Book Review: The Night Circus

I finished The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern in about March. 

This book was amazing. I kind of don’t know how to describe it. I’ve tried to a couple times to my friends but it never seems to come out right. I guess I’ll just try my best.

This book follows two magicians through their lives. It starts with them as children and they are told they are going to be a part of this big competition. They don’t know when, they don’t know the rules, and they don’t know what the competition is (they don’t know each other yet). The book develops as the characters do; meaning the reader doesn’t know any more than the characters do and I really enjoyed that.

I don’t want to give any more away about the story because I think that takes away from it. I only knew about that much going into it and that was more than enough. The language used in this novel is extremely romantic and details. Erin clearly didn’t miss a thing as she was writing this. She covers every point with language that drips with elegance and color.

Overall score: A++ for the incredible imagery and unpredictable ending.

Bisous mes cheris***

Book Review: The Paris Wife

I finished The Paris Wife 3 months ago while on a train going from Marseille back to Paris. The train ride was three hours long so I decided to write my review while the thoughts were fresh.

Now let me start by saying I really didn’t know anything about this book before I picked it up. I knew I loved the 1920s, I was going to be in Paris soon, and I liked what I read in the back of the book. I appreciate this book, first of all because of the effort McLain made to keep it historically accurate. At the end of the novel, she sites all her sources, explaining how she was able to become a part Hadley Richardson by reading the letters she wrote to Hemingway and other books about her life.

This book is very emotionally draining. The love between Hadley and Ernest is obvious, but it’s thick and kind of oppressive like humid weather. The narrative is beautiful but also incredibly sad. We all know Ernest wasn’t the happiest of people and takes an equally sad person to be with him. I loved McLain’s use of first person, making all of Hadley’s emotions that much more heart-wrenching.
I will say this book made me a little sad about my favorite era. If any of what I read rings true, the 1920s were a wonderful beautiful time, but disgusting and in a way sickeningly sweet. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is verified by this novel. No one wanted to show how unhappy they were, for it wasn’t proper to ruin the beautiful lies maintained at a surface level. Everything seemed to be in excess; the glamour, the booze, and the love. I will still say this is my favorite era, for more than one reason, but with good comes the bad.

I tentatively recommend this book. It’s not really for the faith hearted or those with empathetic tendencies. It’s gorgeous and stunning beautiful, but it will break your heart.

Overall score: A- for an amazing book that broke my heart

Book Review: The Help

Back in February I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I know it was a while ago but I wanted to post some of my reviews of my favorite books I've read.

Many of us have seen the movie and probably (hopefully) thought it was amazing. I know that I personally thought it was phenomenal (this might be partially because I have a lady crush on Emma Stone). Anywhos, I imagine most people reading this are thinking “There was a book?” and yes there was, and let me tell you, it was bout 10000x better than the movie. Don’t get me wrong I loved the movie and it was great for what it was but after reading the book I can see where everything was dialed down. The book is so enhanced compared to the movie. All the details about every relationship are explored further, making the drama of the novel all the more exciting and daring.
In the afterword, the author Kathryn Stockett talks about how it’s difficult to try to capture the voice of an African American maid during the 1960s but she does so beautifully. She writes their voices in a way that is authentic but not offensive.

All in all, the movie made me cry and the book would have too if I hadn’t been in class. It’s a good thing too because the book was far more emotional than the movie.

Overall score: A+ for the amazing story of empowerment and courage

Bisous mes cheris***