Magical circuses. On paper, they sound right up my alley - who doesn't like mysterious magicians, mind-twisting games, and beautiful settings? Sadly, me. And here's why:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2.25 stars
Look, the writing is gorgeous. But I was just so...bored? The Night Circus is like an exquisitely wrapped present with nothing inside. If you love beautiful imagery and lush descriptions - just for the sake of their beauty and lushness - then you'll probably like this book. The writing is certainly a work of art, but I found the actual story itself to be incredibly lacking. The characters are like people you watch through a window - flat and always kept at a distance. I never truly cared about them.
It also didn't help that the plot was mind-numbingly slow. While reading, I would pick up this book, only to set it down 20 minutes later after I realized that nothing really was happening. The story was all description. Don't get me wrong - I love slower-paced books. In fact, it's one of my buzzwords that actually gets me interested in a novel. But there's a difference between "slower-paced" and "literally nothing of note is happening". Usually, slow-paced books concentrate on character development. In the case of The Night Circus, slow-paced means: 10 pages of sensory description -> characters go on walk/eat dinner -> 10 more pages of sensory description. Which may be some readers' cup of tea, but it ain't mine.
If this book hadn't been so hyped, I may not feel as let-down as I do. And I certainly recognize that, objectively, The Night Circus is a masterful piece of work. It just wasn't the type of novel that worked for me.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
2.25 stars
Caraval also suffers from a lack of character depth. Our protagonist, Scarlet, comes off as whiny a lot of the time, not to mention the fact that she develops a serious case of insta-love. She and the love-interest spend way too much time making eyes at one another, and their set-up is so obvious and sickly sweet it almost made me sick. Maybe I've become jaded, and only want angst and tension in my couples, but this book just didn't deliver for me romance-wise. I might've been able to forgive Scarlet's sudden infatuation if it was with an interesting character with a layered personality. Julian, however, has about as many layers as a British pancake. I found the world-building also lacking, with empty filler descriptions that seemed intended to just sound flowery. The only intriguing element of the novel was Caraval's secret master, Legend. Unfortunately, even he could not salvage my enjoyment of the story.
Overall
For various reasons, neither of these books worked for me. While The Night Circus definitely deserves snaps for its writing and atmosphere, Caraval was a quicker read that didn't get as bogged down in description. Both novels seriously struggled in the character department, and sadly were not for me. However, I'm not writing off magical circuses completely! I'm holding out hope that one day I'll stumble across a circus-fantasy that satisfies my character-driven bookish needs.
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