The Night Circus takes place in the late 19th century in Victorian England but the circus in the book travels all over the world. The Circus is famous for being extravagant, only taking place at night (from around dusk to dawn), and no one ever knows where it is going, when it leaves, or what the story behind it is. The Illusionist at the circus is the father of Celia Bowen who is one of the main characters. She is raised to be an illusionist like her father because in this circus (Le Cirque des Rêves or the Circus of dreams) everything you see is real and magical. The other character is Marco who’s father is also a magician but he does not perform on stage.Celia and Marco were raised to be competitors by their fathers.They were told that in time they would meet each other and battle through seeing who the better magician is. They do not know where the venue will be or who they are competing against until they are much older. They have both studied all their lives in preparation in different ways: Celia was in the circus learning with her unpredictable father and Marco was placed in a flat with books to study as he pleases. Throughout the book as well we see many different point of views of a lot of different characters including a clockmaker named Herr Friedrick Thiessen who makes a magnificent clock for the entrance of the circus, the dinner parties hosted by the circus head, Chandresh Christopher Lefèvre where they discuss the works and plans for the circus while having extravagant meals very late at night, and the point of view of a very important character Bailey. He first saw the circus when he was young with his sister and friends. During the day the circus is closed and his sister dared him to sneak into the circus and steal something. He accepts the challenge and sneaks in but is caught by a girl with curly bright red hair who’s name (he later finds out) is Poppet. She tells him that he should probably leave so he doesn’t get caught. Poppet gives him her glove to take back to prove he went into the circus. Marco is the first to find out that Celia is his competitor when she tries out for the illusionist after her father ”passes” (he was experimenting with magic and accidentally, basically turns himself into a ghost) and she shows her magic, Celia finds out sometime later and they both realize that the circus is their venue. As they grow closer they begin to fall in love, but they soon find out that the winner is determined by who survives (the competition continues until one dies). Celia does not want to continue because she has taken on a lot with supporting the circus and it has taken a heavy effect on her but if she were to give up she would take the circus with her when she dies but she will not let Marco sacrifice himself so they come up with a plan. The current head of the circus is not doing well and is suffering from short term memory loss so Marco was running the circus in his place. Poppet believes that Baily plays a big part with saving the circus and he does. Celia and Marco ask him to take on Celia’s magic and continue to support the circus with Poppet and Widget at his side. He has fallen in love with the circus and everything about it so he accepts the deal and becomes the leader and supporter of the night circus.
I loved this book so much. Each chapter only told us the date and place so it was a little hard to get through at the beginning when you were still learning all the characters but once you get in it is an amazing book. There is obviously the main plot but with so many different characters talked about you learn so much about their world. I love all of the characters and their personalities and the magic in the book. It is not the mainly talked about thing in the book because very few people know about it even though it is a big part of the main plot so you get to focus on different things instead of going through the book only focusing on one. It was a great book and I would highly recommend it. It's a little thick at the beginning but if you stick through it, it will be worth your while.
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