have rather had it go in order, and i don't normally mind the time jumps. This was not what i expected at all. Luckily i read it fast and it was from the library.

Jill wrote: "I was so disappointed. I liked the writing, some of the story - but you are right, nothing ends of happening or making sense. I was much more generous than you - with 3 stars lol. This book was hyp..."

The time jumps was the one of the things I disliked the most. The story could’ve flowed much better had it be written in order. Glad I’m not the only one who felt this way.

Your review reminded me of why blurbs matter - in both heightening and hyping expectation. I loved this book but it was sold to me as an atmospheric romance by my friend so the competition part didn’t even register to me. How your next book is better

SSShafiq wrote: "Your review reminded me of why blurbs matter - in both heightening and hyping expectation. I loved this book but it was sold to me as an atmospheric romance by my friend so the competition part did..."

I agree. The book gave me nothing of what the blurb offered. Had I gone into the book expecting mostly romance, maybe I would've enjoyed it had I been in the mood. But I was looking for some action at the time, which I did not get.

Maybe this was a wrong book at the wrong time sort of thing for me.

the blurb was THE MOST MISLEADING THING EVER THE HIGH EXPECTATIONS I HAD WERE CRUSHEDDD

Yasmeen wrote: "the blurb was THE MOST MISLEADING THING EVER THE HIGH EXPECTATIONS I HAD WERE CRUSHEDDD"

I know it was so disappointing. 😩 I feel like if this book had been sold to me as a romance, I would've liked it. But I went into this book looking for exactly what the blurb said, and ended up getting none of that.

Wow you put into words what has been going on in my mind about this book!

Farida wrote: "Wow you put into words what has been going on in my mind about this book!"

Haha thanks 😊 I literally just word vomitted this review.

It had a huge plot and character growth, reaching a conclusion no one could guess. The mysteriousness kept high. Most books only have a few good parts. I didn't want romance. There are millions of them. I was treated to adult non-crime mystery, twinned with fantasy. Each mysterious chapter had the anticipation of entering those magical circus tents. They were clearly marked and only jumped 1-5 years.

Yes Sunny, you captured the essence of this book perfectly. An exercise in creative writing which should have stayed in the classroom.

C. wrote: "It had a huge plot and character growth, reaching a conclusion no one could guess. The mysteriousness kept high. Most books only have a few good parts. I didn't want romance. There are millions of ..."

I'm glad you enjoyed it, but IMO this book had little to no plot or character development. It seemed like the author wanted to focus more on her flowery prose than actually giving us a well built story. Not to mention she sells this book as a story where characters would have to compete in this competitive game. That was barely in the story. It was misleading.

And yes, I understood the setting and time jumps of the story. Understanding the book was not an issue for me. I got it just fine. I just didn't think the pacing was good despite the time jumps being 'clearly marked.' And I don't 'need' romance either. But you can't deny it was still a large part of the story. And I can't really classify this book as an adult non-crime mystery when she focuses way more time on the cheesy insta-love romance than the actual mystery and fantasy part.

I'm happy you loved it though. You should check out The Starless Sea by the same author. You might like it.

Xander WH wrote: "Yes Sunny, you captured the essence of this book perfectly. An exercise in creative writing which should have stayed in the classroom."

Yes I agree! She's clearly good at putting sentences together in a pretty way. I think if she came up with a better story and more interesting characters, she could write a really great book. Her writing reminds me of Laini Taylor's writing in Strange the Dreamer. But Laini Taylor has better characters and an actual plot that kept me invested in the story.

These where my feelings also

Yes, my thoughts exactly

This is exactly what I felt! I might give this book another chance in the future but right now I couldn’t even finish it.

LITERALLY. it was so tame?? like is the magical realism in the room with us?? because i kept waiting for something weird or interesting to happen and all there was was this circus where the performers are magic. and the mystery for me was simplistic at best. it just didn’t challenge me – but I also think it wasn’t very objectively challenging – it was more of processing of literary techniques into something easily digestible by audiences (which is NOT what the circus is!!).

it also didn’t help that I read it after nights at the circus which is a masterpiece of a circus novel if I ever read one

I'm with you, I'm 58% through and literally nothing is happening. At this point I'm just going to finish it to say I did but I am so BORED.

It was vague. I enjoyed the beginning and I somewhat liked the end. In the middle I was like WHEN WILL THE PLOT PICK UP? And that was just not happening

Also, the competition. I just couldn't understand what it was about and what they were doing