The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called "Le Cirque des Reves," and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway--a duel between a young gentlemand and a young lady, Celia and Marco, Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which the circus is the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will."

Rating
  

Review
It might be soon to say it, but this is for now my favourite book (out of series' books, of course). The plot is amazingly proposed: unpredictable even though it lasts for the whole lifetime of both the main characters, and very intuitive at the same time but only with certain things. As a whole, I would say the story has absolutely everything you can expect in a novel. 

You can't classify it either, I wouldn't dare to say it's a romantic novel although the love story  is undoubtely beautiful and —despite the "magic" factor— very real.

The Night Circus has something I absolutely need when reading a good novel: questions. Throughout the first pages you are continuously asking yourself the whats, the whens, the whys, the wheres and you can't wait until you know the answer to those questions. And that's what keeps you reading until you turn the last page and you feel that emptiness inside you that you usually feel when a really good book is over. 

Perfectly drawn, the characters of The Night Circus have very clear and recognizable faces and personalities. The descriptions on the book are quite remarkable, but you can still imagine them in your mind without having to change features every now and then. Same happens with their personalities. Both Celia and Marco (main characters) have very different and unique personalities and you won't find confusion when reading about other characters such as Isobel, Penelope, Mr. A.H. or Hector Bowen.

It is so amazing how Morgenstern shapes both Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair's characters since such an early age. The relationship between Celia and her father, Hector, and the one between Marco and his master Alexander is key when they grow up as they train them hard and use them as a magic weapon so that makes them become strong, competitive and cold-hearted couple. I absolutely adore the fact that Marco and Celia are enemies in the game but meant to be together as lovers at the same time. Favourite characters ever, both, don't make me choose.

It's fair to say that is the writing that makes it a 5 out of 5 novel. Because you can always have a good plot but very poor writing destroys a good book (and we all know that). 
Erin Morgenstern has dared to do something very, very difficult which is jumps in time. You go back and forth throughout the whole book but I have to say that doesn't make it difficult to follow at all. It's something admirable as well because I tried to walk in her shoes and damn, she must have had the story very clear in her mind because otherwise, even if you write the whole thing in order and then randomize it or re-order it as you please, it must be hella hard to write such a good novel using time-jumping.
So, even though there are gaps in between the time ordered plot, you feel as there's nothing left to say once you finished the book. Everything makes perfect sense, from beginning to end.