The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

While reading The Night Circus, I felt like I was the only one to not quite understand the immense hype that has surrounded this novel since way before its publication. Revolving around a mystical circus that appears without warning and features stunning beautiful attractions, strange illusions, and compelling players, The Night Circus also features the battle between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been groomed for this showdown since youth and gradually fall in love with one another.

However, one thing I realized while reading is that for me to fall in love with a book, I need a gripping, well-developed plot and three-dimensional, deep characters. The Night Circus had neither. While the writing in this was utterly beautiful and the descriptions deep and luscious, it felt like Morgenstern relied too much upon descriptions, to the neglect of plot and characters. And while there was a central ‘competition’ that this book revolved around, it really didn’t feel that gripping to me and I never quite felt the intensity of the stakes, partially because of the shallow characters. The characters, especially Celia and Marco themselves, never felt well-developed. While I did get plenty of descriptions of the characters’ appearances and clothing, the characters themselves were all just cardboard cutouts, with not a lot of emotional depth. Other readers (in fact, most people) seem to adore this book, however, so those in the mood for lush descriptions and an atmosphere you can fall into should not hesitate to pick it up.

Book purchased.

The Daughters Join the Party, by Joanna Philbin.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this series thus far, which follows three daughters of celebrities as they go about their lives in New York City and seek to establish their own identities apart from their famous parents. There was Lizzie, who became a model in the shadow of her own supermodel mother; Carina, who sought to escape from her media conglomerate father’s influence; and Hudson, who tried to achieve a solo singing career in a style much different than her pop diva mother Holla (shades of Madonna). Each of the previous three novels wasn’t anything heavy or substantial, but they were cute, and portrayed issues that, beyond the trappings of wealth and privilege, girls could relate to.

This book, the fourth in the series, just seemed tacked on to me and really didn’t seem to fit with the other three, as it introduced another character entirely, one who hadn’t even been in the series beforehand. I understand that in high school, students make new friends, but why add another character to this group of best friends if the new girl, Emma Conway, the daughter of an aspiring presidential candidate, doesn’t really even interact with the original three at all? The plot’s conclusion also just seemed too rushed and easily wrapped up to me, especially the subplot regarding Emma’s brother. Fans of the series will still enjoy this book, however, especially with the appearances from the original Daughters and Philbin’s light, breezy tone. I can see fans of The Mother-Daughter Bookclub and the Gallagher Girls books enjoying this tone particularly.

Copy generously provided by publisher.

Just Your Average Princess, by Kristina Springer
Jamie Edwards loves working at her family’s pumpkin patch. Especially during the fall season, it’s the place to be in her small town of Average, Illinois, where there’s not much to do but cruise the strip at night. She feels needed there, loves the people in her community, and also, and most importantly, it’s where her longtime crush Danny works. But when her cousin Milan, the famous daughter of two Hollywood celebrities, comes to visit, Jamie is shocked that they’re not as close as she had anticipated they’d be. Milan turns down her nose at everything in town–the people, the patch, even Jamie herself. And even worse than Danny being seemingly attracted to Milan is Milan’s announcement that she is planning to run for Pumpkin Princess, the town pageant that Jamie has been dreaming of winning since she was a little girl!

I really enjoy Kristina Springer’s writing style: The Espressologist, her debut novel, was one of my favorite little-known books that I read last year, and Just Your Average Princess has the same endearing, adorable atmosphere pervading it. There aren’t any serious issues in this book, so it is fairly light, but to the characters, their problems still feel important. However, to me, this novel took that adorable atmosphere a bit too far, as Jamie came off as a bit of a goody-goody. I understand that there are some people who truly enjoy their towns and genuinely enjoy helping out at home, but the level of outrage that Jamie felt when Milan didn’t meet her “standards,” especially when it came to issues of food, was a bit over the top. Jamie didn’t feel realistic and wholesome, she just came off as judgmental. Additionally, the novel’s conclusion and reconciliation seemed way too sudden for me–there really weren’t any clues about what spearheaded it, so the characters’ changes of emotion really had no weight behind them. On the whole though, I did enjoy this light, quick read, and it will definitely find its place on the shelves.

Copy borrowed from my library.