Gardens of ice and a vertical cloud maze are what a spectator at Le Cirque des Rêves would experience — if he were lucky enough for it to stop by his city for an evening; it definitely had me wanting to learn how to cross a tightrope.

“The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern takes place in the early 20th century, and features a magical circus travelling by train to some of the world’s major cities like New York, London, Milan and Paris every night. Never would it stay in one place for a long period of time. Astonishingly, all members of the circus stop aging as soon as they begin working for it, while everyone else in the world continues to grow old. Every member of Le Cirque des Rêves comes with a very interesting story and background, and each has different reasons for joining the circus and loving it.

Le Cirque des Rêves’s frightening, yet fascinating performances and booths have people always yearning for more, so much so that a group known as “rêveurs”— think circus groupies — follow it from city to city. These fans always wear one article of red clothing to signify their identity to fellow rêveurs.

Throughout the course of this entire novel, the two main characters, Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair, grow into adulthood. Celia becomes an extremely talented illusionist and healer with more power than imaginable and Marco, containing similar powers to Celia, becomes the assistant to the circus’s producer.

Celia and Marco, despite coming from very different places, were raised similarly. Celia’s father, famously known as Prospero the Enchanter, and Marco’s guardian, Mr. A.H., were both cruel and demanding men, leaving their two dependents looking for a more caring place to call home and to find a way to finally live their lives with some normalcy. This seemed to be the reason why they were so attracted to each other and how they were so easily able to connect and converse over a wide range of topics.

Against all odds, the two fall in love, even though — unbeknownst to them — they are both slated to battle each other.

Despite the story primarily being centered around Celia and Marco, many other prominent characters make this novel even more enjoyable to read. One character that stood out the most was the circus itself: it seems, sometimes, as though it had feelings of its own and was able to shift based on the mood of the other characters. The circus is initially used as the battleground for Celia and Marco’s fight, while also being an entertainment source for outsiders. Celia and Marco tended to let the circus act as a mask and show the characters and spectators how they were feeling, whether angry, frustrated or content. It was a direct channel to their creativity and put magic (quite literally) behind their madness.

Erin Morgenstern did a phenomenal job in writing this novel, for I felt as though I had stepped into the world of Celia and Marco — allowing me to understand their turmoil and anger at the world. Every character was interesting and unusual and always made me want to learn more.

Morgenstern’s writing style includes a slow and steady pace that I often prefer over fast-paced, action-packed novels. I loved the detail and imagery used on every page. The jump back and forth between different character’s points of view makes everything feel interesting and adds variety. This goes the same for the constant change in setting, as the circus and performers travel around the world. That feeling of escaping reality and exploring a magical world is another thing for which I applaud Morgenstern.

In a short time, she was able to get you to love the characters as if they were your closest friends, and the circus as if it were your home.