A wonderful escape

I think I found the book that I will be telling people about for the next unknown period of time.  There weren't enough hours in the day to read this book, and there weren't enough pages to turn because this book is now done. placed carefully on the read shelf. 

I loved this book.  Easily this will be one of my favorite books from 2012, and will be a book that I tell other people about.  It was utterly enchanting.  This is what reading a book is all about - transporting the reader to a different time and place, with subtle nuances and characters that keep you wanting to read more even though that means getting closer to the final turn of the page.

Skimming through reviews, it seems that this is a polarizing book.  People either love or hate it, and I know what camp I fall in to!  I feel like I am fortunate that I am going through a phase where the books I am reading are really entertaining, peopled with characters that will stay with me.  I hope this cycle continues for a while before some doldrums hit (funny how reading can go in cycles, fantastic books, average books, books that you choose not to finish, and then press repeat).

This is a hard book to summarize, and I am struggling with whether or not I should try.  I think expressing an opinion is one thing, and at times, to pull together why a book like this works another thing altogether.  Underneath it all, this is a fantastical tale about a night circus.  A circus that embraces dreams and fantasy and blurs the lines of reality.  This is the story of two star crossed lovers that are bound together in a challenge that neither is fated to win, or ultimately lose.  This is the story of the people in the circus, and those that love the circus.  I loved the language, how the story unfolds, and the role of stories and storytelling within this story.