The Night Circus (6 points)

The story itself is very fascinating. The characters and environments held my attention, each having their own identity unique to them so that they felt like real people rather than just imagined. Overall the story is so well written that it became a real page turner. The mysterious vibes the circus gave off the whole time. The circus felt like its own entity that had such a huge presence that at it almost seemed more fantastic even without too many fictional elements. The company Cirque du Soleil came to mind when thinking of The Night Circus, which is very intriguing to me with its sense of wonder and mystique. 

The Night Circus brought a new and interesting view on the magical fantasy style genre with not only the realism, but also a drastically different type of plot. Two characters are being trained, each by their own teacher, so that one day they will compete against each other. Throughout the story, the two characters are not sure why they are supposed to compete, and instead devise a way to un-break the conflict, to dissolve it. Forget genre, this story speaks across a wider range than being limited just to genre because the idea of knowing what the conflict is, and working to undo it rather than to simply 'play the game', is not particularly common, especially if we do consider the genre. 

Also, in this particular story, there is not really a sense of good vs evil. Nothing is so black and white about the events unravelling. Rather, the entirety of the novel is more like shades of grey. We have the two students of two significant men who must compete against each other. The tension builds because they want to know what is happening, how they are being judged, and why. The fact alone that competition alone creates a lot of grey area, which could perhaps entice participants to figure a way around it rather than just playing into the expectations.